[Wireless Hd]


Hi I am new to this forum and I just want to have your toughs about having the best media streamer on the market.

 

I have currenthly the Western Digital TV live but with my Windows 8.1 it has trouble finding my my shared files on my PC. So I will keep my Western Digital for the apps ( VUDU, NETFLIX, HULU PLUS ) and will buy a new media streamer that will do the job with no assles.

 

what I want in a media streamer  with no particular order :

 

1) blazing fast WI-FI connection ( I have a brand new AC 1900 ASUS RT-AC68U ) and Ethernet connection at 1000 mbps

 

2) Play BD ISO with full 3d support and all the other formats available

 

3) Web browser

 

4) The best menu for user interface

 

5) Zappiti or equivalent Media Center with the best description for the files ( aspect ratio, sound format, bitrate, ect )

 

6) Play AND decode DTS-HD MA, Dolby TrueHD, PCM 7.1, FLAC 24 bits 192KHZ 7 channels

 

 

I am living in Québec, Canada so I want to be able to order it and receive it at home. So In the meantime can you give me dealers names where I can purchase the product.

 

 

My first choice will be a Zappiti player, is the Mede8er or Popcorn are better solutions ?

 

Thanks for the advice

 

Xavier

 

[Wireless Hd]

I need more feedback please...

 

[ash_man]

It's not an easy question to answer, there are a lot of small players in this market at the moment, I don't know personally if I would trust any of them with my money at this point. With streaming services like netflix becoming so popular I think many people no long see the need for streaming devices, so that leaves a 'small' segment of the market wanting them. I was a fan of the boxee box when ti was around but its two years out of development and a dead product now, so the WD Live players remain one of the few and oldest media players around. There are certainly some attractive offerings from the small players but I have my reservations as to how long they will be around and when they might dump their products and stop supporting/developing them.

 

[kpump]

Unfortunately your looking for a unicorn right now.

Unless you do a htpc there is no one good box.

best bet is apple tv if your into apple or roku if not for online content.

and either the mede8er or popcorn hour for your local content. or even a small openelec build for local, but 3d support is not there.

 

[cbb77]

Take a look at the Dune players. I know they are older but still work great. I have the Dune HD Smart D1 and it has played everything I have thrown at it. I think it will handle most of what you are looking for with the exception of 3D.


Here's some links:

http://www.duneplayer.com/dune-hd-smart-d1.html




Looks like they have a version now that handles 3D. I don't have any experience with is so not sure how well it works.

http://dune-hd-usa.com/Products/DuneHDBase3D.aspx

 

[Wireless Hd]

Thanks for the reply. I have already looked at the Dune players. Only the Hd Base 3D fits for me but I know that a Dune Hd with Zappiti features is avalaible in Europe. They said on the Zappiti website that this version of Dune is available in the Usa but I could not find it on the Dune website.


What about the Mede8er players ? Are they worth it ? Their menu interface look georgous

 

[halfelite]



Quote:
Originally Posted by Wireless Hd  /t/1522065/searching-for-the-absolu...orn-hour-a410-mede8er-med600x3d#post_24468555


Hi I am new to this forum and I just want to have your toughs about having the best media streamer on the market.


I have currenthly the Western Digital TV live but with my Windows 8.1 it has trouble finding my my shared files on my PC. So I will keep my Western Digital for the apps ( VUDU, NETFLIX, HULU PLUS ) and will buy a new media streamer that will do the job with no assles.


what I want in a media streamer  with no particular order :


1) blazing fast WI-FI connection ( I have a brand new AC 1900 ASUS RT-AC68U ) and Ethernet connection at 1000 mbps none of the players have wifi and even with AC wifi is still not good at streaming high bitrate that latency kills it you are best sticking to wired and all of the device support it.


2) Play BD ISO with full 3d support and all the other formats available what do you call full 3d support none of the device that do 3d will support menus all of them only do bd light menus.


3) Web browser The pch has no web browser the mede8er has one and I think the dune does I can only comment on the mede8er but its not even worth it to browse on it


4) The best menu for user interface matter of preference on that one


5) Zappiti or equivalent Media Center with the best description for the files ( aspect ratio, sound format, bitrate, ect ) almost all of them have this with the exception the built in jukebox on the mede8er does not you have to use a pc and use yamj to get that information


6) Play AND decode DTS-HD MA, Dolby TrueHD, PCM 7.1, FLAC 24 bits 192KHZ 7 channels Im not sure if any of the players support full decoding of the formats you listed they will bitstream all the formats but not decode



I am living in Québec, Canada so I want to be able to order it and receive it at home. So In the meantime can you give me dealers names where I can purchase the product.



