Review: ASUS O!Play Mini Plus

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Review: ASUS O!Play Mini Plus by VR-Zone.com



Smart TV is all the rage and if you want to get in on the trend you may end up ditching a fairly new LCD TV to do so. Thankfully, there are companies like ASUS out there that have a solution – ASUS O!Play Mini Plus. A strange name for a product but it isn’t the name that will necessarily sell the product.

LCD TVs are coming equipped with multiple HDMI inputs but it wasn't until a few years ago you'd find more than two or three on a TV unless you bought a high-end model. With multiple HDMI inputs you can dedicate one of the HDMI ports to the O!Play Mini Plus (Mini Plus). In the event you have run out of HDMI ports you can still use the Mini Plus via the analog A/V output. It kind of defeats the purpose of having the high resolution LCD TV but if you have a setup at home like me, you may find yourself with no digital ports left. I’ve got a Sony PS3, Xbox 360, Nintendo Wii, DVD Player and the cable set-top box. All of these already command the use of four HDMI ports and my computer isn’t even connected yet. Luckily the LCD TV I am using has a separate VGA port and my DVD player can work with the Component connector. So, I’ve got one HDMI port left.

With a high definition video signal to the TV settled I needed to worry about an additional wire for network connectivity. You can setup the Mini Plus for wireless but I prefer wired connectivity especially for devices that can be affected by the consistency of the transmission. Streamed video is definitely subject to latency and congested Wi-Fi signals. So, Wi-Fi networking just leaves open the door for complaints when the stream gets jerky or pixelated. The wired connectivity is a Gigabit connection so it is well worth the wiring versus the Wireless-N speed.

So, why would you even need to consider the Mini Plus when you could just as easily accomplish the same by connecting a notebook or desktop computer to the LCD TV. Well, the same reason why Smart TV’s are the ‘In’ thing. The Smart TV’s built-in applications are instant-on with literally no shutdown time. Flick the switch and you are good to go. This is one of the most compelling reasons to owning a Tablet and in my humble opinion one of the reasons for its success but that's a different story.

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The package consisted of:

Quick Start Guide
Composite A/V Cable
HDMI Cable
Power Supply (with two heads – two pin round or three prong squared)
Optical CD-ROM
O!Play Mini Plus



Pictured above you see the USB port, SD Card slot, a lighted power LED and the infra-red remote sensor just below the Asus logo.



At the rear of the unit you find the power socket, ethernet port, combo USB & external SATA port, HDMI, AV (Composite and Left/Right Audio) and the SPDIF Optical audio port.

There’s not much to tell with the cabling. Plug the power in, LAN cable and HDMI cable. Use the remote, which requires 2-AAA batteries, to switch on the Mini Plus. The ASUS logo will appear on screen for a short time after which a seven item circular menu that you can navigate using the remote.



I like my connectivity to be physically wired so it was an easy setup – plug in the included HDMI, power and Ethernet network cable. The inclusion of an HDMI cable is a nice touch for you not having to think about added cost to getting the device installed.

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Online Upgrade in progress

A firmware update was available once I was hooked up to the network. The Mini Plus refers to the built-in applications as IMS (Internet Media Services). At last count based on the latest firmware, there are there are eleven applications. The current firmware does not include a FaceBook client although the FaceBook client is promised to be in a release within the next month.



Firmware details for the ASUS O!Play Mini Plus Review Unit

The IMS’s look pretty good but I cannot determine if the likes of YouTube is playing back the HD versions of videos. I have asked ASUS for clarification and the response was that it plays back the HD versions. Note, some of the IMS’s are subscription based services which requires a fee. The service may not be available for your country, please check with the service provider.



Page 1 of 2 for the built-in IMS



Page 2 of 2 for the built-in IMS



This is what the IMS looks like when browsing the images on Flickr.

The ability to browse using the file manager makes it pretty easy to locate and playback content. I would have liked to see the ability to create a catologue, especially for photos or videos because this would make it simple enough for anyone to come along and browse the content without having to know my directory structure or locations of files on the network. The Mini Plus will build thumbnails of the files on the fly but this can take time if you have a LOT of files.



