AC Ryan PLAYON! HD
Introduction
Published: 5th October 2009 | Source: AC Ryan | Price: £143.74 |
IntroductionAC Ryan are most commonly known for their extensive range of after-market parts and modding supplies, designed to aid you in making your rig stand out from the crowd. It was therefore a bit of a surprise when they asked us to take a look at their PLAYON! HD- a network media player supporting full 1080p playback- something quite unrelated to modding supplies. However, we wouldn't be much of a review website if we strayed on the side of caution, so we instantly bit AC Ryan's hands off.
Viewing networked media on your TV is nothing new- it's something that media centre PC's have been doing for quite some time. However, whilst Media Centre PC's offer oodles of features, they tend to cost a fair bit to build and set up as well as taking up a lot of space. It's no surprise therefore that more and more dedicated media box's have been emerging on the market, with AC Ryan's PLAYON! HD being one of them.
Unfortunately the specification for the Playon on AC Ryan's site is almost as long as the latest Harry Potter volume, so we've had to select the best bits. If you want to view the full specification, you can take a look here.
- Store, Play, Stream
- Digital audio, video & images
- HDMI 1.3 | Full HD 1080P
- Plays Full HD video formats/codecs (incl. MKV, RM/RMVB, H.264 etc)
- UPNP / NAS Network HDD / Media Player
- Bittorrent Download
- Wired Network
- Wireless Network (optional)
- Supports internal 3.5" SATA/SATA2 Harddisk
- Supports external USB Harddisk / external USB storage
- USB2.0 Host for expansion with more USB drives
- Remote Control
- Digital audio, video & images
- HDMI 1.3 | Full HD 1080P
- Plays Full HD video formats/codecs (incl. MKV, RM/RMVB, H.264 etc)
- UPNP / NAS Network HDD / Media Player
- Bittorrent Download
- Wired Network
- Wireless Network (optional)
- Supports internal 3.5" SATA/SATA2 Harddisk
- Supports external USB Harddisk / external USB storage
- USB2.0 Host for expansion with more USB drives
- Remote Control
Media file formats supports
Video Codecs:
- MPEG-1 / MPEG-2 / MPEG-4 SP/ASP/AVC (H.264) / XviD / DivX / WMV9 (VC-1) / RealVideo 8/9/10 (up to 720P)
Content Formats:
- AVI / MKV / TS / TP / TRP / M2TS / MPG / MP4 / MOV / M4V / VOB / ISO / IFO / DAT / WMV / ASF / RM / RMVB / FLV resolution up to 720p / 1080i / 1080p
Audio Codecs:
- MP2 / MP3 / OGG Vorbis / WMA Std / PCM / LPCM / MS-ADPCM / LC-AAC / HE-AAC / COOK / RA-Lossless
Image:- HD JPEG / BMP / GIF / TIF / PNG
Video Codecs:
- MPEG-1 / MPEG-2 / MPEG-4 SP/ASP/AVC (H.264) / XviD / DivX / WMV9 (VC-1) / RealVideo 8/9/10 (up to 720P)
Content Formats:
- AVI / MKV / TS / TP / TRP / M2TS / MPG / MP4 / MOV / M4V / VOB / ISO / IFO / DAT / WMV / ASF / RM / RMVB / FLV resolution up to 720p / 1080i / 1080p
Audio Codecs:
- MP2 / MP3 / OGG Vorbis / WMA Std / PCM / LPCM / MS-ADPCM / LC-AAC / HE-AAC / COOK / RA-Lossless
Image:- HD JPEG / BMP / GIF / TIF / PNG
I'm sure you'll agree, that is quite an impressive list of supported media formats, and should ensure maximum compatiability with existing media libraries. The rest of the specification is good, but nothing to get too excited about yet.
Enough of the small talk, lets move onto the pictorial...
Most Recent Comments
Great review.
I think it's a great piece of kit for the price - not just for the sake of saying it, but if it has both the upgrading possiblilities, does stuff over a network.
A next revision of this could be very impressive.
I'd be picky and expect a slot loaded bluray to be in the top of it - but it certainly has alot more ticks than crosses that some similar boxes have had.
