ASUS O!Play Air HDP-R3 Media Player Review

Legit Mods and Ends Reviews

Manufacturer:	ASUS
Product:	O!Play Air HDP-R3
Date:	Mon, Jun 28, 2010 - 12:00 AM
Written By:	Ken Brown -
Share:

ASUS O!Play Air Performance

Since this player was introduced as the “updated” model to the original ASUS O!Player, we wanted to see how the player would handle some of our most used media via wireless.

We first went for the gold and popped in some of our favorite High Definition video. We started off by trying to play a Blu-ray ISO, but the stuttering encountered was too much for the built-in wireless-N adapter. The same thing happened when we tried to play a 1080i MKV. This really comes as no surprise since our experience with streaming 1080 HD media has been mixed at best. Now, our lack of success could have been due to the proximity of the ASUS unit and our Wireless N router (Netgear WNDR3700). We moved the ASUS O!Play Air to about 20 feet away from our Wi-Fi base station and still had the same issues. We could comfortably watch 720p files with no problem however. Regardless of whether you library has MKVs or WMVs or AVI files, you will be able to watch files encoded up to 720p resolution with no problems over Wi-Fi.

When we connected the Ethernet cable to our O!Play Air, we get much better performance when trying to view high-definition content. There was a short lag period of no more than 8-10 seconds before our HD files would play, but depending on the encoding and the resolution of the file, that time was often cut down with 720p files. Again, nothing unusual.

Playing files from an attached hard drive or USB stick proved to be the best means to play our HD files. There was hardly any delay for play to initiate. We never noticed any stuttering at all when playing our files this way. Even our touchy Blu-ray ISO file played (albeit it with no menu support).

None of this was unexpected given the the O!Play Air's DNA. The player comes from good stock and can hang with the best on the market when it comes to codec compatibility. Those of you who want subtitle support will not be disappointed. As you can see, the subtitle menu is very simple and easy to use.

Next Page - Final Thoughts and Conclusions

Review Index

Page 1 - ASUS Upgrades the Original 2009 O!Play
Page 2 - Inside the ASUS O!Play Air
Page 3 - A Closer Look at the O!Play Air
Page 4 - Setting up the O!Play Air
Page 5 - ASUS O!Play Air Performance
Page 6 - Final Thoughts and Conclusions

Legit Reviews