Gadgets Magazine | The Philippines' First Tech-Lifestyle Magazine

Samsung Galaxy S III gets 9 million pre-orders

Technology

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18 May 2012

Samsung Galaxy S III gets 9 million pre-orders

Seems like Samsung has something to celebrate today – though their latest smartphone, the Galaxy S III hasn’t officially gone on sale yet, Reuters is reporting that the device has garnered 9 million pre-orders around the globe from more than 100 global carriers. This puts Samsung on the right track to beat the 10 million sales milestone that the previous Galaxy, the S II managed to rack up after a few months of being made available to the public. Reuters reports that the Korean based factory that’s churning out the Galaxy S III is running at full capacity and is on track to deliver 5 million units per month. How’s that for a warm reception? The Samsung Galaxy S III is going up for pre-order here in the Philippines on May 23.

Source: Reuters

HP Expands Virtual Application Networks for Enterprises

Technology

Gadgets Team

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18 May 2012

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Here’s some good news for organizations that utilize networks—HP recently announced their Virtual Application Networks last May 15, 2012 at the Intercontinental Hotel Manila. It’s essentially a new cloud function that aims to improve cloud service.

By 2020, 50 billion devices will be connected to wireless networks. More and more users are bringing their own devices to work, and 60 percent of enterprises don’t even know what mobile devices are on their network. This provides risk to the enterprise’s operations. At the same time, there’s also an increase in rich-media communications (such as web conferencing) and cloud applications connected to networks that slow down application performance due to limited bandwidth and network delays.

HP’s Virtual Application Networks provides a virtualized view of a network to turn complicated physical enterprise networks into programmable, multitenant, and app-aware virtual networks. Firstly, there’s the HP Intelligent Management Center (IMC), which simplifies the management and use of employee-owned devices across networks. It provides visibility of every device on the network with an easy single-pane-of-glass management platform. Secondly, there’s the HP Dynamic Virtual Private Network (DVPN), which allows the automation of secure network connectivity to any location, saving on operational costs and making the deployment process a lot faster. It reduces IT complexity by 93% and IT staff can set up new cloud apps in a matter of minutes, unlike outdated networks that take weeks. Thirdly, there’s the HP 10500 campus core switch that delivers industry-leading throughput for rich media applications.

For more information on these products and services of HP, you can visit www.hp.com/go/networking.

Meet Croslite Guy

Mika Fernandez-David

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18 May 2012

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Crocs Philippines recently launched the new face of its kids line in the form of a life-size mascot called Croslite Guy. Revealed to selected guests in an intimate gathering at their Glorietta Branch, Croslite Guy will be touring various Crocs outlets to promote the brand’s newest styles, as well as serve as reminder that Crocs shoes are comfy, colorful and filled with fun.

From clogs to Mary Janes, to sandals, slip-ons and sling-backs, these are all-time favorites that never go out of style. Crocs’ freshest kids line now comes in a whole range of colors, all made to suit the boys and the girls’ fun and fierce personalities. Also available are patented-design shoes with favorite characters like the Toy Story gang, Dora the explorer, the characters from Cars, as well as Spongebob and Patrick straight from Bikini Bottom.

Every pair of Crocs shoes are powered by the Croslite technology, making the shoes comfy, ultra lightweight, and slip-resistant; plus they have non-marking soles. The footbed also supports and protects kids’ feet for their daily adventure. It has circulation nubs for a massage feel and a hug-like comfort all day long.

Review: AOC T2242we

GadgetsLab

Gadgets Team

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18 May 2012

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By Steven Vea

What good is high-definition media without a high-quality display panel? The AOC T2242we not only aims to complement your computer setup, but it functions as a television as well, embodying an all-in-one display to deliver a great viewing experience.

This AOC monitor is very easy to assemble. You simply connect the base, plug it in an outlet and it’s pretty much ready to go. One thing that’s great about connecting the desktop base is that you don’t need a screwdriver.

Taking a look at AOC’s LED TV, you’ll notice that even though it has a 21.5-inch screen, it is very slim, which means you won’t have any trouble finding a place for it. If having it on a table isn’t your style, you can also mount it on a wall, but you have to purchase the bracket separately.

