So I'm at a cross roads for buying my first NMT.


The three I have on my list are the:

1: Popcornhour C-200 (Price Unknown: I'm hoping for a sub-300$ price tag)

Specs:

Connectivity:
Bonjour
UPnP SSDP
UPnP AV
Windows Media Connect
Windows Media Player NSS
Samba
NFS


Media servers:
myiHome, myiHomeLite, myiHomeMS (UPnP), MSP Portal
Third party media servers: WizD, SwissCenter, Llink, GB-PVR
********** P2P
Usenet downloader
NAS access: SMB, NFS, FTP

Web services:
Video: YouTube, Vuze, Revision 3, Videocast, CNET TV, Mediafly, Veoh, Mevio, Bliptv, Break Podcast, CBS Evening News, CNN Anderson Cooper 360 Daily, CNN The Larry King Podcast, NBC Today Show, The CNN Daily, CNN In Case You Missed It, NBC Nightly News, NBC Meet The Press, CBS Face the Nation, Podfinder UK

Audio: Jamendo, iPodcast, BBC Podcast, Indiefeed, CNN News, ABC News

Photo: Flickr Photo, Picasaweb Photo, Pikeo, 23

RSS feed: Yahoo! Weather, NMT Forum, Bloglines, Cinecast, MSNBC News, Traffice Condition, Yahoo! Traffic Alerts, Yahoo! News, Weather Bug

Peer-to-peer TV: SayaTV

Internet Radio: Radio box, Live365 Radio

Media files supported
Video containers:
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

Video decoder:
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

Audio containers:
AAC, M4A
MPEG audio (MP1, MP2, MP3, MPA)
WAV
WMA
FLAC
OGG

Audio decoder:
Dolby Digital
DTS
WMA, WMA Pro
MPEG-1 Layer 1, 2, 3
MPEG-4 AAC-LC
MPEG-4 HE-AAC
MPEG-4 BSAC
LPCM
FLAC
Vorbis

Audio pass-through:
DTS, DTS-HD HR, DTS-HD MA
Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby True HD

Other formats:
ISO, IFO navigation
Rich Object Based Interactive Graphics
AVCHD navigation
Blu-ray ready (requires addition of compatible BD-ROM and at least 1GB USB stick or internal HDD)

Photo formats:
JPEG, BMP, PNG, GIF

Subtitle formats:
SRT, MicroDVD SUB, SSA, SUB/IDX

DRM
Cardea DRM (WMDRM-ND)
Janus DRM (WMDRM-PD)

Chipset
Sigma Designs SMP8643, 667MHz CPU with floating point coprocessor.
Memory
512MB DDR2 DRAM, 256MB NAND Flash

Audio/Video outputs
HDMI v1.3a with CEC, 36bpp deep color, 12-bit xvYCC processing and HDCP 1.2 content protection
Component Video
S-Video
Composite Video
Stereo Analog Audio
S/PDIF Optical and Coaxial Digital Audio

Other Interface
192x64 dots white text on blue background LCD display, with software adjustable brightness and power off
Power button with standby, reset and full power down
2x USB 2.0 host at the front
2x USB 2.0 host at the back
1x USB 2.0 internal
2x SATA (one occupied by HDD tray)
3.5" HDD tray
Internal mounting for 2.5" HDD
2.4GHz RF Remote Control
Infra-Red Remote Control port (Infra-Red Remote Control optional)

Network
Ethernet 10/100/1000
miniPCI MII interface for 11n WiFi card (optional)

Power
100~240V AC, 50~60 Hz, max 2.5A
typical: 13 W (no additional device installed/attached)
maximum: 70 W

Dimension
Width x Depth x Height : 425mm x 290mm x 80mm (16.73" x 11.42" x 3.14")

Weight
3.7kg (8.3 lbs)

Package Content
Popcorn Hour C-200 (HDD not included)

IEC 60320 C13 power cord
1.5M length HDMI cable
RF Remote Control with 2 "AAA" batteries
Quick start guide



2: EGreat EG-M33A (Price: $269 + $15 S/H = 284$ Total)

Specs:

See Link: http://www.egreathd.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=52&Itemid=60


3: Xtreamer (Price: 137$ + 28$ s/h (Plush about a 5$ CC exchange fee)
Total: 170$

Specs:

See Link: http://www.xtreamer.net/89/content-pages/Specs.aspx






So there you have it, the three NMT's that have caught my eye.


