Worst Piece of Hardware Ever

fvfv · 2008-07-04, 04:56 AM

I do not want to start a flame war, but I had great hopes for the PopCornHour.

After 3 days the unit died. Then they sent me back the unit with no sound.

It took a lot of time to get an RMA from MediaTank.

Today I was reading the PCH Forums and realize that a lot of PCH recipients had the same problem with the unit not turning back any more, and had to be replaced.

And now the new firmware (June) broke a lot of things with MKV files and other stuff.

What a letdown !!!!

mvallevand · 2008-07-04, 12:14 PM

I don't consider it a flame war, a think potential buyers should be aware of risks and somewhere, in one of my posts, I mentioned that durability still had to be determined because the product was so new. In any case Popcorn Hour did post that the returns were within their projected target and since they do provide RMA's and full return (except shipping) too, I think that statement would be reliable or they could easily hurt any profit margin. One of the things about viral internet marketing and sales with an open feedback area like the NMT forum is you pretty much can read about every complaint there is and I haven't really read enough complains to say that Popcorn Hour is wrong here with 1000's of buyers out there.

As for the June firmware well first that isn't hardware and second if you aren't aware of some potential issues caveat emptor. If you don't like the specific firmware go back one however, I don't even know if there are confirmed posts about any mkv files that meet the NMT specs not playing. I know that during beta testing Syabas do try and get a sample of every file that doesn't work. I also do see lots of posts that say to look for proper and repack versions of files which to me indicates an encoding problem.

Martin

hakras · 2008-07-04, 06:23 PM

For balance, I would like to say that I've had my PCH for about a month and run it about 12 hours a day. It has worked very well. Of course, I would like it to run GBPVR a bit easier. Other than that, I believe it is a nice piece of hardware. It runs Swisscenter very well. Much faster than my Snazio and BLT. Again, I've only had it for about a month and time may result in a different opinion.

fvfv · 2008-07-04, 07:37 PM

Again. I am talking about my own experience. I suppose I am one of the unlucky ones, but there are quite a lot of reports of users with bad units. It could be a bad batch.

As far as the june firmware, it is stated on the download page that this firmware is a stepstone firmware, which means that it cannot be reverted. At least that is what I understood.

martint123 · 2008-07-04, 08:18 PM

I think it is a stepstone in the forward direction - i.e. old versions to new versions must go through this version to get the boot protection. It is documented on how to go back to earlier versions (sorry, I don't have the link to hand)

mvallevand · 2008-07-04, 09:16 PM

fvfv it is worth sharing bad experiences I just hope it works out for you. martin123 posted more info on downgrading earlier here http://forums.gbpvr.com/showpost.php?p=2...ostcount=9

Martin

fvfv · 2008-07-04, 09:28 PM

Supposedly you should be able to downgrade to previous firmware. The instructions talk about saving the firmware on the root folder of the USB Stick, turning off the unit, inserting USB Stick and supposedly the Unit should recognize the file on the USB stick and start downgrading to oldest firmware.

My experience is that the unit simply turns on and about 1 minute later it boots up on the new firmware without installing the old one.

One reason I am posting on GBPVR forums is on the hope that someone has experienced the same problems I am having and has a workaround. The PCH Formums have been of no help at all.

mvallevand · 2008-07-04, 09:32 PM

hakras Wrote:Of course, I would like it to run GBPVR a bit easier. ... It runs Swisscenter very well

The first time setup is a pain but running it afterwards isn't bad unless you want to use GBPVR and Swiss Center and other. Staying in GBPVR does make it easier certainly.

Martin

mvallevand · 2008-07-04, 09:53 PM

fvfv Wrote:Supposedly you should be able to downgrade to previous firmware. The instructions talk about saving the firmware on the root folder of the USB Stick, turning off the unit, inserting USB Stick and supposedly the Unit should recognize the file on the USB stick and start downgrading to oldest firmware.

I'm not sure where you got that information at http://www.popcornhour.com/download/firm...pdate.html is pretty clear.

"Note : Unzip into the root of your USB thumbdrive. Browse to usbupdate.html to update."

Martin

fvfv · 2008-07-05, 04:43 AM

mvallevand Wrote:I'm not sure where you got that information at http://www.popcornhour.com/download/firm...pdate.html is pretty clear.

"Note : Unzip into the root of your USB thumbdrive. Browse to usbupdate.html to update."

Martin

Those instructions are for upgrading from an old(er) firmware.

These instructions are to recover from the latest firmware
http://support.popcornhour.com/article.aspx?id=1047

but it does not work on my case.