Western Digital WD TV HD Media Player - a HTPC replacement??

i think one product that beats the WD hands down is the Normus movie cube, its a litle more expensive but not only can it take in internal HDD of 1TB, it also has LAN and wifi inbuilt. It can also be used as a NAS server. It apparently has internet radio and other stuff, they say they have a beta firmware for it with a torrent in it, wherein you can download movies from the net straight to the box. One of their boxes even has time shift and record, like you can do what a tata sky plus does too with this box, plus you can route your dvd player or VCR through this box and convert your old VCR or LDs into soft files on this box. The higher end box can play back all sorts of full hd formats. So its worth a look. Check it on Welcome to Normus World. Another good brand is Dune should look at that one too.
 
i think one product that beats the WD hands down is the Normus movie cube, its a litle more expensive but not only can it take in internal HDD of 1TB, it also has LAN and wifi inbuilt. It can also be used as a NAS server. It apparently has internet radio and other stuff, they say they have a beta firmware for it with a torrent in it, wherein you can download movies from the net straight to the box. One of their boxes even has time shift and record, like you can do what a tata sky plus does too with this box, plus you can route your dvd player or VCR through this box and convert your old VCR or LDs into soft files on this box. The higher end box can play back all sorts of full hd formats. So its worth a look. Check it on Welcome to Normus World. Another good brand is Dune should look at that one too.

Sounds really interesting. What is the chipset used? any idea and the price
 
i think they are on the sigma 8635 or 8623 for the higher end model and some realtek chip for the cheaper one, last i checked the fullhd playback model was at an mrp of 30k and the cheaper model with time shift at 18k, but they had some free 250Gb Hdd to offer when i walked into the dealership, dunno if its still on.
 
error........

the popcorn hours (A110) and the elektron 606 can do all the same have a better chipset and work out cheaper even when shipped with customs duty. The normus has 1.1 HDMI on the 7500 series while nothing is mentioned on the 9000 series. No support database too in case of problem.

Popcorn hour and the others have a great fan followign and user support base and all the possible drawbacks are frequently reported and in open source fashion dealth with with each firmware update.

WD TV rocks in this segment too with a huge user base - only problem is it cannpt process DTS True HD audio or passthrough HDMI. Other than that it rocks.

At 300k for the normus 9000 series - its not worth it. Buy the TVICO 6500 for 25-26k, add a 1 TB HDD for 5.5k , put a wifi dongle for 1.5k and you are ready to rock. DVICO has the cololest interface and also has a huge user base.
 
ioBox-100HD The finest Networked Media Tank solution

Its also available at the tvix.com website

Check this out. I am plannign to buy one media tank for the last two weeks and came across this. Its good - almost a copy of the popcornhour A110 with improved specs and better HW design (internal as well as external).

Only drawback is that it cannot downsample true hd audio to stereo unlike the A110 - but i guess its a firmware thing that can be fixed later.

This is the mail i received from dragontech (would take 3-5 days after payment is received at their end)

Dear Suprateep,

Thank you for your order of ONE unit of ioBox-100HD NMT Player.
Shipping address :
xxxxx
xxxxx
xxxx

The freight cost for this shipment is US$45.

Total amount will be US$(215+45) = US$260.

Please kindly deposit US$260 to our Paypal A/C ([email protected]).
Shipment will be arranged immediately once your payment is confirmed.

Thanks and best regards,
Edwin Lui
Sales & Marketing Manager
Dragontech Corporation Ltd.
Website: Dragontech Corporation Ltd. Home
Tel: (852) 2607-4013 Fax: (852) 2607-4043
 
Hey Mods!!!

How come this thread is not deleted? I mean they are talking of d/l movies and torrents here too right. Or are threads only a so-so will object to deleted? Get a life guys or at the very least demonstrate equality in all things and make sure all threads are moderated/deleted on an equal footing instead of being selective/letting one person choose. Every forum has some guys like that who cannot contribute in a positive way, but have to nitpick and find fault with everyone/everything else. Please don't let this forum be held to ransom by such guys. What say???

If you feel a post violates our forum rules, you can bring it to our attention by clicking on the "Report Post" icon at the top right hand side of the post.
 
If you feel a post violates our forum rules, you can bring it to our attention by clicking on the "Report Post" icon at the top right hand side of the post.

4 days later, but I guess better late than never. What/where are the forum rules? A link to them would be helpful.

Can you please clarify this point? Only if "Report Post" is used will a thread/post be moderated and otherwise not? If its the first case at least let us know who is doing the reporting in the "Report Post". Why let such people hide behind and yet put up a facade which is so false to the rest of the forum. I know who it is, let the others too know. The reason I am saying this is because some people are helpful and want to help others, while some do no such thing expect try to find fault in each and everything even where no fault exists.

At the very least give an explanation of why a thread is deleted? My thread "FLAC Downloads" was deleted with no explanation from you or anyone else. At least giving a reason/or being informed is warranted one feels, at least as a courtesy and also so that I and others will be more careful in the future (in case a mistake was made, which I am sure was not). Just deleting a post/thread with no explanation or reasons given should not be done. Not even if a moron with limited understanding cannot understand or misunderstands something. Anyway an old post (that was similarly deleted) a while ago spoke of such retards. I rest my case.
 

