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ASUS O!Play media player targeting WD TV and Egreat M34A?

post #1 of 434
5/30/09 at 12:58pm
Thread Starter 
I found this news about a new 1080p player similar to WD TV but with ESata conection, probably DTS Downmix and Ethernet... at around 115€.

It has a Realtek processor but its said its more powerfull than sigma chip!

"it is based on a new (very probably made by Realtek) chip, which significantly more powerful than preceding models. If you have been keeping up with this field, you will know what we mean when we say it can easily compete and even outperform the famous, oft-used Sigma 8634/8635."

"The player is a lot faster and more responsive than models we have tested so far. Not only is the file format compatibility very good even in this initial firmware version, the O!Play appears to have significantly better video postprocessing than any other media player we tested until now."

More information here: http://www.hardware.info/en-US/news/..._media_player/

Looks like competition for WD TV and thats good for the consumer!

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post #2 of 434
5/30/09 at 3:38pm
looks good.

asus have (generally) quality products.
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post #3 of 434
5/30/09 at 4:14pm
Yah I saw this else where, Asus is a quality brand imo, curious to see what this other chip can do.
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post #4 of 434
5/30/09 at 4:17pm
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Quote:
Originally Posted by whiteboy714 View Post

Yah I saw this else where, Asus is a quality brand imo, curious to see what this other chip can do.

Yes... i'm curious too...

I own a WD TV but this new player is good news... there is nothing better than strong competition!
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post #5 of 434
5/30/09 at 4:24pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Afrsa View Post

I found this news about a new 1080p player similar to WD TV but with ESata conection, probably DTS Downmix and Ethernet... at around 115.

It has a Realtek processor but its said its more powerfull than sigma chip!

More information here: http://www.hardware.info/en-US/news/..._media_player/

Looks like competition for WD TV and thats good for the consumer!




I know you like to post your bias every chance you get, but this has network abilities, so it isn't the same class as the WD and it $169 USD price point is inline with it's features which would make it an Egreat killer, not a WD killer. No component connections? and what does DTS (!) mean? Supported? Pass through? Only thing I see interesting it is uses something besides a Sigma chip.
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post #6 of 434
5/30/09 at 4:31pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by xj0hnx View Post



I know you like to post your bias every chance you get, but this has network abilities, so it isn't the same class as the WD and it $169 USD price point is inline with it's features which would make it an Egreat killer, not a WD killer. No component connections? and what does DTS (!) mean? Supported? Pass through? Only thing I see interesting it is uses something besides a Sigma chip.

?

Did you read the title of the post?

I said its competition (not WD TV killer) because I have a WD TV and I, as a costumer, like competition...

The price point is very good indeed... WD TV in Portugal is around 99€-110€, Egreat M34A is 155€... and this player is about 115€...
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post #7 of 434
5/30/09 at 4:59pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Afrsa View Post

?

Did you read the title of the post?

I said its competition (not WD TV killer) because I have a WD TV and I, as a costumer, like competition...

The price point is very good indeed... WD TV in Portugal is around 99€-110€, Egreat M34A is 155€... and this player is about 115€...

Just making an observation that instead of comparing it to like media players that have networking, you compare it to the WD. Regardless, it has networking, and is $70 more, if it turns out to be a super player cool, if not, than it is just another in a sea of faceless media players. I'd really like to see one of these things come out that does some that sets it apart from the umpteen other players, whether it's features, extra abilities, user customization, idk, something besides "buy OUR product, that does the same thing everyone elses does."
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post #8 of 434
5/30/09 at 6:11pm
If I were to sell my WDTV I'd probably get Egreat M34A instead of this or any other similar WDTV player.
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post #9 of 434
5/30/09 at 6:52pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by xj0hnx View Post

Just making an observation that instead of comparing it to like media players that have networking, you compare it to the WD. Regardless, it has networking, and is $70 more, if it turns out to be a super player cool, if not, than it is just another in a sea of faceless media players. I'd really like to see one of these things come out that does some that sets it apart from the umpteen other players, whether it's features, extra abilities, user customization, idk, something besides "buy OUR product, that does the same thing everyone elses does."