The first thing I noticed about the AOC T2242we was its great “Piano Polish,” which is a non-reflective matte screen. The advantage of this surface type is that it reflects significantly less of both your self-image and the irritating glare from wayward sunlight. It also repels latent fingerprints efficiently, although you will still want to wipe the screen clean occasionally to prevent dust buildup and overheating.

The T2242we comes packaged with its own remote control, which has a refreshingly simple layout and is wonderfully simple to operate. If you prefer a more hands-on experience, there are touch controls on the display itself which blends in seamlessly with the rest of the design, but it is not backlit so it will be difficult to operate in low light. The touch controls allows you to change the volume and channels, as well as access the menu and choose your source input.

Taking a look at the back of the LED TV, AOC has made sure that it has all the common connections present. There are slots for HDMI, VGA, Component Video Input/Output (YPbPr), Composite Video Input/Output, S-Video Input, PC Audio Input (or AUX) and a headphone jack. The T2242we has built-in speakers that are satisfyingly loud, although you may want to hook it up to external speakers.

After powering on the T2242 and selecting your source input, you have a total of five picture modes to choose from: Personal, Standard, Movie, Vivid and Eco. Curiously, all the presets modes were set to the maximum brightness of 100 (even in Eco mode), which I personally found to be harsh to the eyes. I would recommend a brightness setting of about 50-70, especially when you’re using the display at a close proximity, such as an extended display for your computer.

When used alternatively as a television, even when you’re at the prescribed viewing distance, the maximum setting for brightness is still too harsh, whether it’s in a sunlit room or late at night in the dark. This unkind brightness resulted in a lack of dynamic contrast, and so blacks would appear closer to gray when the setting was at full.

With that said, you will want to use the Personal mode to create your own adjustments. AOC only offers one “saved” preset at a time, which is quite disappointing. Nevertheless, its addition is very useful and may be the most commonly used. If you decide to use the presets, the Standard and Movie modes do have a slight hint of blue to it, with Eco mode hinting a little towards the warm end of the spectrum.

Once you’ve adjusted the T2242we to cater to your preferences however, it performs excellently. Colors are natural but excitingly rich, leading up to a great viewing experience. I tested the T2242we with Deus Ex: Human Revolution as well as a Blu-ray rip of Source Code, and in both instances, AOC stayed true to its brand’s name—providing great colors with equally great definition and detail.

I found the 21.5-inch display just the right size in a dual-monitor setup, and if used as a TV, it’s a little small for more than two people to truly enjoy. If you decide to have a group of people huddle around this TV though, you can rest assured that there are no issues with volume and viewing angles on the T2242we—the images displayed were visible at all times even at extreme positions and distances.

While I would have liked to see the provision for a USB thumb drive and a card reader to be able to view pictures directly on the monitor, the AOC T2242we is nevertheless an excellent LED TV/display. It features all the common connections, is easy to setup and operate, and most of all, has great image quality.

Specifications
Panel Type, Size: LED, 21.5-inches
Resolution: 1920×1080
View angle: Horizontal 170°, Vertical 160° (Typ.)
Dynamic Contrast Ratio: 20million to 1
Size with base and stand (W X H X D): 521 x 401.5 x 179.4mm

What’s Hot:
• Non-reflective screen
• Rich colors

What’s Not:
• Preset modes

Bottomline:
The AOC T2242WE is a great monitor—colors are rich and vibrant, even though you may have to tweak its settings to get the optimal result.

Buy Meter: 8.5

[This review originally appeared in the October 2011 issue of Gadgets Magazine]

Lenovo claims world’s lightest 14-inch laptop with the ThinkPad X1 Carbon

Gadgets Team

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17 May 2012

0

Lenovo claims world’s lightest 14-inch laptop with the ThinkPad X1 Carbon

Lenovo recently unveiled the ThinkPad X1 Carbon, which the company claims is the world’s lightest 14-inch laptop. This isn’t the same as the ThinkPad X1 that they launched last year. At approximately 2.87 lbs in weight, the new ThinkPad X1 Carbon barely beats out the Apple MacBook Air that weighs 2.96 lbs, and the ThinkPad even has a bigger screen. The MacBook Air models might be slightly thinner, though, at 0.68 inches compared to the ThinkPad X1’s supposed 0.71 inches. Still, that’s pretty close and the new Lenovo laptop is definitely the thinnest ThinkPad ever. So if you’re looking for something like a MacBook Air but want to run Windows—the ThinkPad X1 might be what you’re looking for.

