Im Lazy - is the A300 for me?

[Winter]

I'm lazy - but I'm not dumb. How long/difficult is the basic setup of the A-300 to a wireless network to pull content from a NAS drive?

Ive seen a lot of people talk about some pretty intense setups with this box, which is really great...but I just want to watch my movies on my projector and stream music

I don't want to go through a wiki to track down problems, and I don't want to spend three days getting the thing set up.

Right now Im debating on the XTreamer Prodigy and the A300...so tell me...how was your setup?

(and I know its going to be a wait for either system...but Im not in a rush.)

[chris57]

Sorry but if you are even considering any product from Xtreamer you have not done much research. Read here for just a start:-
http://www.mpcclub.com/forum/showthread.php?t=27821
Cheap is not always best. A bunch of liars and thieves, they even tried to steal YAMJ and pass it off as their own work!!

You should forget wireless if you are expecting to stream HD material, its a non-starter. You need ethernet or if you must use wireless a second router/access point using ethernet and not USB to get possible 720p stuff but certainly not 1080p. Wireless and HD do not mix.

If your home network is setup and you know how to manage a home network then you'll be fine. If you are expecting a home network to magically appear just because you have bought a media player then you have a lot more to learn.

There is nothing any more difficult to setup one media player over another.

[rwmanos]

if you wannt to manage music then DON'T BUY A POPCORN . I'm still struggling to manage my database.

[Winter]

I have done research and a LOT of people have plenty of bad things to say about NWM as well. They are both small companies and both have an active forum with strong supporters....this tells me that most of the crap that gets spread around is just that....crap. I own a small company and know what its like, that's why I am on both forums asking. Obviously both of you have a pretty strong following because you were both suggested to me by a writer over at Engadget.

Price is not a factor in my selection, its based purely on the potential awesomeness of the unit.

So with the info you told me....it would be best to connect my NAS directly to the A300 unit so I can throw the files on the drive before I actually watch them. How is streaming of services like Netflix and Hulu - laggy? Im really trying to avoid running 60 ft of Cat5....lol.

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(12-05-2011 05:02 PM)rwmanos Wrote:  if you wannt to manage music then DON'T BUY A POPCORN . I'm still struggling to manage my database.

What is your issue? Naming conventions? You didnt keep up with it? Or is it actually an issue with the unit?

[Dave_D]

PCH doesn't do Netflix or Hulu.

[chris57]

What is NWM? Are you thinking of NMT, its not a company if you are. NMT is the Syabas middleware (firmware/apps) and Syabas had nothing stolen from them, it was just those community developers and forum members here who had their work lifted, hell they even lifted our forum rules/policy . Why you would justify such behavior by drawing some company parallel re small companies etc. is I think because you did not understand this and not because you were saying it was OK for Xtreamer to steal our members work.

This is not the main point at issue though, what the thread over at MPC shows you is that time after time they promise much and offer little in terms of after sales firmware development which is crucial in the media player market. Now it's firmware3 which wont make it into earlier models despite the promise it would which reassured many when they purchased and now feel cheated. It just goes on and on with them.

This forum is a little different from others that are provided by manufacturers. It's predominantly moderated/run by you, NMT Owners not Syabas employees. Yes the Admin is Werner from Syabas but you wont see many other Syabas employees around. You can spot them by their blue coloured titles. So we are very much community based and let our members speak openly and very rarely ban anyone, you have to be really badly behaved or a cross-flasher (don't ask).

As Dave succinctly said you wont get Hulu or Netflix. I think that you could with another webservice but don't think that is available yet for the 300 series. Can't remember it name presently. You can see here the Netflix issue and why it wont come to the NMT presently:-
http://www.networkedmediatank.com/showth...ht=netflix

[Winter]

(12-05-2011 07:24 PM)chris57 Wrote:  What is NWM? Are you thinking of NMT, its not a company if you are. NMT is the Syabas middleware (firmware/apps) and Syabas had nothing stolen from them, it was just those community developers and forum members here who had their work lifted, hell they even lifted our forum rules/policy . Why you would justify such behavior by drawing some company parallel re small companies etc. is I think because you did not understand this and not because you were saying it was OK for Xtreamer to steal our members work.

This is not the main point at issue though, what the thread over at MPC shows you is that time after time they promise much and offer little in terms of after sales firmware development which is crucial in the media player market. Now it's firmware3 which wont make it into earlier models despite the promise it would which reassured many when they purchased and now feel cheated. It just goes on and on with them.

