64 replies to this topic

[cwt]

com5984, on 11 September 2012 - 07:09 PM, said:

They're all coming out of the woodwork now it seems. I'm  a little confused realtek or sigma, maybe the sigma if they are gonna support like they're talking about doing.

Its a new chip Rob [they have exclusive rights to it for the rest of the year] and Popcorn have had bug issues with new chips before ;heres an interview with Mr lim about the a400 ;they oem'd the casework to silverlight to make sure it runs cooler

http://www.httv.co.il/article03914

Very nice idea operating the PH with the ipad u get ;and the vxp processing . Forget about full 3d iso bd menus from now ;anything with a bd license is fair game

Quote

just and update from passing werner in shoutbox on pch forum it was PCH decision to not bring full bd menu due to the bd stack not being stable and full bd menu means they also bring cinevia in.

The dune base 3d is based on the 8672 so hasnt got the vxp on its chip so will be interesting to compare the 2 come October iirc . Ime waiting to find out if the new oppo's 4k qdeo chip may handle 3d bd folders - of course 3d iso's are no chance Its no surprise there is no listing for which chip is in the dune hd max ;its got a bd drive so who knows -  mvc 3d decode ; 3d m2ts

[hazzad]

cwt, on 11 September 2012 - 10:34 PM, said:

Very nice idea operating the PH with the ipad u get ;and the vxp processing . Forget about full 3d iso bd menus from now ;anything with a bd license is fair game



The dune base 3d is based on the 8672 so hasnt got the vxp on its chip so will be interesting to compare the 2 come October iirc . Ime waiting to find out if the new oppo's 4k qdeo chip may handle 3d bd folders - of course 3d iso's are no chance Its no surprise there is no listing for which chip is in the dune hd max ;its got a bd drive so who knows -  mvc 3d decode ; 3d m2ts

I have more faith in Dune being able to squeeze more out of these chips than Popcorn hour. They got full BD menu support on their series where Popcorn hour seemed to dance around it. The new players will suport full BD iso playback. Just a matter of whether they find a way to support full menu playback or whether we will be stuck with BD lite. I hope not.

[com5984]

thanks Col, I'll check that out.

[cwt]

I hope VLC have some success with this vv ; we may get full menus eventually ;the good thing is its stupid bd-j on the discs thats the root problem and not aacs per se Theres the legal way and the grey option. I do like the full component width the dune 3d hd base has ; for sure dont need a bd drive to cark it ; I just want source direct ;shouldnt be too hard I hope   

http://www.avsforum....0#post_22394899

Edited by cwt, 12 September 2012 - 11:36 PM.

[com5984]

I just picked up one of these only 108 bucks. It'll give me something to play with until all these new ones come out.

[cwt]

Good find at that price mate ;firmware should be more stable than newer models I imagine

[com5984]

True, there up to version 4 for firmware I believe, all reports suggest mediocre pvr but very capable media player which is all i'm looking for.

[hazzad]

The Astone units are pretty basic. I have the 110 and it fine as long as you dont throw anything to big at it. That is it will struggle with HD audio MKV's and BD iso's particulrly with heavy bitrate scene's. Now this could just be an issue it has with streaming over the LAN but having said that my Dune doesnt miss a beat so it isnt my setup that is causing that problem.

[com5984]

I haven't tried an iso yet but all the 1080p mkv rips have been fine, also flac. I have been looking for a good program for ripping bluray to iso

Edited by com5984, 20 September 2012 - 02:53 PM.

[cwt]

com5984, on 20 September 2012 - 02:52 PM, said:

I haven't tried an iso yet but all the 1080p mkv rips have been fine, also flac. I have been looking for a good program for ripping bluray to iso

Try fabs HD decrypter mate ;its free then you can consider anyhdvd or fabs bd copy afterwards

[com5984]

Should have added for mac, but thanks Col I'll start there and see if it's compatible the other option I was thinking was dvdfab

[cwt]

Yes Rob they recently made it mac compatible . One thing is they dont apply their latest decryption for a month or so after the paid version . I only buy discs after they drop in price so being a cheapskate pays off for me big time

[mmu16]

com5984, on 13 September 2012 - 01:10 PM, said:

I just picked up one of these only 108 bucks. It'll give me something to play with until all these new ones come out.

