AC Ryan Playon! HD 2 Network Media Player review

1. Introduction2. AC Ryan Playon! HD2 player (Bundle)3. AC Ryan Playon! HD2 player4. AC Ryan Playon! HD2 player (Internal)5. Playon! HD2 Media Player - GUI 2.0 Interface6. Playon! HD2 Media Player - Testing and Performance7. Closing Thoughts8. View All Pages

The AC Ryan Playon! HD 2 is a significant improvement when compared with the original Playon! HD we reviewed last year. The interface has received many interface enhancements which make it much easier to use. The new remote is a significantly better design, being thinner, longer and more comfortable to use long term.

We like the new social networking options and support for USB keyboard and mouse. This means the player can act as a Pseudo PC in a bedroom, ideal for a teenager talking to friends, or looking at videos online. YouTube support particularly impressed us as the system was responding well and didn't lag with higher quality media.

Media support is as good as we have seen, even ISO files and DVD folders would open without a problem, and all with surround sound. MP3's, OGG and FLAC support is also solid and all our media files worked without any annoying issues.

Negatively, while Gigabit LAN is always a nice option to add, it is only slightly better than the last model. It never had a problem streaming 1080p content from NAS systems on the same network, but when copying to the internal drive, the speeds were sadly lacking. A 1.4GB file for instance would take much longer than when moving it to a Gigabit enabled PC on the network (often 10-15 times slower). We don't expect 1000 mbit per second performance, but it would be nice to see at least 200-300mbit across our wired connections. Be aware that when using the AC Ryan single channel Wireless dongle that 1080p video can often stutter and hitch, depending on the bitrate. We strongly recommend the use of high quality cables for 1080p content.

The product is also extremely quiet, generating very little, if any noise. The choice of quality Samsung hard drive and low noise 40mm fan ensures a perfect media experience for a bedroom or living room. It only consumes 17 watts of power under full load, which means it demands less power than an AMD Fusion board, which is impressive.

The 1TB unit we reviewed today costs £179 inc vat from SCAN. Without a hard drive you can pick one up for £130.

Pros:

• Interface looks great
• Hard drive tray concept is brilliant
• Runs quiet
• High quality Samsung hard drive
• Remote is excellent
• Upgradeable
• Wireless connectivity is an option
• USB 3.0 is very quick
• Never failed with any media file we threw at it
• Low power drain (17 watts when loaded)
• Great pricing

Cons:

• Gigabit lan is hardly any faster than previous product
• Wireless struggles with 1080p streaming
• AMD and Nvidia discrete cards offer better image quality and more fine tuning options
• Interface can be sluggish at times, needs some speed enhancements

KitGuru says: An exciting, feature packed product which is sure to sell well for AC Ryan. The price is certainly right.

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