In Europe will be 5 to 15€ more than WD TV (thats why I spoke about WD TV because its in the same price range)... it will be cheaper even than Egreat M34A with same conections... thats good news for we all... that means that WD will suport us even more... or competition is out there waiting their turn...
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post #10 of 434
5/30/09 at 8:02pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Afrsa View Post

In Europe will be 5 to 15 more than WD TV (thats why I spoke about WD TV because its in the same price range)... it will be cheaper even than Egreat M34A with same conections... thats good news for we all... that means that WD will suport us even more... or competition is out there waiting their turn...

Just going by the actual conversion rate for the day, which is 1 = $1.41. Obviously the cost is going to vary by retailer, and location, but here, at that price it's $70 more.
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post #11 of 434
5/31/09 at 6:22am
This is competition for WDTV2
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post #12 of 434
5/31/09 at 7:01am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by xj0hnx View Post

Just going by the actual conversion rate for the day, which is 1€ = $1.41. Obviously the cost is going to vary by retailer, and location, but here, at that price it's $70 more.

Probably it will be sold there at 115$ like WD TV is sold there at 99$ and here is 99€, and like the Egreat at 149$ there and 155€ here in Portugal...
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post #13 of 434
5/31/09 at 10:23am
Quote:
Originally Posted by vanylapep View Post

This is competition for WDTV2

There you go, except this will be out first, so the WDHDTV2 will be competition for it :P
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post #14 of 434
5/31/09 at 10:37am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Afrsa View Post

Probably it will be sold there at 115$ like WD TV is sold there at 99$ and here is 99, and like the Egreat at 149$ there and 155 here in Portugal...

Probably schmabably, they say the price is 115 which converts to $162.57 today. I know living somewhere where the Euro is the currency can make a difference of 10-20 not seem like much, but other countries converting it see bigger differences. Until it is actually available we can only assume what the price is going to be based on what they are telling us, and right now that price is $162.57 USD. And the unit STILL isn't the same class as the WD because it has networking. And it is still just another media player, nothing new, as a matter of fact anyone that uses component connections is SOL.
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post #15 of 434
5/31/09 at 11:18am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by xj0hnx View Post

Probably schmabably, they say the price is 115€ which converts to $162.57 today. I know living somewhere where the Euro is the currency can make a difference of 10-20€ not seem like much, but other countries converting it see bigger differences. Until it is actually available we can only assume what the price is going to be based on what they are telling us, and right now that price is $162.57 USD. And the unit STILL isn't the same class as the WD because it has networking. And it is still just another media player, nothing new, as a matter of fact anyone that uses component connections is SOL.

Let me tell you that an electronic device at the same price in Europe and USA would be a surprise... ... usually the price is more direct than that... USA - 100$... in Europe same device = 100€... thats bad... but its life...

And because it has networking it doesnt mean that this player is not competition to WD TV... it means that the competition is even stronger by the fact the price between them is almost the same!!!

But you dont agree to anything that you think is for atacking WD TV.. but thats ok for me!

I will keep an eye in this new player as Asus always make fine products too...
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post #16 of 434
5/31/09 at 2:18pm
if is 160$ in portugal is like 160$ more vat

remember the price in dollars is allways without tax

so

a110 215$ the price was allways 239 and more in europe


160$ isnt 115 you wish i bet that will sell like 160 or more

so a little more expensive than egreat and chipset realtek more powerful than sigma.....need to see with my eyes...

and firmware to be stable takes many months....you see the experience with wd.....still struglling to clear all the bugs....

nmt for me is still a better choice comparing with this asus,but comparing two products when one of them wasnt released is difficult....
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post #17 of 434
5/31/09 at 3:53pm
Thread Starter 
More news!