I picked up one of these last weekend and stuffed a 3TB drive in it.  Unfortunately its been giving me nothing but problems.  Freezes way too many times.  ive tried watching BR iso files on it and it does play them but freezes after about 15-20 mins play time.  Also, its got no on/off switch so the only way to reboot is to unplug the power cord. NAS function is pretty patchy and im actually regretting getting this. HTPC build would've been the easier route me thinks.  How has your experience been with this com?

[com5984]

mmu16, on 15 October 2012 - 10:57 AM, said:

I picked up one of these last weekend and stuffed a 3TB drive in it.  Unfortunately its been giving me nothing but problems.  Freezes way too many times.  ive tried watching BR iso files on it and it does play them but freezes after about 15-20 mins play time.  Also, its got no on/off switch so the only way to reboot is to unplug the power cord. NAS function is pretty patchy and im actually regretting getting this. HTPC build would've been the easier route me thinks.  How has your experience been with this com?

I don't have a hdd in mine just connected by lan to my nas. I only have 1 iso which it won't play but I'm not sure where the fault lies. I've just created an iso which I will try tonight. As far as streaming from the nas it has been fine, I've got some hddvd's that I ripped to 1080 and it plays them no problem..
I can mount iso's on my nas but was assuming that this thing would play them anyway.

[com5984]

I created an iso of supertramp live in paris, it doesn't work but not sure if it's a network speed problem. It does the network speed check and then goes to the next film in the list.

Edited by com5984, 15 October 2012 - 07:59 PM.

[mmu16]

Yup, had trouble with playing an ISO too - it just didnt work. BR folders were playable but it froze after 20 mins or so.  I tried about 4 movies and the same result. I was playing them off the internal HDD (brand new WD green) so no issues with bandwidth.  A normal 576i movie plays OK but I find the system freezes when navigating the menu (specially moving in and out of system settings menu option).  The fact it doesnt have a physical on/off button really gets on my nerves! Ill probably return it this weekend back to the retailer.

[com5984]

might just move it to the young blokes room, it plays all the tv shows and movies ok. I'm thinking I'll grab a dune.

[mmu16]

So I returned the Astone 310DT back to the shop. They took down some notes and said they have to test it to confirm the issues. If they find its got problems, i'll get store credit. If there are no problems, i'd have to pay $45 for testing. Either i'm going to have $135 store credit or loose $180 on a dud product!

[com5984]

I got some modified firmware to try from someone on whirlpool, still can't get it to play iso's. My jailbroken atv2 will play them with xbmc.

[com5984]

Looks like there is a new mac mini being released soon, that could be my new media player running xbmc

[ajm]

The current minis no good for XBMC?

[com5984]

ajm, on 22 October 2012 - 03:20 PM, said:

The current minis no good for XBMC?

They are, but I've been waiting to get a new one. I need a permanent computer connected to my NAS for itunes and htpc duties rather than my mbp which travels with me.

[ajm]

Out of curiosity then, what will the new minis do that the current (or older) versions can't?  They're not exactly cheap for the amount of computing power you get so I'm wondering what the extra expense gets you?  I've been close to grabbing one of the core2 versions a couple of times but the lack of BD really puts me off.  Ideally I'd like to be able to have something that size but that can play and rip BD.

[com5984]

The new ones have the ivy bridge processor, usb 3.0, more ram. I was thinking of the server model, quad core with ssd drives and at least 16gb ram. Agreed re bd drive I have an external one to plug in for ripping purposes.

[ajm]

Ouch! That's a chunk of coin for a XBMC/HTPC - sleek though it is!

How do the upgraded specs translate as far as HTPC tasks go though?  I know more is more and we love more but I'm wondering if I might be hoping for too much out of a 2nd hand mini.