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Duels: Battle of the Five Star Products >

HDI Dune BD Prime 3.0 vs PopcornHour C-200

Régis Jehl
Updated: May 14, 2010
In the left corner, the HDI Dune BD Prime 3.0 has a built-in Blu-ray player, a Gigabit Ethernet connection and an internal hard drive bay. All this and more helped it score five stars in our product test! |
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| 		In the right corner, the PopcornHour C-200 has a large LCD, a rack for the optional Blu-ray player and a radio frequency remote control. It looks set to be a close call, as this media centre also came away with a five-star rating!


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Chip: Sigma Designs SMP8642 | Chip: Sigma Designs SMP8643
Ethernet: 1 Gbps - Wi-Fi N optional | Ethernet: 1 Gbps - Wi-Fi N optional
Screen: 1-line VFD
 | Screen: LCD
IR remote control
 | RF remote control
Integrated Blu-ray drive
 | Optional Blu-ray drive

BACKGROUND

Although HDI and PopcornHour aren't well-known brands on the high-street, they've certainly made their mark among home cinema enthusiasts. In both cases, it's the possibilities on offer in these two devices that caught the eye of demanding and specialist users.

The integrated Blu-ray player is a top selling point for the BD Prime. In fact, it's difficult to tell whether this is a Blu-ray player with advanced multimedia functions or a media centre that can also read optical discs.

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 		Although it's difficult to choose, I'd probably go for the latter definition.

The PopcornHour, however, is a media centre with room to add an optional computer Blu-ray drive that you'll have to buy separately.

The real strength of both media centres lies in the manufacturer follow-up. Firmware is updated frequently to correct bugs, compatibility issues, and above all, to bring new functionality. The battle for supremacy in this field is really heating up, with both manufacturers constantly announcing forthcoming updates to keep their users on tenterhooks (Flash interface, integrated video jukebox etc.).

DESIGN & HANDLING: POPCORNHOUR WINS

A media centre's design and handling essentially depends on the quality of its interface. Whereas the interface was previously just a means to an ends, it's now the subject of all our attention. A minor revolution is also set to shake things up in 2010 with the arrival of Flash-based menus.


Menus: although the Dune's menus are in high definition, they look a bit old-fashioned with a 'big square icon' layout that isn't always easy to decipher. We much prefer the PopcornHour spin-round menu of instantly identifiable icons.

Settings: both media centres offer plenty of advanced settings.
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Frame rate: anyone who's serious about film will know that videos aren't all recorded with the same frame rate (25, 24 or 23.976 frames per second).

To keep the picture smooth and prevent jolts and glitches, the device must be able to adapt to the video's frame rate. So  it looks like it's a draw in this field as both media centres can do this automatically.

BLU-RAY COMPATIBILITY: A WIN FOR DUNE

One of the main advantages of the Dune is that it comes with a Blu-ray player already built-in. With the PopcornHour, you'll have to shell out an extra £100 for a computer Blu-ray drive. You then also have to fit it into the device yourself, and once you've done so you'll find it spoils the look of the front panel. The Dune Blu-ray drive is perfectly integrated and doesn't affect the design in any way.
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| 		The two media centres can play high-street DVD and Blu-ray discs, as well as audio CDs. In both cases, the menus are quick to load and all of the options you'd find in a dedicated player are available: soundtrack selection, subtitle selection, bonus content, etc.

COMPATIBILITY: DRAW

Photos: both media centres can correctly read and display photos taken with high-resolution cameras (24 Megapixels). Flicking from photo to photo is much quicker with the PCH, although the Dune does start loading up the next photos when you stay on one snap for a while, so you can then move on almost instantly.

Audio: in this category, the PCH has the slight advantage as it displays album covers. However, both devices support Dolby Digital and DTS.

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Video: the same decoder chip is used in both devices and both can play HD content at a high bitrate (up to 90 Mbps). Compatible formats are identical in both media centres, although supported subtitles formats do differ. Another draw!

Ripped DVDs and BRs: it's a draw again. In both products the menus, audio tracks and subtitles are all maintained in ripped versions.