According the Lu Yan, the senior vice president of the company, the ThinkPad X1 is made from premium carbon fiber material that makes it incredibly thin and light but durable at the same time. Inside its shell is one of Intel’s Ivy Bridge chipsets so it’s certain to deliver the performance you might need. Other features include 3G connectivity, a 720p HD camera, a 1600 x 900 screen resolution, and a Rapid Charge option to boost the battery to 80% in just half an hour.

LG to release a new user interface called Optimus UI 3.0

Archives

Gadgets Team

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17 May 2012

0

LG to release a new user interface called Optimus UI 3.0

LG Electronics is introducing a new user interface called Optimus UI 3.0 for its newest Android Ice Cream Sandwich devices. The company aims to make it faster, simpler, and more convenient through a set of enhanced features such as Quick Memo and unique unlock functions, among others.

Quick Memo enables users to share their thoughts through social networks, text messages and e-mails more conveniently than ever before. Users will now also be able to unlock the phone by dragging anywhere on the screen. They can also preset the most frequently used function, such as the camera, so that it will automatically open once the phone is unlocked. The Voice Shutter feature allows them to capture photos using voice commands, while a special camera feature lets users get the best shot among multiple images including the moment just before they let go of the shutter button. The new user interface will also have an Icon Customizer, a Download category added to the menu, and a simpler version that organizes the main applications for easy access.

The new Optimus UI 3.0 will debut on LG’s Optimus LTE II device that launches this week in Korea, followed by the Optimus 4X HD in June.

The Samsung Galaxy S III cometh, pre-orders coming on both Globe and Smart on May 23

Technology

Gadgets Team

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17 May 2012

0

The Samsung Galaxy S III cometh, pre-orders coming on both Globe and Smart on May 23

The latest star in Samsung’s Galaxy, the S III is coming to the Philippines, and you’ll be able to chose from two telcos to get it from. Both Smart and Globe has announced that it’ll carry the Galaxy S III, and both telcos have set the same date for pre-orders. Come May 23, both telcos will be taking pre-orders of the Smart version of the Galaxy S III will go live http://www.smart.com.ph/galaxys3, while prospective Globe owners can go to this address (http://www.globe.com.ph/galaxys3) on the anointed date to grab their device. Don’t know what the Galaxy S III can do? well, here’s a bit of a refresher for you: 1.4GHz Samsung Exynos 4 Quad processor, 4.8-inch Super HD AMOLED screen, 1GB RAM, an 8-megapixel rear camera and ICS.

The Piratebay supposedly down, might have been blocked [Update]

Technology

Gadgets Team

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17 May 2012

0

The Piratebay supposedly down, might have been blocked [Update]

We noticed today on our Facebook feed that one of the biggest torrent sites in the world, The Piratebay, is supposedly not accessible by users in the Philippines. We tried it ourselves (we’re on PLDT) and we can confirm that TPB is not accessible. Users on Digitel and on Smart also are unable to access the site as well, unfortunately. This isn’t a local problem – users from the community site Reddit have also complained about not being able to access the site from Canda, the US and Tokyo, as well as from a number of other places in Europe. The same thread also outlines a work-around to the site access problem using proxies, which is an indication that the site may have been blocked by our local ISPs using DNS.

[UPDATE] A Facebook fan pointed out that the Piratebay is under intense, coordinated DDoS attack, which may explain the reason why the site has been unreachable since yesterday. Source: https://www.facebook.com/ThePirateBayWarMachine

Source: Reddit

Globe files complaint against users of illegal repeaters

Technology

Gadgets Team

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17 May 2012

4

Globe files complaint against users of illegal repeaters

Got a signal booster or repeater that boosts Globe signals yet doesn’t have the official blessing of the telecom giant? Well, you might want to take that down, as Globe is saying that they’ll be filing a complaint with the NTC against the use of illegal repeaters as part of its intensified efforts to track down users and sellers of the equipment that cause network interference for subscribers in a specific area.

