Help Choose: Apple TV or Popcorn Hour

Ever since I've made the jump to the world of torrents, I've been downloading feature films non-stop, and even though the iMac's screen is very much adequate for movies, movies are watched at least in a TV. And additional free Hard Drive space is always appreciated.

Burning DVD's is a different matter. Unreliability of the end product for one. I mean, if you burn a DVD, there's always the chance of having a skipping picture. So I've decided to research on HDTV receivers (where you can put movie files and play in HD, since my dad has an HDTV already), and I'm stuck with two solutions: Apple TV and Popcorn Hour. If you can help me determine the better of the two, then I'd be so grateful.

Apple TV

It has a lot of room for improvement, but every time it does improve, it becomes a lot more attractive to buy. Plus, the improvements are free. They say it's painless to set up, and if you want file format support, you can just hack it (but it will void the warranty).

Unfortunately, the Apple TV doesn't come with HDMI cables, I'm afraid to hack it so I can play my AVI files uncompressed (my movie files are mostly AVI files) and you have to re-encode your movies (and inevitably suffer quality loss). Picture quality loss that's not significant isn't that much of a loss for me, but we're talking about a big screen here.

I predict that Apple will inevitably bring out an update that brings support for all the formats Quicktime supports, but it doesn't seem as if it will happen soon. But anything could happen in MacWorld in January.

Still, Wi-Fi is built-in so you can stream straight from YouTube, Flickr, or the iTunes Store (I like watching trailers... in HD!) and the hard drive is already built-in unlike in Popcorn Hour where you have to shell out extra cash. Additionally, the minimalist style is very much appreciated and it's extremely n00b-friendly. To reiterate, enhancements are also very much free, so the product's life will be pretty darn long and replacement would have to take very long.

The quality may not beat Blu-ray, but I don't really care, because the iTunes integration (from multiple computers so anyone dropping by to watch a file in his laptop with you can watch it on TV instead) is a pretty big sell.

The price for 160GB which I'm eyeing on, is supposed to be 16000 pesos when converted from its US dollar price, so I'm expecting that price in Greenhills. Still, you'd also have to buy your own HDMI cables which are pretty expensive unless you look.

Popcorn Hour A-110

Anything you set beside an Apple product comes out unattractive, and while not very ugly, the Popcorn Hour looks like such in comparison. Still, it's the features that matter, and features it delivers.

First and foremost, the file format support. Any format you put in it is very much supported so I don't have to suffer long encoding times, and so that the movies I download are gonna be very much untouched (and thus, may be able to even beat Blu-ray). Additionally, it has a built-in torrent downloader, but it would have to depend on how dependable it is. Plus, you can go beyond YouTube and even view Metacafe videos, etc., etc.. And it's effing cheaper (P10000 when converted from USD).

But it wouldn't be that effing cheaper when you consider the additional stuff you'd have to buy. In fact, it would be extremely close (maybe even slightly more expensive) to the price of the USD-converted price for the 160GB Apple TV. For one thing, the Popcorn Hour doesn't come with a Hard Drive. 

While you can select the capacity of Hard Drive you want, it would bring the Popcorn Hour's price up to par with the Apple TV's (that doesn't include the HDMI cables). And if you want to sync the Popcorn Hour with a PC or Mac, you'd have to format that Hard Drive into the conventional FAT32 or NTFS.

 BUT, the torrent downloader becomes unusable because the Popcorn Hour can't write into FAT32 or NTFS drives (or so they say) thus the torrent downloader becomes unusable.

Additionally, if I want to stream videos wirelessly from the Internet (aka, thru Wi-Fi), I would have to buy yet another accessory! I'm not sure how much it costs, but even without it, it would still cost as much as the Apple TV in hindsight. Plus, the interface isn't as n00b-friendly, so I wouldn't dare leave it to my youngest brother to operate. Of course, that is unless you'd opt for using a USB flash disk as a poor substitute for the hard disk drive.

Still, the file format support is the big sell here. But I'd also like to stream the occasional online video through the Wi-Fi connection we have here without having to expend more.

Which one?

These devices may have already received some sort of upgrade already when we actually get to buying one of them, but being able to decide on a definitive streamer would be very appreciated.

DOWNLOAD-ME-NOW!: Launchy (Windows)

You do already know that Windows just has a lot of downloads available on the net. Still, it's either most of the free ones don't have any use at all, or that most of the things you want aren't free to download. Well, here's one download that's both free and extremely productive.

Meet Launchy. Sure the idea is to just let you launch a program/item you want without using your mouse, but when you actually use it, you're not gonna stop.

You can assign a "hotkey" or keyboard shortcut of your own to get this little window to pop up. Once you do get it to pop up, you can type the program you want to run and press enter. Heck, maybe even just a part of the program's name is enough to let Launchy know that "this is the program you want to run". It's really easy to get into it, because you'll realize that you probably wouldn't ever need the Start Menu, Windows Explorer, or the Bookmarks menu of your browser even!

CAPTION: I only need to type "sa" then press Enter to launch Safari.

That's because you can set the stuff you want Launchy to find. So if you are looking for a specific document you want to edit, you can set Launchy to look for a certain file type by typing the file extension to the left side of the Options window, then setting Launchy to look in a specific folder (the location of the document). Of course, this is more advanced territory, but configuring is easy enough even for relatively casual users.

CAPTION: You can edit tons of settings in this really light freebie.

