| Well, it’s happened - I got a device from the camp of Popcorn Hour’s competitor S-200 - Dune HD Smart D1 . |
Why exactly D1 , and not another from the Smart line?
Because it fits one of my requirements - the ability to install an internal HDD without the need to change it frequently. I took this player for children, and the self-installed 2.5″ 500GB WD500BEVT (previously found in the C-200) is quite enough for a selection of everyday cartoons. Playback of BD and other HD content was provided from my C-200. The design of the Smart series was also an important factor in the choice. The Popcorn Hour A-200 candidate immediately lost ground; the A-210 had not yet been announced at the time of selection. Well, one more important factor is Dune’s 24-month warranty against Popcorn’s 12. And now in details
Package
On the outside, the packaging, compared to the nondescript economical packaging from PopcornHour, is just a gift option! There is no shame in giving it to anyone, even without an additional bow. Unpack the box. And right away I found a warranty card on top. The contents of the packaging correspond to the competent appearance. Inside, everything is laid out in bags and on its own “shelves”. To remove the remote control, I even had to tinker with the cardboard, looking for a lock. The player itself is wrapped in a thick bag and, on the sides, covered with polypropylene pillows (I remember that the c200 popcorn was packaged in approximately the same way - in a bag and pillows).
Dune models in the Smart line do not have active cooling. There are complaints on the forums about players overheating, since the processor heat sink goes to the bottom of the case, heating up the hard drive inside (except for the B1 model, in which the HDD is not included in the design). But both the bottom and top of the case are perforated, therefore, I believe that the air flow through the case is quite sufficient for passive cooling of the entire device. The main thing is not to forget and not to block the holes, and also not to place the player on the stove.What is it “sharpened for”
Functionally, the Dune HD Smart D1 media player is not much different from its competitors and is in no way inferior to them. Like most of them, the device supports almost all audio and video formats. The speed characteristics when transferring data over networks are especially impressive. There is also ease of access to the functions of IPTV, built-in torrent client, Internet radio and Internet browser. It is important that the capabilities of players from Smart, including Dune HD Smart D1, are constantly expanding, as evidenced by regularly updated firmware versions.
Smart D1 internals
Well, now let's start the autopsy. The inside is quite nice and compact. There is a board along the entire bottom of the case, and above it is a bracket for a 3.5″ hard drive.
After removing the bracket (four M3 screws), we see a place to install a USB flash drive on which you can install the system. Based on experience with the C-200, which also applies to Dune, it is better to immediately donate a flash drive (at the current cheap price for a capacity of 2 gigabytes) for the system than to combine the system and data on one HDD.Distinctive features
Excellent playback quality and high-speed interactive performance are largely due to the latest Sigma Designs 8642/8643 processor. As a network player, Dune HD Smart D1 connects to the network and plays content either directly from a PC or through a NAS network architecture. When you connect a hard drive to a media player, you can play content directly from the hard drive. The device easily reproduces popular modern formats such as MKV and others, representing videos with high bitrate and HD quality. Having the Dune HD Smart D1 at your disposal, you can arrange for yourself to watch 3D video at home, since this cutting-edge format is also subject to a smart media player. A SATA hard drive can be connected either from the outside via a special eSATA port, with the most powerful interface, or directly inside the player. There are 3 USB ports for connecting other types of storage devices. For fast and convenient transfer of files from the internal hard drive and PC, as well as vice versa, a USB Slave port is provided. There is a slot for SD memory cards. The high-definition multimedia interface HDMI 1.3 ensures the consumption of high-definition video and audio content. The remaining connectors in their full set make it possible to connect to any audio and video equipment. The media player has flexible support for Dolby True HD and DTS HD Master Audio and the same flexible support for video output in any resolution and format, from SD and 1080p to 24p/PAL/NTSC. And, in addition, there is an option to increase the resolution of video materials to Full HD quality or other high-quality resolution. The advanced capabilities of the file browser allow you to copy, move, sort, organize, rename and delete files in the most convenient and understandable way. For the multi-component Dune HD Smart system, there is the best basis in the form of a built-in display and expanded support for Dolby True HD and DTS HD Master Audio, which helps create optimal functional solutions.
