ASUS O!Play AIR HDP-R3 arrives with WiFi and card reader

We had a sneak peek at ASUS' BR-HD3 just a week few back, and rather than holding out on us any longer, it looks as if the company has come forward to make things official. The O!Play Air HDP-R3 isn't a tremendous update from the previous edition, though the addition of 802.11n WiFi and a multimedia card reader are certainly appreciated. Reportedly, the media player packs an HDMI 1.3 socket, support for just about every file format known to man and a respectable price tag of around €90 ($133). Too bad the Yanks in attendance are left in the lurch.

[Via Engadget Spanish]

[(Unverified) Posted Nov 6th 2009 10:11AM]

I think ASUS is my new favorite technology company, eveything they make make is well made and well priced, plus they do out of box ideas such as the keyboard and started the netbook craze.

[Dking7 Posted Nov 6th 2009 1:35PM]

Mine too,
My two favorites are Asus and HTC ^_^

[milkman Posted Nov 6th 2009 10:17AM]

I heard this also doubles as a Betamax player, I can't wait to get one because this technology is so fascinating! Fascinates me to the extent of going to a garage sale and getting some great tapes!

[(Unverified) Posted Nov 6th 2009 10:46AM]

Its cool that they put wi-fi into it and kept it cheaper than the WD TV-Live (which has no wi-fi).

But I havent seen too many reviews of the original O-Play. Is it any good?

[(Unverified) Posted Nov 6th 2009 10:49AM]

Wait, they don't even give the price in the linked article. The €90 was for the predecessor.

[ScaryFast Posted Nov 6th 2009 11:17AM]

I bought the original O!Play a few weeks ago.

Network navigation is a bit annoying unless you telnet in and change a file and it's the only way I could make it work with Windows 7. Otherwise it was worth the $100.

[(Unverified) Posted Nov 6th 2009 11:49AM]

This review seems to indicate it's pretty good: http://www.trustedreviews.com/multimedia/review/2009/08/07/Asus-O-Play-HDP-R1-HD-Media-Player/p1

[(Unverified) Posted Nov 6th 2009 10:47AM]

We need a shootout between all these media players to compare :)

[(Unverified) Posted Nov 6th 2009 11:08AM]

Its all about the interface, how it looks, how it reacts, how speedy or sluggish it is..

A friend of mine just recently bought the xtreamer, and its really quite a nice little unit, I've purchased an older emachines sff machine with an onboard geforce 8200 and hdmi out which is a perfect candidate for xbmc as the gpu fully supports vdpau, and has hdmi out.

Along with the comparison, we need to see some video of these working, it could have all the features in the world but have an ugly slow interface no-one would ever want to use.

show us!

[Stick Posted Nov 6th 2009 11:12AM]

ASUS O!Play AIR HDP-R3 vs. WD TV Live.....fiiiight!

[(Unverified) Posted Nov 6th 2009 12:21PM]

Over the last couple of years I have just connected my laptop to the TV and used VLC. However I recently purchased a Popcorn Hour A110 for my folks as they wanted to view all of the downloaded shows that I keep telling them about. I was really impressed with the uablity of the Popcorn Hour - however I did expereince some lipsinc issues when using my 2.1 sony surround system. I established that it was the TV causing the issue as I was passing the audio through the TV - no problems when connecting audio to amp directly. However many people are unable to do this as their surround sound systems only have 1 optical in. My question is - Why do these devices not have an audio sync option like VLC? - or am I missing this 1 feature that prevents me from purchasing one of theses devices. Does anyone no if there is a lipsync option on the ASUS O!Play AIR HDP-R3 / Poprcorn Hour A110? Advice would be appreciated - Thanks

[(Unverified) Posted Nov 6th 2009 1:47PM]

So your TV is causing an audio sync problem, and your solution is to have every single playback device have an option to work around it? That seems a little backwards to me.

[mukhi Posted Nov 6th 2009 3:50PM]

@Stick
then u did not see cinematube. in terms of features, nothing can beat it at this price. plays virtually all formats, network capable, DVD menu capable, built-in torrent, excellent remote (WD/asus remote is just crappy), faster than WDTV (any model), spin down HDD when power is off and many more features.

[(Unverified) Posted Nov 6th 2009 3:51PM]

A media PLAYER frees up the pc from doing the work completely. Popcornhour is a server leaching off the pc. I'm looking at the hisense model off expansys for $95 b4 shipping.
http://www.expansys-usa.com/d.aspx?i=186127
No wifi, uses any usb drive, fat OR ntfs, with ethernet back to the pc. IMO, cables are always best no matter how fast your connection.
- Support Full HD: 1080P
- Maximum Stream Rate: 800Mbps
- All Video Format: Real Audio RM/RMVB, WMV9(VC-1), MkV (H.264), FLV, 3GP
- All Audio DTS-HD 5.1, Dolby, True-HD
- DLNA - UPnP / Network Neighbourhood
- Support both FAT / NTFC formatted USB Storage Device
- Remote control included

[(Unverified) Posted Nov 6th 2009 4:13PM]

Does it can read the new Windows Media Center files ? (.wtv)

[(Unverified) Posted Nov 6th 2009 6:59PM]

I purchased the original O!Play. I am very happy with it. Currently connected to a Bridges WRT router via WiFi. I am very happy they have the WiFi O!Play now, this is a slap on the WD's hands. I hope Asus will continue updating the firmware on the original O!Play. Otherwise I welcome the new unit.

[(Unverified) Posted Nov 6th 2009 7:02PM]

I purchased the original O!Play. I am very happy with it. Currently connected to a Bridges WRT router via WiFi. I am very happy they have the WiFi O!Play now, this is a slap on the WD's hands. I hope Asus will continue updating the firmware on the original O!Play. Otherwise I welcome the new unit.

[(Unverified) Posted Nov 8th 2009 7:05PM]

Any MAC users out there? I want this device to stream my content from my Mac Pro (10.6 Snow Leopard) I have PS3 but sick of using it for many reasons...

[(Unverified) Posted Nov 10th 2009 9:58AM]

want