ASUS O! Play HD2 spotted, spec'd, explained
By Ross Miller 
posted March 4th 2010 10:08AM
posted March 4th 2010 10:08AM
posted March 4th 2010 10:08AM
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so what should I buy? This or Boxee or PopBox... so confused..
@Dking7 Wait for a Boxee Box, most of these cheap players are only decent when it comes to basic video playing, they tend to be terrible when it comes to other functions. They also tend to have horrible GUI's paired with them.
None of them will come close to the functionality that a Boxee Box would offer. The Popbox is their attempt to try and counter the Boxee Box but I'd be surprised if its anywhere near as good as the PC software that Boxee (& XBMC its father) uses has been in development for a very long time.
@Xero2
Totally agree. The Boxee Box is going to be a fine piece of kit, and I can't wait for it to be released, to be honest.
@Xero2
I want to love Boxee but each time I try it I'm eventually get frustrated with it and go back to MythTV or WMC.
It is still in Beta so I haven't dismissed it yet but I've found the video quality and some user interface issues when playing online content needs some love. For example the Netflix queue doesn't show or sort by episode number when viewing your Instant Queue for a TV series. Hulu can get confused when the Boxee controls try to operate the Hulu controls.
Boxee is 95% there and I look forward to the final release on it's own hardware. Just a bit of polish left to go...
This device tarnishes the 'HD2' name.
@Dking7
the price is a major difference though, the original oplay is around 100bucks, if this is close im getting this one
@JamesR: If you find yourself going back to WMC, why not just launch Boxee FROM WMC?
http://www.missingremote.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3285&Itemid=1
There's a 64 bit version as well. I use it all the time, and if you control it with an MCE compatible remote, then you shouldn't have to do anything with your remote. I'm using a WinTV remote, so I had to alter my irremote.cfg, but the code is on the Boxee forums.
In short, this gives you basically everything (well, almost, until Boxee brings back the RSS feed functionality).
Too Late !!
Just purchased the "The Mede8er" ....one fine piece of kit.
http://www.mede8er.eu/
@ChillyCat The Mede8er is the exact same hardware as the O!Play series a Realtek 1073 chipset though the Mede8er does have a better GUI.
@Xero2
Had no idea there was a clone [and I did allot of homework].
Where's all the control buttons ?? [like the Mede8er]
Gotta tell ya, this Mede8er has got to be the most satisfying
gadget i've purchased in a long time.
So the USB 3.0 PC link, does that mean it has a built in hard drive then? As I doubt it would be as a means for playing files on your PC.
@TheLostSwede
ethernet to usb adapters have been available forever. many people already use usb instead of cat5 to connect to their home broadband modems.
What? No ethernet?
@pika2000 I would say the big blue cable is what you are looking for
@RM79 I see it now. Was looking at the pic where it was hidden behind the HDMI cable. :)
The best thing is the ability to play ISO on the Oplay and yet it never gets mentioned
@RM79
could it play bd iso?
Hey look! More gloss black!
/Wonders how much longer this stupid trend will last...
Hopefully it's under $150 otherwise a atom/ion2 box with xbmc is a much better solution... plus you can actually have a OS! Unless it's the less tech savy people.
The O play also plays RM files for those of us that download Asia content.
@phuz - I also inclined towards flexibility of NETTOP, was thinking of Acer Revo 3610L, but it has no Composite O/P for older TVs, and is a bit slow to use as a 2nd PC - was hoping Acer would upgrade to D510+ION2-16shader, but seen no announcements. Since then who does a faster one with a wider range of TV Out standards ?
@phuz An Atom/Ion box is going to cost you $400 or so by the time you drop in RAM, Windows 7 Home Premium and an 80GB hard drive. Then you're going to have to find a wireless keyboard/touchpad, which will cost you more money. I agree the Atom/Ion box will be much more flexible but to suggest its anywhere near $150...
I like the WDTV Live route. Cheap and great hacks that make it constantly more feature packed.
It would be nice to get a hands on with this, to see how easy it is to lose the positioning of your hands on the keyboard
I will hold out for the Boxee Box ! Boxee GUI and features rock.
This Should be titled "ASUS O! Play HD2 spotted, not spec'd, kinda explained"
If it can't handle Hulu, I ain't interested. Put it in the corner with all the other cheap media players.