This is a simple comparison guide about these two players based off of their website info:
------------Popcorn Hour------------------------Theater+HD
O-----HDMI v1.3a (up to 1080p)-------------Component (up to 720p/1080i)
u-----Component Video (up to 1080p)----S-Video
t------S-Video-------------------------------------Composite Video
p-----Composite Video
u-----Optical Digital Audio--------------------Coaxial Digital Audio
t------Stereo Audio------------------------------Stereo Audio
s
P----JPEG----------------------------------------JPEG (up to 20megapixels)
h-----BMP
o-----PNG
t------GIF
o
V----XviD/DivX----------------------------------XviD/DivX (up to 1280 x 720 60fps)
i-----MPEG-1-----------------------------------MPEG-1
d----MPEG-2-----------------------------------MPEG-2 (1920 x 1080i 30 fps)
e----MPEG-4 (up to 720p)------------------MPEG-4 (up to 1280 x 720 60fps)
o----GMC
C----WMV9
o-----H.264
d-----VC-1
e
c
s
&
C-----AVI-----------------------------------------AVI
o-----VOB----------------------------------------VOB
n-----ISO-----------------------------------------ISO
t------DivX/XviD---------------------------------DivX/XviD
a-----MPEG-1-----------------------------------MPEG-1
i------MPEG-2-----------------------------------MPEG-2
n-----MPEG-4-----------------------------------MPEG-4
e-----WMV
r------MOV
s-----MKV
A-----MP3----------------------------------------MP3
u-----WAV----------------------------------------WAV
d-----WMA---------------------------------------WMA
i------OGG Vorbis------------------------------OGG Vorbis
o-----AC3 (Dolby Digital)---------------------AC3 (Dolby Digital)
C----AAC
o-----DTS
d-----FLAC
e-----LPCM
c-----MP1/MP2
s-----WMA PRO
&
C-----WMA
o------WAV
n------OGG
t-------MP3
a------AAC/M4A
i-------FLAC
n-----MP1
e-----MP2
r------MPA
s
U-----2 x USB 2.0 ports------------------------1 x USB 2.0 port
S
B-----1 x USB 2.0 slave port
C-----UPnP AV/SSDP--------------------------FreeAgent Hard Drive (direct connect)
o------Windows Media Connect
n------Bonjour
n------SMB
e------NFS
c------HTTP Servers
t-------Windows Media Player NSS
i-------Bittorrent P2P
v------NAS access: SMB, NFS, FTP
i
t------(all via fastethernet)
y
W-----Youtube
E------Vuze
B------CNN, etc
S------BBC, etc. (audio podcast)
E------Flickr, Picasaweb
R------Photobucket, etc
V-------Yahoo! Weather
I--------Traffic Conditions, etc.
C-------P2P TV - Saya TV
E-------Internet Radio - Radiobox,
S-------Live365 radio, etc.
S-------SRT
u-------SMI
b-------SUB
t--------SSA
i
t
l
e
s
A------Dolby TrueHD Dolby Digital
U------DTS-HD HR
D------DTS-HD MA
I-------Dolby Digital
O------DTS
P------Dolby Digital Plus
A
S
S - THROUGH
P----- $215 (no hard drive)------------------$99.99 (no hard drive)
R
I-------$250 (with Wireless N)--------------$229.99 (with 250GB HDD)
C
E------(ADD ANY SATA HDD for Free)----$279.99 (with 500GB HDD)
Discussion about
Popcorn Hour vs Seagate FreeAgent Theater+HD
Well that was annoying to read, but answered my questions, i think as long as it streams fine the seagate is the cheaper buy for media streaming although it doesn't have the hdmi ports
Wait the seagate has HDMI output, and it has two USB one front one back.
Wait the seagate has HDMI output, and it has two USB one front one back.
There are many formats the Seagate can't handle and I scoured the website and its instructional PDF to find all the info and it didn't mention HDMI or more than one USB port.
Plus, the Seagate solution only streams from the FreeAgent HDD or a USB drive. The Popcorn Hour streams from all of that plus directly from the network (PC's, NAS, Laptop's, etc...) I think it all just depends how much media you have... The seagate solution would never work for me...
Plus, the Seagate solution only streams from the FreeAgent HDD or a USB drive. The Popcorn Hour streams from all of that plus directly from the network (PC's, NAS, Laptop's, etc...) I think it all just depends how much media you have... The seagate solution would never work for me...