HARDWARE: MORE POINTS FOR POPCORNHOUR


Screen: music fans might often want to play a track without having to turn on the TV. The PCH wins in this field with its large LCD, it's just a shame about those tight viewing angles. The BD Prime only has a one-line VFD that can't be used to navigate through folders.

Remote control: the PCH remote is backlit, making it easier to use in darkened rooms. Plus, it has a top-quality finish and uses radio frequency communication rather than infra-red. That means you don't have to point it directly at the device for it to work. The Dune remote isn't backlit and isn't quite as well finished.

Hard drive: draw again! The C-200 can be fitted with a regular 3.5" hard drive, so long as you don't plan on using the bay for a Blu-ray player. Alternatively, it can be fitted with a 2.5" laptop hard drive. The BD Prime can only be used with a 2.5" hard drive.

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Networking: draw. Both media centres have an Ethernet port for wired networking. They do, however, stand out from the crowd with their 1,000 Mbps Gigabit connection compared with most competitors' 100 Mbps ports.

Unfortunately, although the networking speeds are higher than those of 100 Mbps models, they're still nowhere near Gigabit speed. It's a problem found in both drives, and which is linked to the type of chip they use.

Wi-Fi: draw, draw, draw. Wireless connectivity is an optional extra in both media centres. You'll need to hook up a wireless (or wireless-n) USB adapter. An internal Wi-Fi card can also be added as an optional extra to the PCH for a cost of £40-£50. This is highly effective and ensures speeds comparable to a wired connection.

NETWORKING & WEB FUNCTIONS: POPCORNHOUR WINS

Both media centres feature BitTorrent clients, are compatible with UPnP and allow access to shared files on your computer. The PopcornHour also offers a selection of connected services. There's a very good weather forecast service, as well as access to services like Jamendo, Flickr, Picasa, Photobucket, Internet radio stations and RSS feeds.

VIDEO JUKEBOX: POPCORNHOUR WINS (FOR THE MOMENT?)

A video jukebox allows you to create a kind of custom 'page' for each of your films or series that you can then browse through to pick what you want to watch. Each page features things like the movie poster, a plot summary, the cast list, the film's duration, the type of video etc. Neither device is supplied with an application allowing you to set up a jukebox straight away. You therefore have to use third-party tools developed by the user community, which can be a little off-putting for inexperienced users.

PopcornHour: the most well-known application is YAMJ. Configuration might look a bit scary (with manual page editing), but it's still the best system out there to date. When properly configured, it will automatically retrieve all the relevant information for each and every film in your video library. Other plus points include the way it handles TV series, the large and active user community, and the choice and quality of the different skins (themes) available.

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 		Dune BD Prime 3.0: there's not as much choice as for the PCH. One of the most widely used applications is called 'My Movies'. Skins and themes aren't quite as good as those available for YAMJ or for networked media tanks. Plus, if you need a hand setting it up or using third-party applications, there are only a few specialist forums of HDI users out there, as the community is much smaller than that of PopcornHour users.


YAMJ, with an AEON skin makes a great video jukebox

VERDICT: POPCORNHOUR FOR FUNCTIONS, DUNE FOR PRICE

If we add up the scores of this duel, the PopcornHour C-200 comes out as the clear winner. So does that make the HDI Dune BD Prime 3.0 a bad choice? Well,no actually, it still very much deserves it five-star rating.

We've seen that the PCH has more functions, as well as a large LCD and a high-end remote. All that does, however, come at a price. Let's say we want to kit out both media centres to watch Blu-ray discs and store files.		 |
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| 		PopcornHour C-200: the basic model will set you back around £300. Then you'll need a computer Blu-ray drive for around £100 and a 500 GB hard drive for £50 to £60 That makes a total cost of at least £450!

HDI Dune BD Prime 3.0: the total cost is still pretty pricey: £370 for the device and £50-£60 for the hard drive, making a total of £420. So if you're not interested in the PCH's extra functions then the Dune makes a decent and slightly cheaper alternative.

Why not just get a computer? This is a question we get asked often here at DigitalVersus. Given that media centres don't exactly come cheap, could it be worth getting a home cinema PC instead? We'll address the question in greater detail in a forthcoming duel!
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