PCH C-200: Has an unknown price and who knows when it will be ready for shipping. I'd like a NMT sometime in 2009. (Has the most upside if it releases quickly and can be had with a sub-300$ price.)



EGreat EG-M33A: Looks amazing but it has a heafty price tag at 284$ (shipped) Also, I don't know if your can turn off the LCD screen on the unit like you can on the C-200. If you can't that's a turn off for me. It does have an Esata connections which the other two players do not, which is a plus for me.


Xtreamer: It looks like a hell of a little machine for the price. Coming in at 114$ less. I'm going to go out on a limb here and say it will most likely be 100$ less than the PCH C-200 as well.







So what does everyone think? .....help me lol

:D

why not the egreat m34A

http://www.egreatusa.com/egreat-egm34a-networked-media-tank-n34.html

cheapest nmt out there I have one and would remommend it 100%. I also have an ista 1.3 mini and popcornhour A-110. I would recommend the egreat above all the rest. Better build construction does everything the A-100 does . Has dts downmix and hdmi 1.3 will play all bluray rips with lossless audio. WHat else would you need.

I wish the nmt's supported lossless audio in a flac container as it would save a little on file sizes instead of 25 gigs probaly around 21 gigs per rip. The only other thing I wish the nmt's supported were pgs subs or idx subs as they are easier to convert ( do not need an manual input). Put as is I can convert forced subs using suprip to srt in a few minutes so not biggie.

I do have a couple of questions about the EG-M34A if some of you much more knowledgeable users wouldn't mind answering. :D


1: Does the M34A offer Dolby digital downmix? (Also AC3, which I think is the same?)

2: Does the M34A offer DTS downmix?

3: Does the M34A offer 36bpp deep color?

4: Is the M34A able to play Vorbis in an MKV container?

5: Will it play .ASS subs? (I know they aren't officially supported, but will you at least get playback, maybe not perfect playback, but playback?)

6: Does the M34A allow full support of HD Audio pass-through for DTS HD-HR, DTS HD-MA, Dolby Digital Plus and Dolby TrueHD?

three totally diferent products

the last one isnt released and isnt a nmt you could expect all the best or all the worst...

m33a is very expensive the one with the better ratio price/performance is the egreat m34 this in the nmt group....

the c200 is big,bulk and with a new chipset...this allways means bugs...allways...

you need to think what is the use that you will do in the player....and remember the xtreamer is shipped from europe...so add to the price customs duty...

1-yes
2-yes
3-nope and this isnt very important and 0 nmts support this...
4-yes
5-didnt tested...only srt
6-yep but only in m2ts with mkv dont works very well

this is the same with all the nmts ok? is the same software in all of them

1-yes
2-yes
3-nope and this isnt very important and 0 nmts support this...
4-yes
5-didnt tested...only srt
6-yep but only in m2ts with mkv dont works very well

this is the same with all the nmts ok? is the same software in all of them

Thank you for the reply :)

The reason I asked about the 36bpp deep color is because the C-200 is boasting support for it.



Good to know it will pass DTS HD-HR, DTS HD-MA, Dolby Digital Plus and Dolby TrueHD even if only in m2ts. Maybe they will fix the MKV playback of it.



.ASS subs, if anyone has experience with them I'd love to know about their playback. I will use this player for about 60% fan sub anime, and the most used sub format for anime is .ASS.

The main reasons I find NMT's off-putting compared to PC playback. I don't know any NMT officially supports .ASS subs. Thought the WD TV lists it on their site as supported)

Have you also considerd the ASUS O!Play? based on the same chip as the xtreamer.
It will come out in couple weeks.

