The internal HDD controller chipset for the PCH (and similar players) is extremely slow.  This is for two reasons:

1. Cost of chipset
2. Power (remember, all power you consume becomes heat)

As such, there is no way you will get more than a few MB (I estimate 5 MB/s, 50Mb/s) in actual read/write speed to the disk.  There simply isn't enough horsepower there, and insufficient use of NCQ, etc.

Why is this not a problem, normally?  Think of the files you play.  A 720p movie, 90 mins, is 2GB.  So you need 22MB/min read speed.  That is MUCH LESS THAN 1MB/s !!!!  (Sorry for shouting. but this is critical).  Compare this to the 5MB/s that you can achieve.  You have enough headroom for even your 10GB movie rips.

So in normal practice, when using the PCH as a media player, disk speed is so low a constraint that you would not even bother to benchmark.  That is why it makes no difference if you have a 10000RPM Raptor, or a cheap USB dongle, for playing your BR Rips. 

(And this is the entire point of x264, mp4, etc.  We are using compression to lower the physical bit rate required).

However, if you use the PCH as a NAS, and start expecting it to serve your 200MB photoshop.psd file, you WILL hit speed bumps.

You may achieve 20MB/s over the network interface (I have my doubts, the Gigabit chip is being run in a low-power mode as well), but there in no place for the PCH to write a 20MB/s stream to.

(And by the way, most nome NAS boxes also claim Gigabit interfaces, but their disk access speed is poor. )

--
Sanjeev Gupta
Happy PCH user for 4 years

I'm a bit confusing.... You PM me for the price but you posted here.
I never mentioned anything about C-400.
Wonder what is your intention?

Please do your home work before commenting. Sorry if I get you wrong.

Thank you very much.

Depend on your budget. Popcorn Hour come with all great models.

200 series: an old model still playing well
300 series: consider new model, faster processor speed and new UI
400 series: new model, new chip, dual-core processor, vxp and support Blu-Ray 3D.

I would personally recommend "C" type model for their expandability + front LCD/LED + more USB ports.

Thanks.

Everybody know what is the media player for. If they put a cinavia into it, that mean the player is useless. It is better grab the realtek player now before they too implement it in future. Sigh...

I just order a mede1000x3d player. It is realtek 1186. The best player at the moment.

To clear the air. A-400 do not have Cinavia Protection, that's precisely why full navigation is not supported.
Thanks.