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Here's an article that might prove to be an interesting read for those contemplating on purchasing media players (such as the PCH A-100).  Half buyer's guide and half commentary on the state of the media player market, it raises issues and considerations you'd need to think about i before you plunk down your hard earned cash on the latest and greatest media player.

You can find the article here.

It is a PDF document, so you'd need Acrobat Reader to view it.

The article is authored by Hi-Jack, owner (I think) of MPCCLUB.com, a very good resource on media players.

We have our initial batch of PCH A-100 units available, but in very limited quantities.  If any of you are interested in reserving, do drop us a line.  We have to serve out initial reservations though, but should units be available, we'll serve them out at a first-come-first-serve basis.

We're expecting a few units of Logitech's Squeezebox in store soon.  What's Squeezebox? It's a device which allows you to wirelessly (802.11g)  stream your music files (MP3s, FLAC, etc.) and have them played on your hi-fi sound system.

Video ripping & encoding isn't exactly my favourite thing to do, partly because it takes so much time and CPU resources. As it is, I've heard that Popcorn Hour (PCH) supports playing DVDs via ISOs.  I've had my DVD collection here at the shop for the longest time so I figured I'd give ripping a shot.

We downloaded Any DVD HD from Slysoft (http://www.slysoft.com/en/anydvdhd.html) and took advantage of their 21-day trial offer.  The demo copy does not limit the software's functionality, which is good. 

For my initial rip, I used Aliens Versus Predator 1, which took a bit longer than anticipated -- 2 hours (estimated, I wasn't really timing it), plus a few retries because the software kept stopping mid-rip.



After ripping, I used Power ISO (http://www.poweriso.com/) to pack the VOB files into a single image.  Unfortunately, the Power ISO demo limits the ISO image to 300 mb.  In any case, after stuffing the VOB files into an ISO image and placing it in our NAS drive, I was able to play it off PCH as if I were playing it off a DVD player -- complete with menus and options and whatnot.

So then I began ripping in earnest: I used our Phenom based quad core machine to rip another DVD -- and noticed that it was doing so much faster and without the usual stalling I encountered in the Intel Quad core machine.  I puzzled over this for a bit until I noticed that the Intel machine was still using an IDE/PATA based DVD drive -- I've had issues before with my other system, where burning DVDs took ages upon ages (2 hours for a 4 gb disc), and only when I changed transfer settings on the IDE driver did I manage make it run faster.

So a quick trip to Start->Settings->Control Panel->System->Hardware(tab)->Device Manager->IDE ATA/ATAPI->Primary IDE Channel->Advanced Settings->Transfer Mode and changing 'PIO Only' to 'DMA If Available' and a reboot did the trick.



I'm pretty happy that I can start saving all my DVDs to the NAS; I've noticed that some of the discs I've played often are scarred with lines, so much so that some of the older titles I have are not watchable anymore.

Next up, I'll be experimenting with encoding and whatnot, going to see how much smaller I can make DVDs without perceptible loss in quality.

Well, this would be officially be my first post for eHome, and Multiply for that matter.  I'll be bringing you news about eHome, particularly product information and updates, as well as provide reviews on the stuff we get to use, along with items of personal interest.

I do hope that you'd find these reviews and articles to be of use, and while you should take these reviews (as with all reviews) with a grain of salt (or a cupful), I will try my best to be present them with as much honesty and candour as I can muster.  Ultimately, I hope you'd find them informative and useful in your own purchases. 

I would especially encourage you to ask questions (or just say hi) -- I will try my best to answer.

Who am I?  I'm Richie and I do most of the product R+D work at eHome.  As part of our philosophy, we make sure we know our products inside out before we go about making them available; this way, you are assured that we're not just chucking products at you with the hopes of making a quick buck or two.  eHome is not just a business venture for us, but it is also our hobby as well as being a labour of love.

So, what can you look forward to for the next few posts, lets see:

• a headphone comparison, from the iPod earbuds, Sennheiser earbuds, Shure in-ear monitors to full sized Sennheiser headphones -- a personal hobby / obsession of mine
• documentation of our work with the Popcorn Hour (PCH) A-100 and our Dlink Network Attached Storage (NAS)
• a tour and user experience of the Silverstone LC-16 casing , something that made me fall in love with HTPC (home theatre PCs)
• an introduction to the people behind eHome, as well as a 'virtual' shop tour

That's all I have off the top of my head.  Do drop by again soon for more updates.