I've started downloading the odd tv show/movie via bittorrent
(like I'm so up-to-date, LOL).

I don't have provisions to get the shows from my hard drive to a DVD or to my display/av system, so I'm kinda stuck watching them on my computer.

Does the Popcorn Hour A-110 allow me to play media direct from a memory stick (or at least transfer from a stick to hard drive installed in a A-110)?

I understand that the A-110 can be networked, but I don't think I'm "computerate" enough to pull that off.

I've used VLC's viewer program on my desktop - i seems to work very well and I'm even able to view the .mkv file I downlaoded of Galactica's Razor episode with it. Would I expect the same functionality from a Popcorn Hour A-110?

And... are there similar devices to the A-110 out there that I should also be looking into?

I have a A-100 popcorn hour, it will play over the network, from a USB stick, from an internal hard drive. It's very flexible.

It's also pretty easy to get it to work from a networking point of view. It has a built-in network browser that will allow you to find any shared directories you may have.

I've had the A-100 for a year now, and it's played every file I've tried. It'll play virtually anything you could possibly find via BitTorrent.

I think there are other devices out there, but I know that for the price it's quite a good value.

I have been looking at these types of devices for a while now to replace my HTPC which I only watch downloaded stuff on and listen to music no recording or live TV, so the HTPC is over kill.

I am looking at picking up the PCH because of the customization and hobbyist end of it but from all I have read it can be frustrating for non techies. I have heard that the Western Digital "WD HD TV" is the easiest/cheapest solution especially if you are wanting to play off of a thumb drive and do not need or want to network it.

the WD HD TV has no component video output.

If I just want to play my bluray collection (.ISO created using imgburn), will PCH work without a hitch? Also how about avchd file created from my camcorder?

I believe none of the NMT (http://www.syabas.com/solution_nmt.html) manufacturers have a AACS license. Hence, no DRM-ed video playback.
Although all of them are based on Sigma 8635 chip (so far), the functionality is crippled sometimes.
So the WD HD doesn't support VC1 video in mkv containers...

I thought when I ripped my BD using IMGburn (with the help of AnyDVD HD) the DRM have been removed? or is it my assumption wrong?

I'm just running out of basement space to store my 2,000 DVD and 300 BD

Ah... You didn't mention AnyDVD the first time around...

Yes, it should.
It would be better if you have just one audio and video stream in it.
No personal experience.

have heard that the Western Digital "WD HD TV" is the easiest/cheapest solution especially if you are wanting to play off of a thumb drive and do not need or want to network it.
I've read very positive reviews, from both professional reviewers and customers, of those. Really the only deficiency for some folks is the lack of network connectivity.

Also how about avchd file created from my camcorder?

I asked about this somewhere too. i thought it was here, but perhaps it was another forum. The answer I got was that yes, the Popcorn Hour shouldn't have a problem with AVCHD from a camcorder (I have the Canon HG20). I was told the files come off the camera as an MPEG2 Transport Stream with H.264 video and Dolby Digital audio. According to the Popcorn Hour site it supports all of that.

Interestingly, the site also lists VOB and ISO as supported, so it seems like your DVD/BD rips should be fine as well.

David, I have no experience in ripping BD yet but I've been reading everything I can on the subject. Anyways I've come across another combo you should look into with AnyDVD called ToNMT Ui. It's seems to have come from someone over a the PCH forums and the reviews have been very positive. Here's the Link to the Wiki (http://www.networkedmediatank.com/wiki/index.php/ToNMT_UI).

I do have a PCH A110 and have not had any problems with it. I do not have a bluray player so I can't verify this, but from what I have read, you can watch bluray DVD rips BUT it does not work for the menus, etc. I guess PCH doesn't have the java built in to control the menus, so you can watch the movie only.

Finally had a chance to set up my A-110 with an internal 1TB drive last night. I'll be diving into the NMT forums later but do members here have any recommendations as to what 3rd party software I should be looking at? I aim to rip some of my DVD movies/TV season sets. Maybe some Blu-Rays as well but that's not a priority.

NeilN have you mapped the drive in your PCH to your PC yet?

When I started out I just played with the simple themes. To change the theme all you do copy paste the file that looks like "_theme_" into the Photo folder on your PCH then reboot the PCH. If you want to change it again just replace the file and reboot.

One very cool theme/skin is excal's Calm (http://www.networkedmediatank.com/showthread.php?tid=15034). When I have the time I'm going to figure out how to install this.

For me besides the skin/theme I only use the PCH for Movies and TV Shows and have been using the My Lil Movie Jukebox (http://www.treasure-cove.net/moviejukebox.htm) but there are others like Yamj & Movie Flow to name a few.

One thing I should note with installing some of the more advanced skin or jukeboxes you really have read and follow the instruction very closely or they won't work.

Yes, I've got two ways of accessing the PCH's internal drive - a SMB share which allows me to easily move around files and FTP which seems to have faster transfer speeds.

Thanks for the tip on themes - I'll look into that. I've been looking at both MLMJ and YAMJ - YAMJ is totally free but MLMJ seems to have better support for TV shows. Question: occasionally my Rogers PVR chokes when recording a show so I have to get it from a different source. Can MLMJ point to these show files even if they don't come from a DVD?

Yes, I've got two ways of accessing the PCH's internal drive - a SMB share which allows me to easily move around files and FTP which seems to have faster transfer speeds.

For this you need to assign a drive letter on your PC, here's a tutorial (http://www.networkedmediatank.com/showthread.php?tid=13409&page=2) on how to do this.

Can MLMJ point to these show files even if they don't come from a DVD? Yes... it works with all video file types.