My first choice will be a Zappiti player, is the Mede8er or Popcorn are better solutions ?


Thanks for the advice


Xavier

 

[kpump]

The mede8er menu is okay, nothing like xbmc etc. I have not used the popcorn hour with the plex app on it. I heard it looks great, not sure about 3d support through plex, but the unit will.

 

[Wireless Hd]

Halfelite thanks for the input but :


1) My Ac1900 Asus router is doing the job marvelousely with my 50 mbps internet connexion no lag when streaming m2ts files of 40 gigs with DTS HD audio on the Western Digital. And it s only on the 2,4 ghz band .


2)BD light is okay for me. At least


3)So maybe the one in the Dune id better.


4)Yeah maybe but I want full graphical, High Definition lovely interface. The 3 seems to deliver but I want the best one


5)Zappiti is a must for me or the equivalent at least that. The Mee8der cant do it ??? On their website they are advertising Media Center with full description with great resolution.


6)I dont agree with you on that my Western Digital play all the HD files with ease and I have only a Tv with HDMI connection so the Dune will be fine as advertised.

 

[Wireless Hd]



Quote:
Originally Posted by kpump  /t/1522065/searching-for-the-absolu...orn-hour-a410-mede8er-med600x3d#post_24471130


The mede8er menu is okay, nothing like xbmc etc. I have not used the popcorn hour with the plex app on it. I heard it looks great, not sure about 3d support through plex, but the unit will.

 what is xbmc ? 

 

So far with all your inputs the mede8er is dropped. So there is only 2 now : The Dune and the Popcorn Hour

 

[Wireless Hd]


The Popcorn A410 ( new model to pre-order ) looks stunning on the specs  http://www.cloudmedia.com/products/popcornhour/a-410

 

- 1024 DDR2 RAM

- 24 bits ESS Sabre Audiophile DAC 192 KHZ

- DSD

- processeur SIGMA SMP8911 Dual Core

- NMJ looks very good ( Networked Media Jukebox pre -installed with the unit )

 

but... NO WI-FI ! only Ethernet at 1000 mbps

 

There is an option to add a USB wireless card  with it for 14,99 $... Don t know that could be a deal braker for me.

 

The wireless N on the DUNE seems to be much stronger

 

any more tough ?

 

[GusGus748s]

What you want doesn't exist, and it probably never will. Dune Smart Series media players are probably the best 2D media player with several different jukeboxes. The Mede8er is probably the best 3D media player with an "okay" jukebox. PCH is a hit or miss type of media player. I wouldn't even bother to look at the new Dune media players specially if your looking to play 3D. I also don't bother to streaming high bitrate files via wireless since it doesn't work 100% all the time. I only use wired. I stream wireless by transcoding on the fly, but you need to have a decent CPU for this if you want to do multiple streams.


I use the Dune D1 for streaming all of my 2D movies, and bought a dedicated 3D Bluray player for 3D only. My TV is a smart tv so, I use the TV's Netflix app. Good luck with your decision, but if I was you, I would be looking at HTPC.

 

[Wireless Hd]


GusGus748s  thanks but no thanks... My HTPC is and WILL Stay in my bedroom. I am watching movies on my big screen TV and I dont want to watch them on my PC. This is a not an option. I dont understand why you are praising Dune for the HD Smart but dont want to recommand it for the 3d models like the HD base and Zappiti ???

 

3D is a plus for me; I have a couple of 3D ISO blu ray but most of my ISO are 2D. As for streaming like I said I have a 50 mbits internet connection + my ASUS AC 1900 router + a I7-3770 3rd generation, 32 gigs of ram and 256 gigs SSD drive on Windows pro 8.1 so no problem on that side !

 

Jukebox choices and design are VERY HIGH on my features scale.

 

I will probably end with a DUNE ZAPPITI... to be continued...

 

[bigbarney]

I'm looking as well. Right now I have the Boxee box and of course it has been discontinued. The one thing I like about boxee is that it automatically searches the net and downloads movie info and cover label/pic when it finds a matching title label. Do the above mentioned machines do the same? Also I heard that Dune is not that great with updating software. Is this true?


