The Popbox ($130) media streamer has finally arrived… amidst reports of firmware issues. And we’ve got one. Tom, who reviewed the WDTV Live for ZNF, kept his pre-order in play despite these early reports and despite Syabas conceding there’s no imminent Netflix playback. Over the next few weeks he’ll put the box through its paces and share his experiences.
In the interim, check out a few Popbox unboxing photos. Tom prefers the integrated component connectivity versus the breakout cable design used by the WDTV line. Additionally, he was pleased to see an bundled HDMI cable – again, unlike the WDTV. I appreciate the more sleek and sophisticated looking remote than found with other devices in this price range.
On the other end of the spectrum, Syabas has made an interesting design decision in allowing the user to manage local storage. The Popbox ships with a 2GB SD card, which is used for writing movie metadata and storing PopApps. Unfortunately, the card isn’t shipped pre-installed and, ironically, early customers who followed the Quick Setup guide may have found themselves in a bad place. Bottom line: Insert the SD card before you do anything else.
Click to enlarge:
I have been looking forward to this box. The larger remote alone makes me think of getting one of these for the extra TV room instead of a WD TV Live Plus (god what a horrible name).
Early customers who did not follow the Quick Setup Guide had issues.
The Quick setup Guide clearly states that you need to install the SD card before powering up the unit.
The Quick Setup guide indicates that you need to install the SD card first, but lists it after step 1, 2, and 3 (and in a smaller font) – as we photographed above. So anyone who follows that guide in order, without reading ahead, could end up with corrupt firmware. And many did. Not to mention, one shouldn’t have to read a Quick Setup guide to prevent breaking their device. It’s a poor consumer experience and a pretty weak way to launch a product.
Then again, they’re not alone… remember the WDTV firmware update that bricked units?
I followed the instructions and still had a ton of problems with this machine, not the least of which was horrendous file scraping.
“…Not to mention, one shouldn’t have to read a Quick Setup guide to prevent breaking their device. It’s a poor consumer experience and a pretty weak way to launch a product.”
Agreed. If the SD card is required for the initial setup, that information should be listed first. Even if a user forgets to insert the SD card, the software should be written to prompt the user to insert it during the setup process if the unit does not detect it; the unit should not brick. Probably the best option is to simply ship the unit with the SD card inserted.
I was really looking forward to this device, but now just waiting for more feedback from users and more reviews before I drop my $150.
I just set up my third PopBox and have been very pleased with them. Once they add subtitle selection, audio track selection, and chapter selection I will basically be all set.
For my content, which consists of BD ISOs, MPEG2, MPEG4, AVI, and TS files, they have all done a superb job of playing it over my network.
I don’t need HD audio for my PopBoxes since I have a C200 in my main setup for that. My Popboxes are in locations that only need DD/DTS/PCM audio.
Hopefully, after these two firmware updates they announced for this week, I will have those features.