As far as it slowing down, I got Vista64 Media Center on a c2d 3ghz/4g/9400GT pc and it suffers the same fate when it's starting up. As soon as it knows where everything is, it's a bit quicker. 5000 albums and it struggles with the listings.
I think it's a great piece of kit for the price - not just for the sake of saying it, but if it has both the upgrading possiblilities, does stuff over a network.
A next revision of this could be very impressive.
I'd be picky and expect a slot loaded bluray to be in the top of it - but it certainly has alot more ticks than crosses that some similar boxes have had.
As far as it slowing down, I got Vista64 Media Center on a c2d 3ghz/4g/9400GT pc and it suffers the same fate when it's starting up. As soon as it knows where everything is, it's a bit quicker. 5000 albums and it struggles with the listings.
its a good little box - firmware updates coming soon include a lot of new toys as well.
Not really used/looked at the WD TV HD, so Im afraid I can't really offer any advice there.
You'll need to buy a hard drive to get the Playon! Working, but the size of that hard drive is upto you, so you could use a 1tb and put all your media on it no problems.
Sorry been away for a week,
So let me get this straight, buy the AC Ryan Playon!, a 1TB HDD, add media to the HDD then install it into the Playon, all done and dusted, my entire media library on the AC Playon! ???
Sorry been away for a week,
So let me get this straight, buy the AC Ryan Playon!, a 1TB HDD, add media to the HDD then install it into the Playon, all done and dusted, my entire media library on the AC Playon! ???
Kind of..
You'll need to put the hard drive in the Playon, then let it format the hard drive, then transfer all your media across (through USB or Network)..
Kind of..
You'll need to put the hard drive in the Playon, then let it format the hard drive, then transfer all your media across (through USB or Network)..
ahh right i getcha, brilliant thanks for the info dude! have a pint on me > :beer:
First time i find/read article about POHD, i think this device is very cool
But after i buy and use this device, WOW this device is very SUCK
Its So many problem
First time (1-2 months)
- running well but some times HANG
- some times ask to reformated HDD (imagine if non IT guy select yes to reformat HDD)
3 months till now
- i also update latest firmware but only fix about ask to reformat HDD, but every time after period OFF/standby this device always HANG
The conclusion is 5 star for SUCKER DEVICE :(
But after i buy and use this device, WOW this device is very SUCK
Its So many problem
First time (1-2 months)
- running well but some times HANG
- some times ask to reformated HDD (imagine if non IT guy select yes to reformat HDD)
3 months till now
- i also update latest firmware but only fix about ask to reformat HDD, but every time after period OFF/standby this device always HANG
The conclusion is 5 star for SUCKER DEVICE :(
A few pointers
1) A WIFI USB stick OMG what a joke that should be on the PCB not a wifi stick
2) Its ugly and cheap looking
3) Its not worth the money there are devices out there cheaper and more features
4) The hi def playback of MKV files are blocky, FF / RW is realy badly jurky
5) Large hard drives with Fast spin rates cause the whole system to over heat and this causes the system to hang (due to heat) allso cause the systems to suggest a format ROTFLMAO
6) Badly designed The Slot load for the memory cards and USB slot should be in the front you you can easily access it
7) It needs more air vents in the side so it has better air flow (this is a major Flaw of the system)
Forget getting this is you relay what some thing decent look else ware
Stick to a media PC you can buy one or build one for £180 and have more features, better playback, more expansion options, a wide varty of free media software that is free to use ect ect ect.
1) A WIFI USB stick OMG what a joke that should be on the PCB not a wifi stick
2) Its ugly and cheap looking
3) Its not worth the money there are devices out there cheaper and more features
4) The hi def playback of MKV files are blocky, FF / RW is realy badly jurky
5) Large hard drives with Fast spin rates cause the whole system to over heat and this causes the system to hang (due to heat) allso cause the systems to suggest a format ROTFLMAO
6) Badly designed The Slot load for the memory cards and USB slot should be in the front you you can easily access it
7) It needs more air vents in the side so it has better air flow (this is a major Flaw of the system)
Forget getting this is you relay what some thing decent look else ware
Stick to a media PC you can buy one or build one for £180 and have more features, better playback, more expansion options, a wide varty of free media software that is free to use ect ect ect.
how would you transfer via USB
my hard disk is not getting detected in the playon. can anyone suggest an idea?
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