# Review: Asus O! Play Mini



## spacescreamer (May 23, 2011)

After much delay posting this short review.
The player was with me for hardly 20 mins, which i somehow utilized to squeeze  out these points. The Pics have been clicked with HTC Incredible S, so something else which might interest you 




*Introduction*:-
Asus O! Play Mini is a compact media player which is capable of playing most of the video and audio formats apart from the usual picture files. Main attraction is a basic player which promises to deliver while still keeping the pricing to a bare minimum. Sure the player doesnt gives two hoots to future proofing by including the USB 3.0 support, but does provides the goodness of 5.1 sorround sound and support for full 1080p. NAS, DLNA and 3.5" HDD support augments the package.


*i53.tinypic.com/2ekm5jo.jpg

*i52.tinypic.com/b7dp1c.jpg  


*Package Contents:-*
1) Asus O Play Mini
2) Composite Cables
3) Ac Adapter
4) Remote for the player
5) Installation Disc
6) Manual
7) Remote Batteries 

Asus has taken out the HDMI cable from the bundle when it was announced.



*i56.tinypic.com/o926iv.jpg

*i55.tinypic.com/jqlxsi.jpg

*Specifications:-*


Dimensions (WxDxH):-	
151.85 x 106.7 x 29.03 mm 

Weight:-
175 g

Input:-
1 x DC Power In
1 x USB Port(s)
1 x S/PDIF (Optical)
4 -in-1 Card Readers ( SD/ MS/ xD/ MMC)

Output:-
Composite Video
Composite Audio L/R
S/PDIF Out (Optical)
HDMI 1.3

Power:-	12 Vdc, 2 A

Power Consumption:-   10 W

File Systems:-
FAT16/32, NTFS, HFS/HFS+, EXT3

Format Comatibility
Image : JPEG, BMP, PNG, GIF
Subtitle : SRT, SUB, SMI, SSA, ASS, IDX, TXT
Audio : MP3, WAV, AAC, OGG, FLAC, AIFF, Dolby Digital AC3, Dolby Digital Plus, DTS 2.0 +Digital out, Tag ID3
Video : MPEG1, MPEG2, MPEG4, RM, RMVB, VC-1, H.264
Video File Extension : TRP, MP4, MOV, Xvid, AVI, ASF, WMV, MKV, RMVB 720p, RMVB 1080p, FLV, TS, MTS, M2TS, DAT, MPG, VOB, ISO, IFO, M1V, M2V, M4V



*Set Up:-*

Setting up the Player is easy as you would like. Plug in the component cables and the adapter at the back and you are set.  The regular jazz.
My testing of this player was carried out on Samsung 32" LCD. Stock Settings. O/p was derived via HDMI cable.

*i55.tinypic.com/13z01g5.jpg

First thing which cames to the mind is "Boy! This player is really tiny!!"



*i52.tinypic.com/dmclg0.jpg

Upon firing up the player you are greeted with the set up screen.
You proceed to set the Language and Time.



*i53.tinypic.com/2eg46jp.jpg

Through with the initial step, you are presented with a basic menu.
Menu comprises of Movie/Songs/Pics/Folder By/Setting options.


Be Warned, If you select the Movie files option.. and you happen to have a large stash of movies on your HDD, then may the force be with you.
Expected action was to scan only the files on the root of the HDD and display the rest folders simply but the player scans every video file, a la bot spiders of Minority Report, and you ll have to wait a decent bit. I had attached a 160GB hdd and i had to wait frustratingly.

Better option is to select the 'Folder By'  option and navigate to your desired file.


*i54.tinypic.com/2hnqqrr.jpg

The player displays the file names on the right side and opens a small display window on the left.
Interestingly, this is not a preview/sampler on your left. The player will go on to play the entire length of the movie file. 


*Performance*:-

As expected, (although i was a bit jittery)
the player proceeded to play every file i threw at it. Be it the 720p or the 1080p file without any hitch.
Was pretty happy and satisfied with the performance. Then just like a sweeping thought, disconnected the HDD and played the same file directly via the LCD's USB
i noticed the details of the movie file via O Play Mini was a shade lesser. Just a spot.
To put it in perspective, the quality of USB playback was 10/10, Asus scored a very decent 9/10


I found the default level of brightness a shade higher. One quick adjustment in the menu to level 23/24 got things as desired. Nothing to crib about, just a heads up.


*i51.tinypic.com/dxcsqe.jpg

The remote could have been supplied with better buttons. Meatier than usual meant that a bit of a play was there while pressing them. But they still did the job.


