A-410 USA Version

Faster, more silent, and keeps much cooler than previous Popcorn Hour models. Might not be worth the price tag itself, but it's an excellent product.

Complete crap. So sick of this thing. The famn output never works I have to reboot it 5 times to get my receiver to see something there. I wish I never bought it I can't even use it.

The US version of this device does not allow you to downmix Dolby audio, as you can only "passthrough" the output. This means that the device that you're sending the output to MUST be able to decode that audio natively or else there will be no sound. This can be solved easily if you're using an AV Receiver or a newer TV/soundbar that has Dolby decoding built in. You should check your existing equipment before purchasing though. With that being said, this media jukebox gets a high grade. The interface really has come a long way since the earlier Popcorn Hour devices. My old C-200 was the single most frustrating and crash-tastic device I've ever owned. The C-300 was a big improvement, and the A-410 US Version has also been very stable since I've begun using it. For those used to the Popcorn Hour C-200 or C-300 and the hot swapping drive bay, also be aware that the A-410 is a quite a bit different. The drive bay in the A-410 requires a small key (included) to "lock/unlock" the drive enclosure into place. I ended up using a piece of scotch tape to attach the key to the Popcorn Hour so my pets don't lose it on me. You also must have a Philips screwdriver handy to add/remove screws that attach the drive to the enclosure. Your days of quickly hot-swapping disks are over. There is both a single eSATA and USB port on the back of the device that can be used to mount a second or third drive as an alternative to swapping "internal" 3.5" disks. A good device, but not without some shortcomings.

First off, -- I DO NOT DO PRODUCT REVIEWS! Now, --- having said that, I happen to be home sick today, and so I finally decided to make a rare exception, THIS TIME, because I was reading some of the reviews others had posted online about the A-410, and I finally concluded that this product was not getting a fair shake or was being short-changed, and I believe that the A-410 deserves a more positive review. Buyers need to understand up front that the Popcorn Hour A-410 caters to a very “narrow niche” market, which is growing more every day, which is another story, which I will not go into here. The Popcorn Hour A-410 is not meant to be a fix-all solution. And like most “new technologies”, power steering and automatic transmission may not be included the first time around either. So the real question is this: Will the owner of this product, with a little time and effort and MUCH patience, could the right owner of one of these devices eventually make this thing “look and act and perform” as if it does have power steering and automatic transmission, PLUS do many additional features (not originally foreseen)? True, some products presently on the market are “lemons” from the go-get, and no amount of effort by the end-user is going to correct original engineering and design flaws or shortcomings. However, the A-410 is NOT one of those lemons. To the contrary, it is exceptional, --- but only for the right owners. From my perspective, the Popcorn Hour A-410, while not perfect, is designed and engineered well, and it is definitely going in the right direction, insofar as technological evolution is concerned. How can I say this? Because after owning my own Popcorn Hour A-410 Networked Jukebox for about one year now, I finally have this thing running sweet, and purring and performing very well, just like my BMW automobile. (Please excuse the automobile metaphor, but I think this helps get my point across.) And NO, it did not take me a year to arrive at this point. It has been running great the whole time, but like most guys like me, I am always looking for an opportunity to make a great “widget” run even better. Like all GOOD relationships, I had to put some effort into making this relationship work too. Now I am reaping very satisfactory rewards and benefits as a result. While I’ve enjoyed using this during most of this first year, I will admit that this happened AFTER a slow and rocky start. However, I put most of the blame on me, not the product. I knew the Popcorn Hour A-410 was NOT going to be for the faint of heart when I purchased it. I went into this with my EYES WIDE OPEN, as I also knew that this was NOT a Plug n Play device and that I was going to have to make a good faith effort on my part and go through the requisite learning curve (including some trial and error along the way) before I would be able to reap the benefits and make this thing “purr like a kitten”. Now I can truly say, “I have arrived”. The Popcorn Hour A-410 Networked Jukebox is EVERYTHING its creators advertise that it will do, -- PLUS much more. The – PLUS more - part is the icing on the cake. THE POINT I WANT TO DRIVE HOME IS THIS: I had to learn to be patient with myself as I attempted to learn how to use or exploit its many features, bells and whistles, – over a period of time, and as I continued to learn how to configure it properly and learn its various quarks and its personality. And the funny thing is, even though this device is working very well for me, I also believe that I am still only scratching the surface when it comes to learning how to fully exploit its many more options and features. Nevertheless, I believe that the effort (and patience -- with myself) has paid good dividends, thus far. Previous to owning the A-410, I had been using and researching other brands of media players for many years. Again and again, during my research, I kept going full-circle and coming back to this unit (or its predecessor). For me, my biggest challenge was determining what questions to ask, or determining what my “bottom-line” needs were and what specific features were important to me, or what features were deal breakers IF NOT included. Eventually, I determined that the A-410 met most of my requirements, and even exceeded some as well. Again, the A-410 is not for everyone. Remember, EVERYONE else can watch videos online through video streaming services such as Amazon’s Prime Instant Video and other streaming services. However, NOT everyone can enjoy viewing videos from their own personal video library or RAID server with just the click of their remote, in beautiful 1080p with DTS-HD 7.1 Master Audio surround sound. Presently, the only plug n play device on the market that can do this is a Blu-ray player. The manufacturer also offers 4K options or solutions as well, as you evolve your system going forward. Presently, if you want to experience that same Bluray quality from a commercial video streaming service, , or even from Cable TV---then good-luck, because as far as I know, there is no one offering such a service, at least not yet. So in the meantime, the next best option is to build your own in-house video streaming service which will allow you to do what EVERYONE else cannot do. And from what I can tell so far, the Popcorn Hour A-410 is one of the very few products available on the market that can help you achieve that goal, and it does it well. The A-410 is just one component of a larger system that you will add to your existing Home Theatre system, or evolve into as you build up your own personal HD video library over a period of time and incorporate it into your home network. Thus, the “narrow niche” market for this product that I referred to at the beginning. I give this product a 5-star rating, because it does everything advertised that it is supposed to do. The manufacture supports it and also provides periodic firmware updates too, so it is still evolving, even after you purchase it. P.S. Do not be tempted to pay “rip-off “prices just so you can get this product right NOW. These folks are professional scalpers who thrive off of your impatience. These units are manufactured and shipped in batches from overseas. Presently, the demand exceeds the supply. I WAITED for mine! Save your money. Go to the manufactures website and add your name and email address to their list, and they will notify you as soon as the next batch of product is about to arrive or becomes available. --- THE TRICK: Once they notify you, you need to jump on it immediately and place or finalize your order right away. I learned the hard way and did not act on it for a couple of days. By the time I did, they were sold out again, and so I had to wait another 3 or 4 weeks for the next batch to arrive again. So my recommendation is to get your name on the list, be patient, save your money, and don’t give into the scalpers. And while you are waiting, now you can download the manual and get a lot of preliminary work out of the way. In a nutshell, I had to manually rename each video file in my library to a specific format or set of rules that would allow the video files to work with the NMJ database software / firmware, which is included with the product. Had I realized this upfront and read the manual sooner, I could have gotten a head start on this phase of the project. (HINT, HINT). And finally, read up and learn how to use NMJToolBox2 , (download from another source), as this is truly a life saver. This too, is an evolving product as well. (It’s the power steering and automatic transmission that I alluded to earlier).

got a a410 to upgrade from my a300 boy was I wrong. my old unit displayed full blue ray menu tis is important for many movies. if the blueray has more than two movies (many Disney have) you cannot access them . I don't know the reason for this but the 410 is a step down form the older a300 or the c300. the small improvments like the icons to skip to a device is nice but not worth the money.