JUST AHEAD OF COMPUTEX, sources have told the INQ that Asustek will be launching a media player at the show that's built around a previously unknown and therefore somewhat mysterious Realtek chip.
Hardware Info reckons Asus's new media player will include eSATA storage connectivity and support network streaming, 1080p playback and output including 24p, and DTS decoding to LPCM over HDMI. That last feature will be fairly unique to this product initially, since DTS support has been noticeably lacking in this market segment.
The recommended price of the unit will be just €119, which should be low enough to worry vendors of competing media players that don't offer eSATA, network streaming or DTS decoding.

Its not confirmed if this player will hit the US market for now... lets see...

So... more few weeks of waiting and then we will see what this player has to offer... and if this player indeed have DTS decoding plus LAN at 115 €, then WD will have to explain something about the cost of DTS licence.
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post #18 of 434
5/31/09 at 4:25pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by cybman View Post

if is 160$ in portugal is like 160$ more vat

remember the price in dollars is allways without tax

so

a110 215$ the price was allways 239€ and more in europe


160$ isnt 115€ you wish i bet that will sell like 160€ or more

so a little more expensive than egreat and chipset realtek more powerful than sigma.....need to see with my eyes...

and firmware to be stable takes many months....you see the experience with wd.....still struglling to clear all the bugs....

nmt for me is still a better choice comparing with this asus,but comparing two products when one of them wasnt released is difficult....

Sure... but the review also said this:

Not only is the file format compatibility very good even in this initial firmware version, the O!Play appears to have significantly better video postprocessing than any other media player we tested until now.

So... for now the base firmware seems ok and this player can even read rmbv and 24fps from the start.

And the chip is new and more powerfull... you can find more info in the net... "it is based on a new (very probably made by Realtek) chip, which significantly more powerful than preceding models."
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post #19 of 434
5/31/09 at 5:37pm
you know what is lpcm it is?

isnt pcm!!!!

isnt the same that converting dts do pcm or "dts downmix"
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post #20 of 434
6/1/09 at 12:02am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Afrsa View Post

the O!Play appears to have significantly better video postprocessing than any other media player we tested until now.

And what does this mean? How is it better? Or how are the current media players lacking?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Afrsa View Post

So... for now the base firmware seems ok and this player can even read rmbv and 24fps from the start.

But the big question is the 24 fps bug free? Nobody knows that yet.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Afrsa View Post

And the chip is new and more powerfull... you can find more info in the net... "it is based on a new (very probably made by Realtek) chip, which significantly more powerful than preceding models."

I only believe my eyes (and ears). Not hype. There isn't such a thing as perfect media player. Yet. But more competition is good, I'm really interested to see this player in action.
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post #21 of 434
6/1/09 at 1:40am
ofcourse, succes lays in the software updates...a player with potential is nice, if:

1-software is thoroughly tested up front (and includes same level of features found in current players)
2-software is updated frequently (not just to fix basic stuff that shouldve worked from start, but to add new features)

The WD is a good player, but does not have 1 or 2 so it will probably fall down due to all the other players coming to market.
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post #22 of 434
6/1/09 at 1:42am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by cybman View Post

you know what is lpcm it is?

isnt pcm!!!!

isnt the same that converting dts do pcm or "dts downmix"

Yes... my bad... did't read the "l"... never the less, I think this player to be good news... by the fact it brings a new Chip... let's see...



Quote:
Originally Posted by Capt.OGG View Post

And what does this mean? How is it better? Or how are the current media players lacking?

For example... WD TV has better image quality playing Dvix than Egreat... because WD TV has better upscale probably... so if this player is even better at processing the image, it's good news!

Quote:
Originally Posted by Capt.OGG View Post

But the big question is the 24 fps bug free? Nobody knows that yet.

Yes... let's see if is bug free... it would be a big let down if 24fps had issues like WD TV...

Quote:
Originally Posted by Capt.OGG View Post

I only believe my eyes (and ears). Not hype. There isn't such a thing as perfect media player. Yet. But more competition is good, I'm really interested to see this player in action.