Actually anything Apple will beat just about everything else. No guys, I am not an Apple fanboy and I don't have any plethora of Apple products. Just an iPod and a MacBook Pro. But the way Apple makes/manufactures things is just too good. You'll never hear complaints about Apple say the way one hears about Windows Vista.

@Spiro - I've used XBMC on Windows XP and it kind of sucked. Took up too much system resources and way too intrusive. I like my media player to be in the background, but XBMC was always in the foreground. Not sure how it performs on Apple though. Only thing with Apple is they are pretty locked systems. You will need to check if it supports Divx, FLAC/ALAC and other content ripped from a CD/DVD. It just might ask for the original CD/DVD or a digital certificate that the song/movie has been bought on iTunes or Microsoft Store, etc. This would mean most of the content played on WDTV and others will be a no go on Apple TV.
 
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btw anyone interested in a iobox 100HD from dragontech can let me know -we can talk to the company and ask for a discount if we order in numbers.

For more information you can visit - ioBox-100HD The finest Networked Media Tank solution

Its a winner as suggested by many forums like mpcclub (http://www.mpcclub.com/)

PS: Only problem is it still can't downsample DTS audio to stereo like the popcorn hour - no problem if you have a capable receiver. Its designed well - has got optical as well as coaxial outs, HDMI pass through for true HD audio, 1.3a specification etc.

Guys anyone interested???
 
btw anyone interested in a iobox 100HD from dragontech can let me know -we can talk to the company and ask for a discount if we order in numbers.

For more information you can visit - ioBox-100HD The finest Networked Media Tank solution

Its a winner as suggested by many forums like mpcclub (http://www.mpcclub.com/)

PS: Only problem is it still can't downsample DTS audio to stereo like the popcorn hour - no problem if you have a capable receiver. Its designed well - has got optical as well as coaxial outs, HDMI pass through for true HD audio, 1.3a specification etc.

Guys anyone interested???

First, I don't trust these Hong Kong companies (have had bad experiences with their products) and I would rather go with reputed companies.

Second, at 214$ you are better off with Popcorn A-110 which has a huge fan and has quite a good reputation and has all the features and also many other firmwares which make is very very powerful.

Why would you prefer Dragon to Popcorn?
 
Second, at 214$ you are better off with Popcorn A-110 which has a huge fan and has quite a good reputation and has all the features and also many other firmwares which make is very very powerful.

In fact checked yesterday, Popcorn Hour A-110 with WN-100 is available for USD 250, not inclusive of shipping though.
 
without commenting on your general statement about apple (about which i do have reservations :)), apple TV is generally acknowledged as a dud...with proprietary and crippled functionality....plus it costs a lot more than its competition....

Actually anything Apple will beat just about everything else. No guys, I am not an Apple fanboy and I don't have any plethora of Apple products. Just an iPod and a MacBook Pro. But the way Apple makes/manufactures things is just too good. You'll never hear complaints about Apple say the way one hears about Windows Vista.

@Spiro - I've used XBMC on Windows XP and it kind of sucked. Took up too much system resources and way too intrusive. I like my media player to be in the background, but XBMC was always in the foreground. Not sure how it performs on Apple though. Only thing with Apple is they are pretty locked systems. You will need to check if it supports Divx, FLAC/ALAC and other content ripped from a CD/DVD. It just might ask for the original CD/DVD or a digital certificate that the song/movie has been bought on iTunes or Microsoft Store, etc. This would mean most of the content played on WDTV and others will be a no go on Apple TV.
 
the dragontech and popcorn hour are all made in the same factory - actually the HDX too as wellas the elektron - same hw just the design is different. I talked to a chinese guy names Huan Li from Dragontech whose ref i got from John fron avs forum.

Prices for the Dragontech and Popcorn hour A110 are same 260 USD (including shipping to India) - just that the popcorn suffers from heat dissipation, is a 4 layered board (dragontech has 6) - got coaxial and optical both.

PS: Tarshah should get his details right BTW - sigma chipset 8635 aint that expensive - only blueray players from Pana sonic etc that use this are priced aroudn that point.
 
without commenting on your general statement about apple (about which i do have reservations :)), apple TV is generally acknowledged as a dud...with proprietary and crippled functionality....plus it costs a lot more than its competition....

Don't know about Apple TV as I've not used it. Coming to Apple in general, well like I said I am no fanboy, but I have to admit I like the way Apple integrates h/w and s/w. Wish MS would learn something from them at least in this area. I will however admit Apple is made for the fanboys and only they would purchase Apple products at those prices. I've used the iPhone and there is nothing like it. I am not talking of the specs, the h/w, the s/w here, but just the joy of using it. I have a Nokia N Series with Symbian OS in it, but it's not as much a pleasure to use as the iPhone. Ditto for laptops, the MacBook Pro is such a pleasure to use when compared to other laptops. Finally that's what matters I believe. The way Apple integrates everything into a package that's a joy to use nobody else does it. Forget the price, the specs, etc. Just in the usage department Apple wins any day and this will be verified by any Apple user. Cannot say the same for other tech giants.
 
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