Yeah thats the one thing i noticed, which would suck, the A-110 is still probably the better streaming machine for a NAS or computer with large storage which is what i am aiming for. I saw the HDMI and other USB port in the PDF, probably just a side note to anything. Since i have no media to speak of right now, a 500gb HDD would work for me, although probably not be worth it in the long run.
dammit... I see what happened... I was on the "FreeAgent Theater™ HD Media Player Solution" page instead of the "FreeAgent Theater+" page.... how horribly annoying...
so it seems they have almost the same functionality and the seagate starts at $149....
thats better than I thought - comparing it to that other product (the freeagent theater HD) the seagate product seemed horrible which is not what I expected from Seagate. this product sounds pretty decent though, assuming it lives up to its claims....
so it seems they have almost the same functionality and the seagate starts at $149....
thats better than I thought - comparing it to that other product (the freeagent theater HD) the seagate product seemed horrible which is not what I expected from Seagate. this product sounds pretty decent though, assuming it lives up to its claims....
So are you considering one now, I will be if i can stream from my computer, never mind it can so it won over the popcorn hour to me.
well, I want to move my PS3 down to the living room when my new TV gets delivered. and I use the PS3 every night to watch media in my bedroom, so I was thinking of getting another popcorn hour to replace it... I'm thinking of this now, but I will have to read some reviews first... I like that is cheaper at least.... and it sounds like you should be able to stream from your computer... It would need to stream off my NAS too or no deal....
Yeah i am looking into a NAS box as well, or just two 2tb HDD's for my computer. For my collection i will need at least 2tb for all my current movies. And if this could stream seamlessly off of a computer or NAS i will be buying one for sure.
I read two reviews - one liked it and the other loved it...
Liked - www.pcworld.com/reviews/product/303367/review/free...
Loved - gizmodo.com/5368202/seagate-freeagent-theater%252B...
and it sounds like it works with NAS's fine....
Liked - www.pcworld.com/reviews/product/303367/review/free...
Loved - gizmodo.com/5368202/seagate-freeagent-theater%252B...
and it sounds like it works with NAS's fine....
Actually they both liked it, the pcworld really liked that it could handle so much and Gizmodo just didn't like the interface but they are picky anyway. I think i am sold now.
PC World specifically said "However, unless you enjoy early-adopter aggravation, I'd wait a few weeks for the company to iron out the bugs, complete the media format support, and get the wireless USB adapter out the door." and "This digital media adapter has great specs, but it suffers from a few early-release issues." Not exactly a run-out-and-buy-it! ringing endorsement.......
Ok true but they also got the prerelease model, i would imagine the actual model will be a bit better.
I mean PC World reviewed it 10 days before Gizmodo and they both said its shipping soon... It sounds like they just think these issues might be resolved on firmware updates... Thats what happens with the Popcorn Hour - they are good about releasing updates to fix known bugs and add functionality...
We can always hope, regardless for $150 i am going to get my hands on one.
Actually i would imagine it does interface with a NAS since seagate makes NAS devices. I may even look into their 2TB model.
They both have very simple user interfaces, but they get the job done and its one area where I don't need anything flashy... (The PS3's user interface is very pretty and shiny but plays way less files on its own....)
Yeah i am with you as long as it plays the files without trouble i will be happy.
The only thing I want added to both of these is the ability to make playlists (assuming the Theater+ doesn't have it). That is still my most missed feature from XBMC.....
The best solution IMHO is none of the above! It's the WDTV or the WDTV2 (when it comes out soon)
www.engadget.com/2009/08/16/wd-tv-2-spruces-up-wes...
I've already bought three WDTV's and they play 99% of the files I have thrown at them. WD has been great fixing most of the bugs in the multiple firmware updates, and has been actively listening to the very large and popular customer/fan base and implementing the many suggestions.
www.engadget.com/2009/08/16/wd-tv-2-spruces-up-wes...
I've already bought three WDTV's and they play 99% of the files I have thrown at them. WD has been great fixing most of the bugs in the multiple firmware updates, and has been actively listening to the very large and popular customer/fan base and implementing the many suggestions.
The WD TV has no network media playing whatsoever so it competes with the Seagate FreeAgent Theater HD pretty well, but not against either of these...
The WD TV2 sounds like it may be a worthy competitor but the price and launch date are unknown.... for network streaming the Popcorn Hour still wins....
The WD TV2 sounds like it may be a worthy competitor but the price and launch date are unknown.... for network streaming the Popcorn Hour still wins....