What's great about this program, though, is that it's highly skinnable. Meaning that you can set Launchy to fit your personal style. Of course, you can just google "Launchy skins" and you'll be downloading many of them in no time. Just drag and drop the theme's folder into the installation directory (typically, C:/Program Files/Launchy/Skins) and voila, you can set Launchy to the skin you downloaded!

CAPTION: Not a real PSP. Just Launchy.

Launchy, despite the deceitfully simple idea, succeeds in the endeavor. You can search your favorite programs, music, documents, etc. on the fly without having to wait very long, and you can make it fit your personal taste. Soon you may find yourself asking "How did I ever live without this?!" and you will have to scrap the Start menu and Windows Explorer.

Rating: 10 out of 10!

The Underdogs

The mass consumer market will probably have had at least one of these products already: an iPod, a Windows PC or a Nokia phone, so they tend to ignore other alternatives and patronize these stuff. This is where this post comes in. Don't get me wrong 'coz I also own all of these stuff but it isn't very wrong to deviate from them every once in a while...

IN THE SOFTWARE DEPARTMENT:
Browser
We all know Internet Explorer or Mozilla Firefox, but do you know Opera? I've been using it in my computer ever since I've found about its existence on the mobile phone, then on the computer. It's quick, it's lightweight and it saves your last session automatically (you can turn that off though) as you click that red exit button. It's pretty convenient especially when installing browser plug-ins like Flash, etc.. In the mobile phone, it uses a pointer in its beta and is more cost-efficient for your data plans because it shrinks a website to a more mobile version and you can just magnify it. This all happens because of its special rendering engine which is fast to boot! The experience is almost comparable to Apple's Safari Mobile! Nintendo also uses this browser in the Nintendo DS and Wii but come at a price. Other iterations (mobile and computer) are free and have support for multiple platforms and phone models (almost all). The only problem I have with Opera is filling "forms" such as creating a new blog post or "about me spaces". The HTML goes haywire for reasons I don't know. This is probably a factor that made users elude this great browser.

Operating System
The ever-present operating system Windows is waning in terms of user count while Apple is once again gearing up for another Mac OS X release named Leopard. But have you ever heard of Ubuntu?

It's fast, it's downloadable, it fits into an CD (the download will be less than 700MB) and most of all, it's FREE! Since Free Open-Source Software (FOSS) is being heavily endorsed by different institutions, especially to the government, why not help advocate the movement by getting this freely distributable operating system? You can install it on your PC, Mac or even a PS3!

A con here is that Linux, where ubuntu is based, in general is strictly business or everyday surfing (sans Adobe Flash, but there's a workaround). This is probably one of the reasons why people don't really use this very flexible and formidable platform. Heck, a distribution of Linux can even fit in a 64MB flash drive and have some space left! (It's called Damn Small Linux.) For now, Ubuntu, though large after installation (4GB) is already small compared to Vista (10GB) and is the most used free Linux distribution around the world. You can download a free NEW version in tomorrow (as of this writing). You'll most probably need a download manager though.

Media Player

You probably know what the heck a program called iTunes already is. Wanna get out of that large base it has? Download.com recommends WinAmp and VLC Media Player. Personally, I recommend RealPlayer due to the built-in YouTube/web video grabbing function and its function to play most video formats (now including Flash video, of course.). For in-demand streaming web videos or pre-downloaded trailers, Quicktime is the way to go.

IN THE MP3 Player DEPARTMENT:

Ah, the ever ubiquitous iPod has now become

reversible with the term "MP3". But several so-called "iPod killers" have emerged and is competing against the giant in unfortunate futility especially since they have features that have the potential to topple Apple with these features. But as sales and the new Touch can testify, this won't be happening anytime soon. But if ever you are one to NOT be in desire of joining the hugely bloated bandwagon, other brands will gladly cater different features to you.

Microsoft's Zune can actually be a great example. You can synchronize music through

Wi-Fi and share music to other Zunes (but it has restrictions). Sadly, many people do not own Zunes due to a few reasons like the Microsoft brand itself, etc. That's why there is also another

wonder called the Sansa Clip. It features a great sound quality, huge file format support and great value in an inexpensive package to boot!

If you don't want the iPod Touch, there's also a Samsung YP-P2 tha

t offers the same thing (and more) in a similarly sexy package. No Safari though.

(PICTURE CAPTION: The Samsung YP-P2)

Cellphone

Nokia is the norm for almost everyone today, but Sony Ericsson (with Walkman phones) and Motorola (the RAZRs) are quickly catching up. Aside from them, there are other brands caught in this crossfire. Most notably, LG. It has a new 3G For All phone which is cheaper than other phones but provide the same features so anyone can experience mobile internet which claims to be at DSL speed as well as video call other people. Another commonly ignored/unknown phone brand is the Dopod which boasts of a myriad of features as a smartphone in a relatively light, cool-looking package.

Gaming Consoles

The Wii and the XBox 360 are the ones that are really racing for the title of Winner in this new generation of the console wars, therefore rendering the PS3 the underdog of this pack. I don't wholeheartedly recommend buying it since it's too rich for anyone's blood despite the many, many, many price drops and pull-outs made by Sony. Still, the tables may turn when the price point of the PS3 reaches to the very affordable scale but it has to contend with the Wii60 combination first. It does have some decent games and a few exclusives coming out next year like Final Fantasy, et al.