I decided to move this to a new thread since it seems to make the most sense. This is in response to the discussion brewing in the shoutbox regarding HD media players and Popcorn Hour.
On network connectivity - A network connection is your lifeline. Many/most/all media players will connect to your network via wireless or wired nowadays and you DEFINITELY want yours to. If it doesn't, how would you access your central data storage or stream media to the device? Nowadays it isn't enough to be able to stick a disk into a device and play it, you need many ways to move your media to your tv and tuner. Even many TV's are made to connect directly to your network so you can stream Internet content via what are called "Widgets" which, IMO, are really a waste unless you're someone who is satisfied with limiting streaming to Flickr pics and Yahoo videos. I want to play BlueRay and DVD movies, listen to CD's, listen to MP3's, watch DIVx's, rent a movie on Netflix, watch Hulu videos, rotate photos off a USB key, etc, etc. Almost ALL of this requires connectivity to a network and any media player worth it's time will connect to yours.
On device connectivity - @Coragin, HDMI is the preferred method nowadays rather than USB but it works very much the same way. Typically you would have a device, usually a receiver/tuner, with multiple HDMI inputs and a single output. You would connect in, say, a Blue Ray player, PS3, Media PC, etc and have one HDMI connection out to your TV. HDMI carries both video and audio signals in a single, High-Def digital connection. In fact, HDMI and DVI (connection on most video cards and monitors nowadays) are essentially the same format just different connectors.
On price - yes the popcorn hour is $300 without any blueray/dvd/hard drive or wireless. This isn't cheap, especially considering a Terabyte drive (if you want it) will run you about $75 and a Blue-Ray drive about the same. Fully equipped you are looking at around $500. However, what you get for this money is the ability to do EVERYTHING I discuss above and more. This replaces a Blueray/DVD player, CD Player, Netflix streaming box, a Slingbox, a Media PC, and more. They aren't going after the DVD Player market, they're going after the Media PC market with a Blueray player price point. To build the same thing in a Media Center PC you'd pay $200 or more just for a decent media PC case. The base model of the C200 is the same price as a PS3! There aren't any other media players out there doing the same thing for much less, especially when you start looking at your lower-end PCH models (A-200 with no drives is much cheaper).
But if not PCH there are some other potentially promising systems out there, you just have to keep an eye out. For me it comes down to features supporting the Entertainment Center consolidation. There's a thread or 2 on this here in Off-Topic somewhere; one started by me and one by Cerv. What is EC consolidaiton? Well, at my house I have a 7-foot high monster, Sauder entertainment Center I bought at Service Merchandise 12 years ago. In this bohemith I have a dual-cassette player, 5 disc CD changer, old 5.1 Dolby Surround Sound receiver, a broken DVD player that works once in a while, my Comcast set top box, a VHS player, a 275 pound 36" television, and countless VHS's and DVD's in the media cupboards on either side. I want this to be nothing more than a 46" LED Television sitting on a small, esthetically appealing cabinet with nothing more than a receiver, a media player, and a DVR all connected with single HDMI cables and the ability to connect to network attached storage whether it's a share on my PC or a NAS in the basement.
Anyhow, this post is starting to look like it's from Coragin (hehe
just playin with ya buddy) so I'll wrap it up. Hope it's helpful, as you can tell I've been doing a lot of research for a while. I'd be happy to share some more specific models I've chosen should anyone care!
Peace!
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