HDD installation
My opinion is that if the player does not have active cooling and the case does not have the necessary volume for passive heat dissipation, then a 3.5″ drive, including not-so-hot Greens, has no place there. For the Smart case, you can safely use single-pane, 2.5″ laptop hard drives. This is exactly what I plan to install. But here's the problem - what prevented the Dune developers from drilling four 3 mm holes in the bracket? Unclear. For example, in Popcorn Hour, the “younger” A200/A210 models have holes on the slides for two sizes of hard drives, 3.5″ and 2.5″, without the need for modification!
I didn’t drill the missing holes, because I didn’t want to spoil the presentation, so I took a duralumin chassis from an old burnt 3.5″ HDD, drilled four holes in it for 2.5″ fasteners, and secured the drive to the duralumin. I think that this is the best option, since duralumin will serve as an additional heat sink for an already not hot hard drive
It was the turn of the flash drive - I took the 2Gb A-Data that was lying around, but again it was not a task, although it was not thick, it did not fit between the bracket. It doesn't matter, because... hard laptop, thin - it can be painlessly lifted above the board, which was done using bushings - pieces of plastic tube, I cut the plastic dowel to 1 cm. And using longer M3 screws - about 15 mm, we put the hard drive in place. Well, we're done with the hardware - this is what the subject looks like with a 2.5″ hard drive installed insideThe first turn on - I connected it to the second TV socket for testing, the C200 lives in the first. And..... I was very surprised. The menu on the first public firmware is simply stunning. So in detail - The first menu is “Main”. Additionally, with the subject we used: eSATA-HDD - Seagate LP 2Tb, USB-HDD - WD Green 500Gb, USB/eSATA-DVD-Rom - Toshiba-Samsung TS-H353.
First, let’s look at the “Settings” menu
The network browser does not shine with abundance - NFS was somehow not taken into account at all. NFS devices (as well as Samb devices) can be accessed by creating a shortcut on the Home page, but only if the device has full access for everyone - it is not possible to enter a password, I hope they will fix it. Dune's password access is still very poor, or rather, it simply doesn't exist - by opening access via Samba, access will be complete for everyone, which is very bad.
There is also an Info button, where you can get more detailed information about the file, disk, etc. For a file, click the Info button to run a reading speed test for this file. For comparison with the C200, the read speeds are approximately the same - for USB devices - up to 20 MByte/s, for SATA - more than 50 MByte/s
It also makes sense to say a few words about the display of the Smart D1 model - it is not very informative - it is a one-line alphanumeric one. On the first public firmware, it displays almost no information except “READY” and “POWER OFF”, and a couple more :). On the latest, closed beta firmware - it came to life slightly - it shows the current position of both the menu and the directory/file (Russian characters are supported), if the name does not fit, scrolling is enabled. Reading information from the screen in this mode is extremely difficult. In standby mode - current time. Of course, comparing it with the C200 display is ridiculous. The older popcorn has a graphic LCD display with blue backlighting, which displays almost any information. But let’s not go into the display of Dune - what it is is what it is - that’s not the main thing
In general, the subject is worthy of attention and respect. Well, my opinion is that it is better than the A200, but I wouldn’t exchange the C200 for it. For children - you can't imagine anything better - I'm happy with the purchase. According to the menu, it is simpler than popcorn - the children figured it out in 5 minutes
“Everyone to base!”
HDI Dune has identified the Dune HD Smart D1 player as one of the representatives of the new line, which involves building a home theater around a kind of core, which is the media player. Other devices are connected to the media player in full accordance with the so-called modular approach - part of the manufacturer’s truly revolutionary ideology. According to the modular approach, two, three or more components are combined around the core (base module) - expansion modules having an identical design and size, which gives free rein to the unification of this entire economy, such as: whatever you want, connect it to that - it will still be there both beautiful and functional. Optional expansion modules can be attached to each other using optional mounting strips, which results in something very reminiscent of a stationary player from the recent past when three blocks are joined together.
Encore functions
The Dune HD Smart D1 universal media player plays audio files in FLAC, WAV/PCM, Monkey's Audio APE, DTS, etc. formats with quality up to 192 KHz / 24-bit. It is possible to both create playlists from existing folders and access your own playlists using the repeat or random playback function when playing. The user interface is easily customizable to support media collections in Full HD graphics, showing icons and covers. FlashLite applications significantly expand the functionality of the player. The media player is designed to record and play Internet radio and IPTV streaming content and even, if you additionally purchase a Digital TV USB module, content provided by digital television channels. When you connect Dune HD Smart D1 to a TV and have access to the World Wide Web, you can view most websites using the built-in web browser.