Viewing an image on my LCD TV using the Flickr IMS

I tried to locate as many of the formats and file types and run them through the Mini Play. Here’s a list of the video formats supported.

MPEG 1/2/4, H.264, VC-1 and RM/RMVB

The filetype extension list

.mp4, .mov, .avi, .asf, .wmv, .flv, .mkv, .ts, .m2ts, .dat, .mpg, .vob, .mts, .iso, .trp

I tested all the file type extensions except the .trp. The .TRP files appear to be some a recorded stream for Digital Terrestrial tuners. So, for this market it won’t be of too much consequence not having tested that format.

I did encounter a playback issue with some .MOV files, specifically those that were recorded using my Canon EOS 5DMk2. The playback was very jerky and I attribute that to the fact that the 5DMk2 files have quite a high bit-rate and the decoder hardware may not be powerful enough.

Audio file format support is impressive and audiophiles will love the fact that it supports .FLAC and .OGG formats.

The support extends to the following formats: AAC, MP3, AIFF and of course the digital and Dolby support for the digital video formats for DVD movies. I did try playing back a .RA file and it worked without issue.

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One of the coolest features the Mini Plus offers is the ability to control the Mini Plus using an Android device or iPhone. I tested it with the Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc Android OS powered phone. When you control the Mini Plus you can decide if you want your network resource like a NAS to stream the content to the Mini Plus or the mobile phone device. A notebook and desktop PC can also be used to work with the Mini Plus and this is mentioned in the documentation and on the CD-ROM with software and manuals. A quick search on Android Market will net you the appropriate application to install.

The application is simple enough to operate and it is a free download from Android Market. You may have more difficulty getting the device hooked up and working with wireless access.



Browsing and playback of music files via the Android O!Play Mini Plus Application

Above you see a phoot of an MP3 song streaming from a NAS server and playing back on the Sony Ericsson. The same can be done for video but the interesting part is that you control the media playback from the phone. I would have liked to have seen DLNA enabled so I can send the video stream from the NAS wirelessly through the Mini Plus to my DLNA enabled LCD TV. There is a DLNA option in the setup configuration but it is not well documented what the function feature does. So, instead all the media streamed would wirelessly get displayed on the DLNA enabled LCD TV. As it is now you can send but it is thru the wired HDMI connection.

The application only operates in portrait mode on the Android OS platform. It is a pretty neat setup to be controlling the Mini Plus appliance via the Android OS device.

Here's another shot of the application playing back a video.



Android OS phone left foreground and the video playback at the rear on 24-inch LCD monitor.

You'll notice that a lot more applications are available in the ASUS O!Play Mini Plus through the Android application. So, if you want even more content to watch I suggest downloading and using the application on the Android device versus using the IMS directly. Browsing directly with the Mini Plus File Manager is faster and easy to understand because it follows a familiar folder and directory tree structure.

[siopao1984]

Overall, I felt the Asus O!Play Mini Plus makes a nice addition to any room with an LCD TV that is not already hooked up with a Sony PS3 or Xbox 360 or other simple media only player.

Since most homes are already wired or wirelessly connected the addition of the dedicated media box can make life less worrisome to get the big screen being more than another google box to watch shows. It is apparent that this is the direction of the industry and is reinforced by manufacturers already hawing Internet TVs or Smart TVs with built-in applications and network connectivity.

The device is small enough that you do not have to worry about finding space for another appliance. It would have been nice to see a nice stand or even if the product was designed to sit vertically. The ability to keep a memory stick via one of the USB ports or even the SD Card port can make for an interesting big screen digital photo-frame.

There is room for improvement via firmware releases and perhaps ASUS is already thinking of version 2 hardware. However, you don’t have to wait to get one because the nice to haves won’t be missed once you enjoy the convenience of the little black box.



Good:

Output option for HDMI and Composite (and cables were included)
Dual USB inputs and the shared External SATA
Upgrade possibilities with new firmware
Dedicated SD Card slot
Remotely controlled via iPhone or Android device


Bad:

No built-in storage
Not DLNA capable
Difficult text input operations via infrared remote control