AC Ryan Playon!HD Mini 2 review
2. The player
The AC Ryan PlayOnHD! Mini 2 can be purchased online for €115~125 (including VAT 23%). Compared to the original PlayOnHD! mini series, which can be found online at the €106~120 price range, the new device is properly priced.
The retail box is small and provides information about the device's basic features. In order to enjoy Wi-fi connectivity you need to buy the corresponding module (Wireless-N 300mbps) from AC Ryan for €29.
Below you see what's inside the box:
- 1x AC Ryan Playon!HD Mini 2
- 1x AC Ryan HDMI Cable
- 1x AC Adaptor (5V/2.4A)
- 1x Remote Control
- 1x AA Batteries
- 1x Composite A/V Cable
- 1x Quick Guide
As happens with all the AC Ryan products, the specific bundle is complete and includes all the necessary cables in order to connect the player with your TV, such as an HDMI 1.3 cable.
The design of the player is very similar to what we have seen in the original mini series. Looking at the device, it has a plastic piano-black finish - not so immune to fingerprints. If you're looking directly at the unit, you're graced with the AC Ryan logo as well as the power button.
Once powered on or off it will show a red/blue colored logo.
The back of course has all the inputs, USB connections and power. While AC Ryan states that the player has a Gigabit LAN adapter, in reality, the player is limited to 10/100Mbits for file transfer, while media streaming is performed at 1GBit - a rather confusing behavior.
The remote control is exactly the same we saw when we reviewed the PlayOnHD2! but it may take you some time familiarize yourself with it. The media remote is IR based and covers all the functionality, selecting chapters, fast forward, next, stop, play menu, setup. The layout could have been a little more intuitive as well though, overall it's decent and gets the job done well.
Finally, the player's mainboard is using the Realtek 1185DD chipset with an internal core clocked at 500 MHz. The 1185DD has a 32-bit DRAM interface and not a 64-bit interface found in chipsets from Sigma Designs chipsets, allowing AC Ryan to keep the manufacturing cost in low levels.