Popcorn Hour A-200 Review

Popcorn Hour, the “enthusiast media player”, is largely the same player as a few years ago but it’s still a strong alternative. The latest model – Popcorn Hour A-200 – is the sequel to A-110. Its interior is basically the same as last year’s C-200 except that the A-200 only has one hard drive and no room for a Bluray player. On the other hand the A-200 is also cheaper than Bluray model, but not as affordable as the latest mini players.

Design and Features

The biggest change with the A-200 is the design. Its predecessors had a less than stylish aluminum chassis and looked more like an oversized external hard drive. Sure, the A-200 is made entirely out of plastic, but it still manages to look more classy than the old models.

Whereas the previous players were made of aluminum, which acts as a heat sink and was therefore fanless, the A-200 is now equipped with a fan. It’s not so loud as to be annoying, but still noticeable. In the front it has a USB port and a small diode to show if the player is on or not.

Popcorn Hour’s strong point is its exceptional file support, which goes above and beyond what any of the competition can manage. It even plays Blu-ray image files and RAR archives. If you need a media player that can play all of these formats (listed below), this is clearly the best option.

One of the most interesting aspects about A-200 is the addition of an App Store and a bunch of Internet services. Right now the store is practically empty, but it will probably fill up eventually, considering the mostly tech-savvy crowd that uses the Popcorn Hour.

Usability and Conclusion

The menu in the A-200 is almost the same as in older models, and its age is starting to show. It is not as fast as you would hope for even if the speed has improved compared to its predecessors. There’s a small delay between selecting the menu items and feedback on the screen.

To sum it up, the Popcorn Hour is a great choice for the tech geek who absolutely must have complete file support. For the not-so technically inclined there may be better alternatives that are not quite as powerful but still offer support for the file formats you actually use.

File Support:

MPEG1/2/4 Elementary (M1V, M2V, M4V)
MPEG1/2 PS (M2P, MPG, DAT, VOB)
MPEG2 Transport Stream (TS, TP, TRP, M2T, M2TS, MTS)
AVI, ASF, WMV
Matroska (MKV)
MOV (H.264), MP4, RMP4
XVID SD/HD
MPEG-1
MPEG-2 MP@HL
MPEG-4.2 ASP@L5, 720p, 1-point GMC
MPEG-4.10 (H.264) : BP@L3, MP@L4.0, HP@L4.0, HP@L4.1
WMV9 : MP@HL
SMPTE 421M (VC-1) : MP@HL, AP@L3
AAC, M4A
MPEG audio (MP1, MP2, MP3, MPA)
WAV
WMA
FLAC
OGG

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