You’re probably thinking that people who installed repeaters are probably doing Globe subscribers by boosting their signal, right? Not so, says Globe. The telco blames illegal repeaters for a significant dip on call quality and clarity because the repeaters hog bandwith from the legitimate Globe network infrastructure. Monitoring reports from Globe Network Group revealed that there was a significant increase in interference cases in the National Capital Region, specifically in Makati over the last 3 months, with over 80 sites affected.

To combat this, Globe and NTC has conducted joint ocular inspections last February to confiscate illegally installed repeaters and clamp down on sellers of illegal repeaters. NTC issued a show cause order this month to an owner of an illegal repeater in San Andres, Manila.

“Network and clean frequencies are important components for quality delivery of our services. The use of illegal repeaters in order to get good network coverage at the expense of others has no place in this society. It’s a totally unfair practice especially as it impacts a great majority of subscribers in an identified area,” said Atty. Froilan M. Castelo, Head for Corporate and Legal Services at Globe. “With our strengthened partnerships with the police, courts, and other government institutions like the NTC, Globe will remain relentless in going after and prosecuting perpetrators, both users and sellers, to ensure a stable, consistent, and reliable network for Globe subscribers nationwide.”

Assemble the Avengers with Petron

Press Release

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17 May 2012

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Petron brings another treat to its customers with its Assemble the Avengers promo, running from April 1 to May 31, 2012, at participating Petron service stations nationwide.

Fans of the upcoming action blockbuster Marvel’s The Avengers, presented by Marvel Studios in association with Paramount Pictures, will have a chance to complete their Super Hero set through Petron’s Assemble the Avengers promo. With every P1,000 single or accumulated purchase of any Petron fuel—Blaze 100, XCS, Xtra Unleaded, Pinoy Gasoline, Xtend, Diesel Max and Turbo Diesel—the customer is entitled to purchase one Marvel’s The Avengers Action Tumbler that comes with a special cup topper for only P60.

There are four Petron limited edition Marvel’s The Avengers Action Tumblers to collect—Iron man, The Hulk, Thor and Captain America. These may be redeemed only at the participating station where the customer loaded fuel, and the customer must present the single or accumulated receipts when redeeming the toy tumbler. Lost or damaged receipts will not be replaced or honored.

Marvel’s The Avengers opened at Philippine theatres on April 25, 2012.

About Marvel’s The Avengers

Marvel Studios presents Marvel’s The Avengers—the team up of a lifetime, featuring iconic Marvel Super Heroes Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Thor, Captain America, Hawkeye and Black Widow. When an unexpected enemy emerges that threatens global safety and security, Nick Fury, Director of the international peacekeeping agency known as S.H.I.E.L.D., finds himself in need of a team to pull the world back from the brink of a disaster. Spanning the globe, a daring recruitment efforts begins.

Starring Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner and Tom Hiddleston, with Stellan Skarsgard and Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury, directed by Joss Whedon, from a story by Zak Penn and Joss Whedon with screenplay by Joss Whedon, Marvel’s The Avengers is based on the ever-popular Marvel comic book series The Avengers, first published in 1963 and a comics institution ever since.

Marvel’s The Avengers is presented by Marvel Studios in association with Paramount Pictures. The film is being produced by Marvel Studios’ President Kevin Feige and executive produced by Alan Fine, Jon Favreau, Stan Lee, Louis D’Esposito, Patricia Whitcher, Victoria Alonso and Jeremy Latcham. The film is distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures International through Columbia Pictures.

Google makes online browsing safer and easier with Good to Know

Technology

Gadgets Team

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16 May 2012

0

Not everyone is a computer genius. There’s a large percentage of computer users nowadays that don’t realize how dangerous the internet is. Thankfully, sites like Google are more than happy to share easy, actionable tips for protecting and understanding your online information. The Good to Know site (http://google.com/goodtoknow) gives tips to rank internet novices about how to protect yourself online, and allows users to gain insight into how their data is used on Google and around the web, and get tips on managing their family’s online experience. The site is available in a number of languages, which also includes Tagalog. So if you know about someone who uses the same password in every site they go to, or have a friend whose PC is almost always invaded by a ton of viruses and spyware every other week, you might want to point them to this site.

