PopBox Owners' Thread: Impressions, Reviews & Tips - Page 61

As i have read every post in this thread, I have a few thoughts to share...

First off, It's good for popcorn hour that they didn't associate this product on thier site. I read somewhere that it was due to the PB not being technically a "Networked Media Tank".. but now I kind of wonder if there wasn't another underlying reason or 2.

I also wonder if they had just designed the PB as a mini A-200 w/o the internal drive capability would all this debacle have still occurred. I personally would have snatched several of these up to replace my old Xboxes if they had have just hooked into my YAMJ and been a $99 basic streamer.

It's all unfortunate for the PB team but ....someone should be looking for another place to work after the dust settles with this product failure. Lessons learned.

As for the owners who have decided to wait it out, my money is on PB fixing the issues and the result being a very capable streamer.

As I remember, the A-100 was quite bug ridden when it came out, and now it's pretty solid (and of course 2 yrs out of production). The big difference is that when I bought the A-100, there really wasn't any competition for HD content streaming other than a PC. Now the market is saturated with streamers, yet none of them have truly emerged as the "do everything" device and subsequently find the magic consumer "price point".

If there is a Dune-Lite (as has been rumored and suggested here) to be released, it may just hit the mark and be such a device.

New firmware available for the popbox. Please let us know how it works if anybody gets to it before tonight.

Wednesday, July 27th Firmware.
A new firmware version 02-02-100727-19-POP-412-000-updatesplash is now available. Please restart your box to get this upgrade. Some of the fixes in this release are:

· Ability to play whole music album (from beginning) with skip forward/back to go to previous or next song

· Frame rate sync settings

· Fix for TV output when using component mode

· Media Library Scanner fixes:
1. In some case the content scanner did not add files to the movie section but does add it to the all videos
2. Files with special characters like &' in names were not handled correctly


We had to drop the fix for resume playback from previous stop point for this release to give priority to other critical bugs. The next release will have this feature and also support for subtitles. Stay tuned for a date for that release.

I called for a "Dune Core" back in Dec 09..

deleted it would serve no purpose...sorry for post

With the number of messages in this thread, maybe it is time to start a new one... one with a more specific title and it's purpose and objectives listed in the very first post. I have a lot of patience when it comes to these kind of issues but if I was just jumping on board, this thread would overwhelm even someone like me.

I've been following this thread for some time, literally read almost every post so far, and even if this thread stays on topic from this point on, the damage is already done. It doesn't matter what anyone thinks of the PB... what does matter is anyone who chooses to own one, or is interested in it's progress so they know when it's time for them to buy one, has a place to go where they can receive and/or provide assistance without being criticized.

Personally, the best thing that could happen with this thread is for someone to begin a new thread with a more focused objective that also summarizes where the PB stands now, then close this thread.

Well...there's plenty I could say in response; to this, and your previous rant. But the Mod has asked us to play nice, so I'll bite my tongue.

You might do the same; I think he's had it here.

CD

That's the right move at this point; don't delay getting everything on the list fixed. At least give us something, and relatively on-time.

CD

I was going to do it; an Official Owners Thread. But then I saw this does actually have Owners in the title. Semantics I guess.

I don't mind input from the dissenters; but when you come into an owner's thread, and say "your product sucks and you're stupid for having it", that's just going to lead to trouble.

AaronHT, if someone is going to do it, I think you're the guy. You seem to have the most (it's 3, isn't it) and most success.

CD

Maybe the mod can change the title of this thread before closing it so it doesn't mislead others afterwards.

And I think we should leave out the words "Imressions" and "Reviews" in the next "Owners" thread... that's asking for trouble

Guys, stop the finger pointing and stick to the topic. Come'on, why waste your energy over this. Any reviews on the new firmware? Good, bad, ugly?

I ordered one yesterday with the usb wifi. It was $5 cheaper than Popbox with free fedex shipping. They seller does have a 20% restocking fee.

Since I don't want Netflix (it will probably never have it), I don't need the Dolby HD or DTS True HD passthrough (I only have a 5.1 surround system but that passthrough is supposed to be available in a FW update soon), it can use YAMJ as a UI (new FW), and it's a more "mature" product than Popbox, I thought I would give it a go.

I can let you know how it works for me, but my needs are humble compared to most of you guys.

Mic

Actually, we all have.

WTF now my dvds don't play! Another user reported the same here http://forum.popbox.com/showthread.php?tid=206

What format are they in? Someone else updated and their DVD isos still work.

If I were to summarize 99% of the PB issues in two words, they would be "firmware failure". If I were to describe the owners of the PB in two words, they would be "beta testers"... and I don't mean that as in insult by any means. I beta tested several software programs back in my hacking days and let's just say I've always loved a good challenge. But that's what brings me to my point... even though firmware can be updated like software, you cannot have people beta test hardware devices.

In my opinion, if a company doesn't have the resources to release a hardware product with the firmware that will give them what was promised in virtually bug free form, it's not going to survive in this brutal market... the PB being the case in point. Even if the PB survives, its market share will be substantially less than what it could have been, and there is no doubt this will also have at least some impact on other PCH products.

So, how do you handle putting out a product such as the PB? I guess the closest example I can think of is the Boxee Box. By releasing the Boxee software, the public is getting something they want for free. By making portions of it open source, the public is both testing and improving that sotware. In return the company provides a product that is better in all respects... more features the public wants... more stability the public deserves... and the time and resources of the public for free. But most of all, it will allow the Boxee Box to succeed where the PB falls short.

Not iso's regular dvd folders. They just screwed up the one thing that was working for me at least!

In the Pop forum, don't they suggest a hard boot after the latest firmware?

CD

Did that but will try again, someone said dvd iso's work may try that too. Anyone else try some regular vob files yet?

What special deal?

Thank you! About time.

Low $5 shipping, a free Wifi adapter and a free HDMi cable. Plus I think the price is lower too.

I wonder if the PopBox will be on sale anytime? Although three is my limit.

I just updated to the latest firmware. Here are my results.

My box was off, so I just powered it on and it automatically updated the firmware. No issues on that process.

Better:
+ YouTube plays without displaying the spinning circle in the middle.
+ When listing my movies from Media>Network|USB, I am able to page through OK - all 43 pages.

Problem:
+ I can no longer play VIDEO_TS DVD's. When I select a movie, it goes blank for a short time, then comes back to the movie listings. If I start to page through in the movie list after trying to play a VIDEO_TS folder, I start to see problems again with the listing.

No audio tests since I am not hooked up to my AVR.

We can expect that Syabas will be having a huge "open box" sale at some point in the future.

Ya think !

I just went and unpacked mine from the return shipping box just to check out the latest firmware. After the update, my entire movie collection in .vob folder format now won't work. When you try to play a movie, the screen goes black, and then after a few seconds goes back to the movie gallery. Tested on 5-6 different titles and its the same on all of them.

Please forgive me, but I couldn't resist.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pTeDAst3KA0

Man, not good. I think I'm going to hold off on updating the firmware, if I can and just wait for the next release. Do u have the option to not update?

Seems to be a consistently reported issue. Oops. Glad I don't do .VOB folder.

CD

Popbox Team, this is why you need to make previous versions of your firmware available for reinstallation.

I really don't like how fw updates happen on this box without the user having a choice.
WD never forces a fw update down your throat AND they always give you a way to
go back to an older FW.