We last spent some time with Popcorn Hour back in May, when we reviewed the company’s larger C-200 media receiver. That model has been the darling of media enthusiasts everywhere for well over a year, but whilst powerful under the hood, its wide form factor may not suit every household – more importantly, its $299 price tag looks expensive compared to the new kids on the block, Apple TV and Boxee, both of whom have dropped in (relatively in the latter case) inexpensive media receivers into the market place this year. With foresight, the cheaper, smaller Popcorn Hour A-200 was released at the beginning of the year, and this month sees the release of the A-210 – in many respects, similar to the A-200 internally, but boasting a higher quality, fanless aluminium chassis.
What’s in the Box?
Your new A-210 arrives generously bundled with the following:
- Popcorn Hour A-210
- Power Cable & Adaptor
- 1.5m HDMI Cable
- 2 x USB Cables
- Remote Control
- 2 x AAA Batteries
- Hard drive mounting screws
- Quick start guide
- Installation Guide
First Looks
The A-210’s new, brushed aluminium chassis looks great. It’s a lot more professional looking than the A-200 and more compact than the C-200 (although misses out on some of its bigger brother’s key selling features, such as the front LCD display and controls as well as one of the hard drive slots). At 270mm (width) x 132mm (depth) x 32mm (height) (10.5″ x 5.25″ x 1.25″) it’s still going to need a decent amount of space in the TV cabinet, however. The front panel includes indicators for power and remote control plus a USB 2.0 port for external storage devices – the rear of the A-210 remains tidy – no mean achievement given the swathe of connectors included.
You can compare the A-210 to its predecessors, courtesy of the following photos:
Popcorn Hour A-200
Popcorn Hour C-200
Clearly, the A-210 is a compromise, but a decent one at that. If you need a lot of internal storage, and support for Blu-Ray then the C-200 is definitely worth the extra $100. Looking for a compact, well featured network streamer, then the extra $20 you’ll pay for the A-210’s chassis may well be worth it, but do bear in mind that you’ll lose a couple of those more advanced features from the C-200.