Thank you for the reply :)

The reason I asked about the 36bpp deep color is because the C-200 is boasting support for it.

Xtreamer website says it does Deep Color too.

Performance Capabilities

12-Bit Color**
Smoothest Gradation of Colors
Greater cable capacity for support of 12-bit color, also called Deep Color, available from advanced HD sources and displays. Greater color depth, from 8-bit to 12-bit, allows more detailed gradations of individual colors for the display of billions of colors.

x.v.Color

Extended Color Range
Ideal for advanced HDTVs with xvYCC color, also called x.v.Color. x.v.Color widens the number of available colors for 1.8 times more colors than standard RGB.

Xtreamer Knowledge Base - Does the Xtreamer support true full HD ? (http://shop.xtreamer.net/Support/questions.php?questionid=80)

Xtreamer website says it does Deep Color too.

Ya, the Xtreamer looks amazing. I'm going to wait for reviews from some people before I get one. If this model is bug free, delivers on all it's promises, and people are giving positive feedback on the forum, I'll get one.

However, I'm apprehensive to get a player from an upstart company from another country.

The Xtreamer is close to 200$ so it's more expensive than the M34A, and completely unproven.


Lets all cross our figures and hope it does deliver. The it works bug free with all it's features, has great support from the company, and they publish firmware updates lightening fast.

wildchild22 or anyone whose own EG-M34A,

Since having many DVD backup on the WHS, can EG-M34A stream DVD content from WHS and playback in its native format (straight 1:1 copy, no other format reencode)?

Currently I use MyMovie to create cover art that the WMC can see. Does EGreat support any kind of cover art similar to WMC?

I too also looking at the Xtreamer, C-200, and Conceptronic and very itchy to get one soon. Since EG-M34A is available and onsale (at the time of this message), I may give it a try.

for dvd I backup the disc to iso using anydvd-hd and make a folder and samba share. Then the nmt's can play it back with all menus subtitles and audio sleections same as from the disc.

I am very interested to see how the Xtreamer turns out, but a little skeptical. This company it appears is actually part of Mvix, which I have heard mixed reviews of their products. Also, from reading over on thenetworkedmediatank.com there seems to be some thought that Xtreamer basically copied material (Wiki, etc..) almost verbatim onto their site. If so this is definitely not cool. The Xtreamer forum is very light in members, so very hard to tell user experience, or if anyone even has one. One product I would think to lay low until we start getting some real world feedback.

I was also going to suggest the SageTV HD200 but scratch that off the list since it does not support HD audio nor downmix.

I am very interested to see how the Xtreamer turns out, but a little skeptical. This company it appears is actually part of Mvix, which I have heard mixed reviews of their products. Also, from reading over on thenetworkedmediatank.com there seems to be some thought that Xtreamer basically copied material (Wiki, etc..) almost verbatim onto their site. If so this is definitely not cool. The Xtreamer forum is very light in members, so very hard to tell user experience, or if anyone even has one. One product I would think to lay low until we start getting some real world feedback.

I was also going to suggest the SageTV HD200 but scratch that off the list since it does not support HD audio nor downmix.

When it comes to a "cheaper" NMT it seems like the way to go right now is the EG-M34A which comes in at about 170$ (US) with shipping.


In the future the Xtreamer maybe the way to go. It's basically the same price as the EG-M34A. Comes to 164$ (US) but this doesn't include import taxes which I'm not sure will be charged or not.

I completely agree about waiting! I'll wait for some braver souls than I to take the risk. If forums like AVS start filling with rave reviews of the player, I'll get mine in maybe the 4th order batch.

For almost 200$ I don't see the problem with waiting 4 months.

I completely agree about waiting! I'll wait for some braver souls than I to take the risk. If forums like AVS start filling with rave reviews of the player, I'll get mine in maybe the 4th order batch.

For almost 200$ I don't see the problem with waiting 4 months.

Haha, same here :D