This forum is a little different from others that are provided by manufacturers. It's predominantly moderated/run by you, NMT Owners not Syabas employees. Yes the Admin is Werner from Syabas but you wont see many other Syabas employees around. You can spot them by their blue coloured titles. So we are very much community based and let our members speak openly and very rarely ban anyone, you have to be really badly behaved or a cross-flasher (don't ask).

As Dave succinctly said you wont get Hulu or Netflix. I think that you could with another webservice but don't think that is available yet for the 300 series. Can't remember it name presently. You can see here the Netflix issue and why it wont come to the NMT presently:-
http://www.networkedmediatank.com/showth...ht=netflix

Thanks for the info. Yes, I meant NMT. I haven't been around long enough to know about the two companies, I was just turned onto the both of you yesterday through Engadget so forgive the lack of in depth knowledge. Im learning quick though.

Im not too worried about either specific service, I was merely naming the first two that popped into my head. Im well aware of the trouble that both Hulu and Netflix gives everyone.

I've noticed that the forum here does seem to have a lot of people responding, and the moderation seems to be little/none while their forum definitely seems to be a lot more meditated. I definitely feel like if I get the A300 and have an issue someone on here will be able to help and thats a huge plus.

I wasn't speaking about anyone stealing anything...new guy here...Im lost on the companies relationships. As a new consumer I see two products, both look good on paper (or screen), and thats the extent of it unless someone like yourself points this stuff out. Business ethics are not something I generally google when comparing two products and companies. But it is something to keep in mind for sure.

Since lack of support for Netflix and Hulu have been brought up, I am sure others are missing...so why did you choose (and why do you support) your setup with the C200 and the A300 when so many other boxes are available? Was it ease of use, file readability, options?

I guess I am asking, in a world with so many media streamers that do basically the same thing - stream files on a box to your tv - what is the #1 reason that keeps you on your system?

[accident]

The players have excellent output quality, one of the few with actual bitstreamed HD audio output. The company long supports them even after the chip maker stops making the chips. The are also fast to react to popular playback format changes like when mkv suddenly had everything header compressed where some other companies still don't support it.

They are still the only players that support putting third party interfaces on them. It allows a lot of options when it comes to what you want for your house. However being so opened, the content providers who want 100% locked down hardware do stay away and therefore the lack of hulu and netflix and probably never going to get it. The popbox line is the variation on these players who is locked down so we'll see in time if they get more premium services. They do have some but you can count them on 1 hand and it's not the ones you'd expect.

Some growing pains but I've personally never had a situation where I called the players unusable and they do get addressed in time. Overall I've never had buyers remorse and feel I've received more than my money worth.

[rwmanos]

(12-05-2011 05:09 PM)Winter Wrote:  I have done research and a LOT of people have plenty of bad things to say about NWM as well. They are both small companies and both have an active forum with strong supporters....this tells me that most of the crap that gets spread around is just that....crap. I own a small company and know what its like, that's why I am on both forums asking. Obviously both of you have a pretty strong following because you were both suggested to me by a writer over at Engadget.

Price is not a factor in my selection, its based purely on the potential awesomeness of the unit.

So with the info you told me....it would be best to connect my NAS directly to the A300 unit so I can throw the files on the drive before I actually watch them. How is streaming of services like Netflix and Hulu - laggy? Im really trying to avoid running 60 ft of Cat5....lol.

---

(12-05-2011 05:02 PM)rwmanos Wrote:  if you wannt to manage music then DON'T BUY A POPCORN . I'm still struggling to manage my database.

What is your issue? Naming conventions? You didnt keep up with it? Or is it actually an issue with the unit?

My issue with music . There are many problems at this part , I have a pretty big music database which nmj (the jukebox interface) can't handle at all. It took it 92hours to scan the whole database and everytime I add something new the whole system stucks for about 2-3 hours till the database is finally updated. As you can understand this way i can not even listen to music because even when it loads the interface is very laggy and the only way to look for something to listen is via the album wall . (which is kinda difficult if you have a database with more than 10 cd's) .On the other hand some people told me to use the filebrowser to listen to music ,which can't happen cause there is no search function.

As for the thing i red about support, well we're still waiting for the promised nmj2 on the c200 to give as a solution to the laggy nmj1 .
I agree though that you can't find movie playback with better quality than popcorn.

sorry for my english ,i'm from greece.

[Winter]

(12-05-2011 08:28 PM)rwmanos Wrote:  

(12-05-2011 05:09 PM)Winter Wrote:  I have done research and a LOT of people have plenty of bad things to say about NWM as well. They are both small companies and both have an active forum with strong supporters....this tells me that most of the crap that gets spread around is just that....crap. I own a small company and know what its like, that's why I am on both forums asking. Obviously both of you have a pretty strong following because you were both suggested to me by a writer over at Engadget.