So far I have narrowed the choice down to

Mede8er 800x 3d

Popcorn hour a410

Dune HD Base


Do these automatically search for movie info and how do they stack up to to the boxee box?


(Sorry 'wireless hd'! Don't mean to highjack your thread. It just seems we're looking for the same... the "best")

 

[Wireless Hd]


No problem bigbarney ! Me too I had the BOXEE BOX. It was at that time THE MEDIA STREAMER to own. It was doing everything I wanted but the big letdown was the BOGGING ! Mine was bogging like hell. I did everything to keep playing it but after 1 year of bogging it died...

 

For now for me the choice  will be :

 

1) Zappiti Dune player ( I dont understand why people doesn't seem to choose this machine. Its' a DUNE Hd Base with Zappiti features. People here do not seem to like Zappiti or what ? )

 

2) Pocorn Hour A-410 : new model with great SIGMA SMP8911 Dual Core processor and 24 bits ESS Sabre Audiophile DAC 192 KHZ. Plus NMJ (Networked Media Jukebox ) looks very good. Only thing that bother me on that machine will be the Wi-Fi performance that seems the poorest of the bunch.

 

3) Mee8der 600x3d with Wi-Fi. I would like to see the jukebox apparence and interaction if it fits my needs.

 

[GusGus748s]



Quote:
Originally Posted by Wireless Hd  /t/1522065/searching-for-the-absolu...orn-hour-a410-mede8er-med600x3d#post_24503152


No problem bigbarney ! Me too I had the BOXEE BOX. It was at that time THE MEDIA STREAMER to own. It was doing everything I wanted but the big letdown was the BOGGING ! Mine was bogging like hell. I did everything to keep playing it but after 1 year of bogging it died...


For now for me the choice  will be :


1) Zappiti Dune player ( I dont understand why people doesn't seem to choose this machine. Its' a DUNE Hd Base with Zappiti features. People here do not seem to like Zappiti or what ? )


2) Pocorn Hour A-410 : new model with great SIGMA SMP8911 Dual Core processor and 24 bits ESS Sabre Audiophile DAC 192 KHZ. Plus NMJ (Networked Media Jukebox ) looks very good. Only thing that bother me on that machine will be the Wi-Fi performance that seems the poorest of the bunch.


3) Mee8der 600x3d with Wi-Fi. I would like to see the jukebox apparence and interaction if it fits my needs.

I use 10Muse + iPad app. I still got Zappiti and Yadis set up as well usually I show my family and friend the difference between them, and they options you would have with the Dune. I don't buy a Mede8er for two things, 1) Their jukebox is lacking, and 2) No forced subtitle support.

 

[Brajesh]

You're right on the forced subs issue, but not a problem for me as I do mostly MKV (even for 3D, as M8R supports MVC MKV) and only include forced subs, so leaving subs on permanently works just fine. For jukebox, it's a preference, but I quite like M8R's jukebox. Their built-in movie scraper is quite good (recently updated design is simple, clean) (see attached), and now they have a built-in TV scraper as well.

 

[GusGus748s]



Quote:
Originally Posted by Brajesh  /t/1522065/searching-for-the-absolu...orn-hour-a410-mede8er-med600x3d#post_24503643


You're right on the forced subs issue, but not a problem for me as I do mostly MKV (even for 3D, as M8R supports MVC MKV) and only include forced subs, so leaving subs on permanently works just fine. For jukebox, it's a preference, but I quite like M8R's jukebox. Their built-in movie scraper is quite good (recently updated design is simple, clean) (see attached), and now they have a built-in TV scraper as well.

That doesn't work for me. My parents at times need Spanish Subs. So, I include English, Spanish and forced subs. I wonder what the Mede8er is going to do for the future regarding a new chip. Possibly supporting Plex?

 

[Brajesh]



Quote:
I wonder what the Mede8er is going to do for the future regarding a new chip.

I'm wondering this for PCH, Dune and Mede8er... are there any new chips (and possibly players) on the horizon? It seems all we hear about these days are lackluster Android boxes.

 

[GusGus748s]

Honestly, I think Dune is done. PCH moved out the country. I think the future is software like Plex. The media player niche is dying out.