Popcorn Hour C-200: first units shipped

Worldwide, media player enthusiasts have waited with great anticipation for the new Popcorn Hour C-200. A select group of users can now soon call themselves the rightful owners of the new C-200, the successor to the famous A-100/A-110 media players, which are responsible for a significant share of this market segment's popularity. Last week, the first units were shipped to the distributors. The first production run consisted of about 600 units, of which 500 were shipped. 200 of those went to the Netherlands: 100 for the members of the MPC Club, and another 100 for the importer DivXPlayer.nl (IBDL B.V. from October 1st). As mentioned in an earlier report, these units will be divided between a limited amount of online shops: Alternate, Informatique, WiFi Media, DivXPlayer and RHiSC.

The colourful outer box won't be shipped, since it'd break too easily. The standard cardboard box (right) is what we can expect in the stores.

The next shipment is to arrive at the distributor in early October; an order of 1200 units will help to satisfy huge demand for the player. It will then be possible to purchase a C-200 through webshops such as 4Launch, Komplett and Cool Blue. DivXPlayer provides a two-year Dutch warranty with the media player, which sports a recommended price tag of € 349. This second shipment can optionally be purchased with an IR-receiver (the C-200 uses an FM-remote control, a potential letdown for users of universal IR-remotes, such as Logitech's Harmony).

Adding a Blu-ray drive

One of the big selling points of the C-200 is the option to install a Blu-ray drive. Nevertheless, the internal structure of the C-200 made it impossible for the distributor to provide both a warranty and the option for users to add their own optical drives. Because of that, the C-200 will only be available in a sealed version. There will however be the option to have a Blu-ray ROM drive installed through the www.popcornhour.nl website. No man-hour fees will apply to this service, meaning consumers will only have to pay for the optical drive itself.

Caution!

The first shipment of C-200's contains a detailed set of instructions. It's very important to run the first firmware update from a USB-device, rather than the online updating service. When the first firmware update has been carried out, all other updates can be done through the internet. Ignoring this instruction may result in serious problems, including complete malfunctioning. As mentioned, the early adopters will be beta testers to an extent, something that won't be too much of a problem to the real enthusiasts.

First impression

Earlier today, Hardware.Info received a review sample of the new Popcorn Hour. Naturally, we'll share our first impressions of the player. A detailed review of the C-200 is to be released soon.

The C-200 is remarkably sturdy, clearly built to different engineering standard than "entry-level" consumer electronics. An immediate eyecatcher is the aluminum front panel. Apart from a well-protected player, the box also contains a paper bag, kept shut by a velcro patch.

The bag contains everything needed to use the player: remote, WiFi antenna, HDMI-cable, mounting screws for an optical drive and a power cable. As can be seen on the image shown above, the right side features a 3,5" bay, which allows for a quick and simple addition of a hard disk. 

The rear panel includes a physical on/off switch, both optical and coaxial digital audio-outputs, and two USB-ports.

Opening our test unit showed a rather tidy layout.

 Motherboard with a Sigma 8643 chip beneath the heatsink and two SATA-connectors above it. The left side features two empty fan headers and an internal USB-port.

If you look closely, you'll realize why guaranteeing successful expandability wouldn't have been a very wise decision: the screws are hard to reach, and the cabling can easily get in the way. Experienced users wouldn't be troubled, but with the general user in mind, the decision is quite understandable.

Connectors for a second SATA device

Tags: blu-ray firmware hdmi sata usb

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