*Positives*:-
Form Factor:  Seen lunch boxes bigger than this.
Setup: Simple and Jiffy.
Picture Quality: 9/10.
The cheap price cannot be ignored: ~3550 shipped.

*Negatives*:-
Noticed lag of 2 sec approx in oprations like stop, start.
Lags a wee bit while browsing through files. 
Buttons surely are extra meaty. Tactile response is not tight.
HDMI cable not there in pckg.

The lags as mentioned above are there just for the sake of it.
For the price that they are being offered for, i dont think you can crib about it.


*Verdict*:-
Looking at the Asus O! Play Mini, and keeping the pricing in mind, the thought which comes to the mind automatically is.. that was it too hard for the stellar companies to come up with a device which did just what a player should and not cost a bomb??
The O play mini does that and doesnt burns a hole in the pocket at the same time.
With the pricing of 3550/- shipped that i got this player for, it really is the best bang for money out there as no other manufacturer has offered anything this cheap.
Whatever the little negatives i observed, they are just minor things which can be easily overlooked in the wake of the value for money deal being offered here.
A sureshot purchase for the needy. 5/5 Product.


----------



## PraKs (May 23, 2011)

Great review.. 

Hows NAS ? Does it download torrents ?


----------



## sujoyp (May 23, 2011)

Great review...I am thinking of getting one too


----------



## spacescreamer (May 23, 2011)

@Praks
Unfortunately the 20 mins didnt allowed me the luxury to explore anything else.
Setting up NAS, the torrenting knick knack would have easily taken decent time.. then checking speeds and the works.. didnt wanted to get into that area as i wouldnt have had the time to cover that convincingly. Sorry abt that.

@SujoyP
You should get this asap mate. VFM stuff and really no brainer if you are in the need of such a device.


----------



## PraKs (May 23, 2011)

@spacescreamer
Np bro. Incase your friend who owns it can test anytime, please do post here.


----------



## asingh (May 24, 2011)

Thanks for sharing this here Spacescreamer..!


----------



## ico (May 24, 2011)

Really nice to see EXT3 file system support. 

I guess newer firmwares might resolve the jitter issues. I'm impressed by the price. Where did you get this from?


----------



## spacescreamer (May 24, 2011)

1) There were no jitters.
2) Ebay / itbazaar has it for similar pricing.


----------



## ico (May 24, 2011)

Sorry, I meant lag.


----------



## rhitwick (May 24, 2011)

Nice review. Now I'm really looking forward to buy it.

But it does not have a 5.1 output. Any media player which has 5.1 audio out put?


----------



## spacescreamer (May 25, 2011)

Read the last line of Introduction carefully.

Infact, this player actually supports 7.1 now.


----------



## rhitwick (May 25, 2011)

Seriously dude, how do you get 5.1 channel with two audio jacks? If the snapshots u posted are real then the player does not have 5.1 output. at best 2.1 but not 5.1 and not even 7.1.


----------



## PraKs (May 25, 2011)

@rhitwick
It has HDMI & Optical, It can easily give output of 5.1


----------



## rhitwick (May 25, 2011)

^hmmm, :sigh: sound system does not have an optical port. Its analog 5.1 only


----------



## PraKs (May 26, 2011)

Player has it, If your HT does not have, what to do


----------



## spacescreamer (May 26, 2011)

rhitwick said:


> Seriously dude, how do you get 5.1 channel with two audio jacks? If the snapshots u posted are real then the player does not have 5.1 output. at best 2.1 but not 5.1 and not even 7.1.




I was pretty amazed to see the tone of your post.
Even more astonishing was that you are a member here since 2004.


----------



## rhitwick (May 26, 2011)

spacescreamer said:


> I was pretty amazed to see the tone of your post.
> Even more astonishing was that you are a member here since 2004.



Alas! I'm here for ages and learned nothing!!!

Problem was, I was evaluating it with my HT at home which does not have a optical in and I missed the point that even if it won't any use of mine, it still could provide 5.1. 

Sorry, if I sounded rude (and ignorant)


----------



## Ethan_Hunt (Jul 3, 2011)

Ordered my player from Ebay. Used the discount coupon and shaved off 182 bucks. Sweet deal.


----------



## eggman (Mar 4, 2012)

I am also planning to buy the same, but can audi and video come from different streams (Video : HD ; Audio :
Optical Out ..like PS3 does)

Also can anyone tell me about the subtitle support of this thingy?
Does it support .srt files ?

(If Ps3 did that, then I wouldn't be needing this thing  )


----------

