Introduction

We would like to thank AC Ryan for supplying the review sample.

AC Ryan is a company with huge experience in media player products. Speaking of the latter, they tend to make HTPCs look like dinosaurs and threatened them with extinction. If you only want to watch movies, listen to music or even download Torrents then a media player is a far more convenient/economic solution than an HTPC, since it’s dead easy to operate, costs less and consumes very little power. However if you want to play video games along with all above, sitting on your living's room couch, HTPCs are still the way to go.


The latest addition in AC Ryan’s arsenal is the PlayOn!HD2 (ACR-PV73700), the successor of the original PlayOn!HD (ACR-PV73100). Although the new PlayOn! shares almost the same external design with its predecessor, their differences are far too many. The most significant change, without any doubt, is the upgrade of the CPU from Realtek RTD1073 to the new RTD1185DD which is 25% faster, running at 500MHz. Also the inclusion of a USB3.0 port along with Gigabit LAN and the new easier HDD access port are some of the new features of PlayOn!HD2 that raise the bar.