ASUS O!Play Air – Wireless N TV HD Media Player Review
Only a few months after the debut of ASUS Oh! Play HDP-R1, Asus gives us O! Play Air (HDP-R3). You add wireless connectivity and a card reader to an already solid media player. For users looking for a versatile multimedia device that wireless is a serious candidate for your entertainment dollar.
Physically, the air is identical to its predecessor. Is the same boxy spectacular black enclosure with a new LED display (for Wi-Fi) on the front and 3 Media ReaderSlot left side (Compact Flash, SD, Memory Stick). Inside is the same Realtek chipset and software, so it will, it inherits all the characteristics of strength of R1 and all his mistakes. For more details on the usability issues, please read my review on the O! Now R1 side.
Instead I will focus primarily on the wireless capability to reproduce the 'air, because it is marketed as a Wireless Media Player. If you do not have wireless, by all means, save $ and go with theR1. But if, like me, routers and storage devices too far from your media player / TV, and you do not want to run cables throughout the house, then the air for you. An alternative is Powerline Ethernet technology, which sends network traffic through the house wiring, but an adapter like the ZyXEL PLA401 HomePlug AV 200 Mbps Powerline Wall Adapter (Starter Kit – 2 units) are an extra $ l 'use 80-150 to start (and it takes at least 2).
Like the R1 has been seta breeze. You have the HDMI cable through its own (a single composite supply is included in the price.) The power supply is designed very elegant and is a regular 2-pin plugs, as were a laptop adapter, not a hard wall that is blocking other outlets. A side effect of this project is that it provides about 12 additional feet of rope through the air at a suitable place on your desk or entertainment rack. After entering the stand, is about the configuration screen where the video and network penetrationSettings. It took several attempts to find my SSID and connect to my network only once initially configured, it works without problems and connect immediately after the switch. It is now happily in streaming hi-def content from my media server in the basement (DNS-321 DNS-323 NAS (Network Attached Storage)). The interface is still ugly and spartan and a bit 'pushy (this is a useless test connection speeds before doing any file that you can play), but now I have all the power and flexibility ofR1, not connected to a router.
As the speed test I always get side reported that 11-17 MB / s on average from my D-Link DIR-655 Extreme N wireless router running in mixed mode (g / b / n). Sometimes it is higher, but it is for all my content, most 720p MKV files that range from 4GB to 11GB, is appropriate. You can see my Mac on the network and connect to it, but had no documents.
Compared to WD TV Live:
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I am satisfied with the ASUS Oh! Play online now, and is certainly a lot of room for improvement, but I wonder how it compared to Western Digital Live TV, its main competitors. The first is the air that you wireless connection directly from the package. With Live, you must have an appropriate N-compatible dongle (about $ 30) so that the air to gain an advantage on price. RMVB playback with a media player, and an e-SATA port, the air is a better value pound for pound, butIt is twice as big as the living and not much to see.
Live is the board on the entire painting, design and usability. The interface is very beautiful and very intuitive. I do not have to drill down through several layers of redundant network folder, only the video directory. On E! Now I have a number of obstacles. From the main menu, select: Movies -> Folder Options -> Network -> Workgroup -> DNS-321 (my NAS) -> [log-in pop-up dialog] -> then finally theThe volumes of the disk -> file listed. If the player says to save as a shortcut, is still a number of obstacles: Movies -> Folder Options -> Network -> DNS-321: / -> drive volume -> file. The first 3 levels of menus are completely useless, and this is a huge impedance to the ease of use, especially if you try to do this less technically savvy users who like my father.
Note: It 'important to the menu option of your browser is not UPnP network, tested on all devices I have are sketchy to be used. UPnP onlynot work at all for me. Only a handful of files will appear in the list. With the network, all files there.
Remote Control Air is great, but a bit 'strange organized. The remote control in vivo is small, making it easier to lose, and still very complicated before. You can with the air, press set at fixed intervals (1/5/10/15/30 minutes) to jump and only on the remote. On both computers, but it is possible for a timecode.
The air allows you to change the encodingexternal subtitle files on the fly, saving you the trouble of re-saving files as UTF-8 that you could do on live. If you use non-Western characters that important. Subtitles are easier to live on the show, but because it provides an overview of the text. On E! games, I found the colors change again and again when I saw this movie, because there is always mixed the scenes.
Finally, the live streaming and Pandora's YouTube, which willAccess to web content. E 'can also update itself and install it. The air has no access to the outside world.
In general, I would like these players a lot. ASUS has shown that the versatile and capable media player in my house, despite all the warts and edges. The life and O! Views are the only two serious competitors in the home-media-player market, in my opinion, and you can not go wrong choosing one of them.
UPDATE: 2/15/2010 – Wow! ASUS onlytoday released a firmware update (1.09) is significantly expands the ability of the players! (An update that corresponds with the same characteristics for the HDP-R1), is released. He adds, Internet radio, Picassa, Flickr, weather, TV and Internet (but not YouTube)! I saw some educational programs on NHK Japanese candy-making. The video is blurry, like most videos on the Internet, but this is very interesting addition to the device! There are 100 channels of the list, from all over the world. Theare high on the list, Asia, and lower down, I saw the pages in Egypt and other parts of the world. This does not replace the wire by far due to the low quality video, but is a nice add-on for those who want to take advantage of international programs and the high charges for cable channels, pay extra. (For me to add the Japanese TV, is an extra $ 25/month, this is for a channel.) I'm upgrading my rating an enthusiastic 5 new because of this feature. The interface is still neededMany of the Poles, but the property, in any case, the ASUS R1 and R3 is an excellent value for your money.
ASUS O!Play Air – Wireless N TV HD Media Player Feature
- Integrated 802.11n – Stream YouTube, Flickr, Picasa and Weather.com content.
- Play the lastest video and audio formats on the PC (including Real Media)
- Expeience HD 1080p output
- Multiple input sources through eSATA, USB, card reader, wireless, and LAN. Stream your content from an external HDD, Media Cards, PC, or NAS device.
- Media Browsing – Simple yet powerful interface to allow you to sort and search for your media files. Also allow music shuffling as well as quick movie preview to enhance user experience.
ASUS O!Play Air – Wireless N TV HD Media Player Overview
ASUS O!Play Air – now with integrated wireless N and a built-in card reader, it is the most convenient way access your media files to your TV/monitor. Stream your media content wirelessly or through the LAN. Also equipped with a eSATA, USB, card reader for a variety of storage support. This device is easy to use and highly compatible with many video and audio formats. Experience full HD 1080p playback through the HDMI port.
Available at Amazon
*** Product Information and Prices Stored: Feb 28, 2010 04:00:39