Me too... the only thing they know is that it is a new chip... so, i think it's hard to believe that Realtek made a new chip slower than old sigmas used in all HD players... but let's wait and see...
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post #23 of 434
6/2/09 at 10:18am
Quote:
Originally Posted by shtark View Post

looks Asus will have some competition from this one

http://www.xtreamer.net

It looks nicer, but yet another company that is either lying, or at the very least using bad "statistics". Looking at the comparison pages, specifically the WD they say it(xsteamer)) plays 95% of mkv, and the WD 60%, which is BS since the WD has played 99.9999999% of my mkvs, and with no such percentage comparison to other players, which I know also have problems with some of the same files it's just marketing poopoo. Also comparing their 99€ price to the WD @ $130 (which can usually be found for $99), which is the same thing, I just changed currency yesterday 1€ was $1.31, is a sham. I like at least a little more honest advertisers. TBH though, this is one of the better looking, spec wise, media players, at least it does passthrough for DTS-HD/TrueHD.
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post #24 of 434
6/2/09 at 10:25am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by xj0hnx View Post

It looks nicer, but yet another company that is either lying, or at the very least using bad "statistics". Looking at the comparison pages, specifically the WD they say it(xsteamer)) plays 95% of mkv, and the WD 60%, which is BS since the WD has played 99.9999999% of my mkvs, and with no such percentage comparison to other players, which I know also have problems with some of the same files it's just marketing poopoo. Also comparing their 99€ price to the WD @ $130 (which can usually be found for $99), which is the same thing, I just changed currency yesterday 1€ was $1.31, is a sham. I like at least a little more honest advertisers. TBH though, this is one of the better looking, spec wise, media players, at least it does passthrough for DTS-HD/TrueHD.

True... its dificult to make comparisions in percentage because i could have just one MKV and say that my WD TV plays 100% of my MKV

But is also true that WD TV does not play 99.9999999% of MKV "outhere"... so, if the 95% is about MKV "outhere" then its good news... but who knows...
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post #25 of 434
6/2/09 at 10:33am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Afrsa View Post

True... its dificult to make comparisions in percentage because i could have just one MKV and say that my WD TV plays 100% of my MKV

But is also true that WD TV does not play 99.9999999% of MKV "outhere"... so, if the 95% is about MKV "outhere" then its good news... but who knows...

Yea, but they didn't test 95% of the mkvs out there, if they tested 2% I'd be surprised :P I's like to know really where they got their figures. Were they downloading pirate copies and trying them? Or were they encoding their own? Seems to me that if they were necoding their own than the results are garbage since that could truely be manipulated anyway they wanted.
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post #26 of 434
6/2/09 at 10:37am
this new realtek chip seems to be cheaper then the sigma chip and as its brand new it should be better. i cant wait for some reviews of the players that use this chip. xtreamer and ASUS O!Play allready use this so i wont be surprised if the wdtv2 uses this as well.
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post #27 of 434
6/2/09 at 10:54am
On the Spec page for the Xtreamer it says max 3 TB ext storage (it says "memory" but they mean storage, of course). That's a problem, I've already got 2 TB of data now on my PCH. If that's accurate that's a deal breaker for me.
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post #28 of 434
6/2/09 at 11:33am
Quote:
Originally Posted by razuraw View Post

this new realtek chip seems to be cheaper then the sigma chip and as its brand new it should be better.

Newer doesn't mean better. Hopefully it will be a performer, and maybe even be adopted by other companies, but until it has some trigger time in the field, I ain't counting on anything.
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post #29 of 434
6/2/09 at 3:42pm
Thread Starter 
See here a picture of the ASUS player: http://www.7gadgets.com/2009/06/02/a...1_media_player
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post #30 of 434
6/3/09 at 1:36am
specs from asus site

http://www.asus.com/News.aspx?N_ID=wUbKQ3nv6gSQaey2

I miss DTS. Advantage is shuffle for mp3 which I think should be standard. The mp3 player really sucks in the Syabas software.
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