Asus PadFone benchmarked

Technology

Gadgets Team

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16 May 2012

0

We’re still waiting for Asus’ genre defying gadget, the PadFone to make an official appearance on our shores. We’re pretty sure a lot of you guys are also waiting for this particular device to hit the shelves later this year. To wet your appetite, we’re going to share something that we stumbled on earlier today – benchmark scores of the PadFone. The folks at Netbook News have managed to score their review unit, and wasted no time at all benchmarking the heck out of it. The tech outfit reports the PadFone managed to get a score of 2554 in Vellamo, soundly beating out other contenders. On Quadrant, the PadFone managed to score 5057, which again beats the nearest device by a large margin. Other scores are as follows: NenaMark 1 – 60.4, NenaMark 2 – 60.5, AnTuTu -6458 and SunSpider – 1917. The Asus PadFone uses a Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 8260A dual-core CPU running with an Adreno 225 GPU.

Source: Netbook News

LG Optimus L7 hands-on, priced

Archives

Gadgets Team

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16 May 2012

0

We were wondering when LG’s top-tier L style device would arrive here in the Philippines, considering that their budget L3 has been here for a while. Lo and behold, LG has provided us with a demo unit of our very own of the LG Optimus L7, or more formally known as the P705 in the Philippines (P700 in other territories). While the LG Optimus L7’s hardware may not elicit the same wonder as the offerings of its other competitors, the Optimus L7’s unique blend of features and pricing may just sway you to buy one.

The Optimus L7 is the top device in the L-series of devices, and uses LG’s “floating mass display” technology, giving users the feeling that the screen is floating as they’ve put the display as close to the protective glass as possible. Speaking of displays, the Optimus L7 uses a 4.3-inch IPS LCD that has a 480 x 800 resolution that’s lovingly protected by Gorilla Glass.

The overall size of the device is 125.5 x 67 x 8.7mm. While the overall construction and build quality of the device was quite good, the plastic back was a bit disappointing, given the hi-end nature of the device.

Imaging-wise, the Optimus L7 uses a 5-megapixel camera with flash, along with a LED flash. There’s a secondary camera on the front.

Hardware-wise, you’re looking at 1 GHz Cortex-A5 processor that’s paired with 512 MB of RAM. Android 4.0 powers the entire experience, along with LG’s own UI overlay. Navigating the device is pretty straightforward – there’s a large, physical home key on the middle which is flanked by two capacitive keys.

The screen of the device was remarkably bright, and although the L7 only uses a single core processor, we found that the device was responsive enough. Of course, we’re still not happy with the UI overlay of LG, but at least it didn’t really get in the way of the user experience. One thing we did notice about the Optimus L7 is that it uses a large, 1700mAh battery. Combine that with a less power hungry 1 GHz processor, and we reckon this particular device will be able to soldier on even though you forget to plug it in at the nearest socket.

LG has pegged the price of the LG Optimus L7 at Php 15,990. At that price, we can forgive the lower-end processor used in the device. We gather most people looking for a decent smartphone at an affordable price-point will be willing to ignore it, too.

That’s it for now. Watch this space for a more thorough review later on.

House of Marley audio products land in Manila

Archives

Gadgets Team

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16 May 2012

0

House of Marley audio products land in Manila

The House of Marley collection of premium earth-friendly audio products—such as earphones and headphones—was officially launched at Privé, Fort Strip just last night, May 15, 2012. The line is created by the offspring of none other than the legendary Jamaican Reggae singer—Bob Marley.

So what makes the House of Marley headphones so special? Firstly, they’re earth-friendly and created from material that is truly renewable and sustainable, including FSC-certified wood from forests that are replenished. Secondly, they bring with them the signature “Marley” sound that incorporates more than 30 years of audio expertise into the design of the acoustics. Thirdly, whenever you purchase them you’re also donating to charity through the 1Love.org non-profit organization. The House of Marley has other products as well, such as watches, bags, and other accessories.

The launch provided guests with a night of fun—as well as peace and love—as they were served drinks and kept entertained by a set of reggae music from DJ Red-I.

Review: A.C.Ryan ACR-PV73500 PlayON!