Price is not a factor in my selection, its based purely on the potential awesomeness of the unit.

So with the info you told me....it would be best to connect my NAS directly to the A300 unit so I can throw the files on the drive before I actually watch them. How is streaming of services like Netflix and Hulu - laggy? Im really trying to avoid running 60 ft of Cat5....lol.

---

(12-05-2011 05:02 PM)rwmanos Wrote:  if you wannt to manage music then DON'T BUY A POPCORN . I'm still struggling to manage my database.

What is your issue? Naming conventions? You didnt keep up with it? Or is it actually an issue with the unit?

My issue with music . There are many problems at this part , I have a pretty big music database which nmj (the jukebox interface) can't handle at all. It took it 92hours to scan the whole database and everytime I add something new the whole system stucks for about 2-3 hours till the database is finally updated. As you can understand this way i can not even listen to music because even when it loads the interface is very laggy and the only way to look for something to listen is via the album wall . (which is kinda difficult if you have a database with more than 10 cd's) .On the other hand some people told me to use the filebrowser to listen to music ,which can't happen cause there is no search function.

As for the thing i red about support, well we're still waiting for the promised nmj2 on the c200 to give as a solution to the laggy nmj1 .
I agree though that you can't find movie playback with better quality than popcorn.

sorry for my english ,i'm from greece.

No Problem on the English. It's better than a lot of people I know from the USA.

Is your music stored on a computer or NAS, and are you accessing it via wireless network? Sory for the questions, Im trying to see if I will run into the same issue you are. I have about 40 gigs of music but will just direct connect it.

[jasch]

If you have HD content, you'll have to forget about wireless. Unless you use some kind of extra hardware (Wifi bridge) in order to increase bandwidth.

[rwmanos]

(12-05-2011 08:33 PM)Winter Wrote:  

(12-05-2011 08:28 PM)rwmanos Wrote:  

(12-05-2011 05:09 PM)Winter Wrote:  I have done research and a LOT of people have plenty of bad things to say about NWM as well. They are both small companies and both have an active forum with strong supporters....this tells me that most of the crap that gets spread around is just that....crap. I own a small company and know what its like, that's why I am on both forums asking. Obviously both of you have a pretty strong following because you were both suggested to me by a writer over at Engadget.

Price is not a factor in my selection, its based purely on the potential awesomeness of the unit.

So with the info you told me....it would be best to connect my NAS directly to the A300 unit so I can throw the files on the drive before I actually watch them. How is streaming of services like Netflix and Hulu - laggy? Im really trying to avoid running 60 ft of Cat5....lol.

---

(12-05-2011 05:02 PM)rwmanos Wrote:  if you wannt to manage music then DON'T BUY A POPCORN . I'm still struggling to manage my database.

What is your issue? Naming conventions? You didnt keep up with it? Or is it actually an issue with the unit?

My issue with music . There are many problems at this part , I have a pretty big music database which nmj (the jukebox interface) can't handle at all. It took it 92hours to scan the whole database and everytime I add something new the whole system stucks for about 2-3 hours till the database is finally updated. As you can understand this way i can not even listen to music because even when it loads the interface is very laggy and the only way to look for something to listen is via the album wall . (which is kinda difficult if you have a database with more than 10 cd's) .On the other hand some people told me to use the filebrowser to listen to music ,which can't happen cause there is no search function.

As for the thing i red about support, well we're still waiting for the promised nmj2 on the c200 to give as a solution to the laggy nmj1 .
I agree though that you can't find movie playback with better quality than popcorn.

sorry for my english ,i'm from greece.

No Problem on the English. It's better than a lot of people I know from the USA.

Is your music stored on a computer or NAS, and are you accessing it via wireless network? Sory for the questions, Im trying to see if I will run into the same issue you are. I have about 40 gigs of music but will just direct connect it.

most of the content is local . I use popcorn's internal hard drive.

[chris57]

So you are not using NMJv2 or even a A300 and yet you are telling the guy how it performs

The A300 is very different to the 200 series. It is new. It has NMJv2. It does not have html. It has a faster chip. It adds a movie to my database in 2 mins. It adds an album in a similar time. It updates/rescans in 5 mins on my archive (100 movies, lots of TV series/seasons, 20 cd's).

[Winter]

How often do you have to rescan? Every time you turn the device on, or just when you add new content?

[chris57]

Only when you add content.

You can set the update to auto or manual, so you can turn it off so it only updates when you tell it to. You can also start the NMJ update or even scan and then go and watch something on your A300. It doesn't stop you using the player at the same time.