GadgetsLab

Gadgets Team

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16 May 2012

1

By Paolo Toledo

In a world where all media is generously available and downloading is as common as a statement shirt, owning a media player is an absolute must. Gone are the days when you burned CDs and DVDs to enjoy music, movies, TV shows, and home videos. You don’t even have to wonder why you have to watch on your computer, when you have that awesome HD TV sitting idly in the living room. With an HD media player, you can put all your media in an external memory drive, plug it in and sit back while it all unfolds on your home entertainment system.

A good example of such a convenient device is the AC Ryan ACR-PV73500 PlayON! HD Essential media player. Not only does the PV73500 allow you to play media from external sources, but it can also store thousands of photos, music and videos in a pre-assembled internal HDD that supports up to 2TB. And for those who thrive to tinker just about anything, users can also install any 3.5-inch SATA / SATAII HDD inside the housing. It also offers an optional upgrade to network with the Essential Wireless N dongle, sold separately

But for most of us “regular” folks, these nice extras are ignorable and can cause more hassle than happiness when compared to simply plugging in a portable hard drive. During the test period, I found myself most comfortable resorting to the aforementioned way of playing media files. True enough, The PV73500 is designed for users who prefer an easy-to-use media player without the fuss of networking.

The PV73500 boasts to be the world’s first full HD Realtek chipset-based media player, capable of supporting every video format—from the widely used to the rarely seen, including Blu-ray and DVD ISO. It also allows maximum picture clarity of up to HD 1080p, via HDMI and standard component connections. Audio-wise, it serves to stereo, Dolby and DTS—with a full range of audio codecs and subtitle support.

When it comes to size, the casing is quite big (although smaller than previous models) but it’s largely due to accommodate the expandable internal memory of the device. It’s not a MINI model anyway, and the larger exterior only means that more ports are available for connection. On the side is a media card reader, two USB 2.0 ports, and a single USB 2.0 Slave Port. Outgoing ports are all on the rear panel with connectivity for both 1080p HDMI (1.3) and composite audio/video, with SPDIF Optical TOSlink and SPDIF Coaxial. There is also a power connector located and fan vents on the right.

The player has a simple and streamlined black matte body, with a glossy front panel that houses a lone power button in the middle. The simplicity contradicts the depth of features and performance that the PV73500 has to offer, and these can be seen in the accompanying remote, which is the only way you can access any and all the controls. Fortunately, AC Ryan has addressed a rather off-putting button layout of its previous models, particularly for the playback functions. It still takes quite a while to get used to but you know have a more conventional looking remote with clearer buttons and a better accessing.

Diving into the usage and interface, this media player has excellent booting speed and features a clean and simple menu, using the PlayON! GUI 2.0 interface. However, this seems to stop at appearances.

One of my minor gripes with the PV73500 is that the structure of accessing, organizing and playing files seems to take a while to get used to. The new operating system has an automatic index feature that scans all the contents and files the relevant files into the subsections, but sometimes it includes files you don’t necessarily intend to watch or keep.

This causes a rather rough user experience when trying to find files, and unless you develop OCD in organizing your media files on your external source, you’ll find yourself jumping in and out of various menus, and tirelessly scrolling up and down. There’s also a bit of a lag in response time but it’s pretty negligible after some time.

But other than that, this media player is still a solid winner. It was brilliantly convenient, useful, and it delivers on its many features, compatibilities, and most of all, in playing stunning picture quality and crisp audio. Aside from all its possible external and internal media sources, its allowable media format is a complete set that leaves no room for complaint. And given its price point, this proves to be one of the best media players out in the market.

Specifications
Physical: 227x165x60mm, 610g
A/V Out: HDMI 1.3 up to 1080p / Composite Video / Composite Audio / SPDIF coaxial / SPDIF Optical TOSLink
Video Codecs: MPEG-1 / MPEG-2 / MPEG-4 SP/ASP/AVC (H.264 | x264) / XviD / DivX / WMV9 (VC-1) / RealVideo 8/9/10 (up to 720P)
Audio Format: MP3 / MP2 / WMA / AAC / FLAC / WAV / OGG Vorbis / PCM / LPCM / MS-ADPCM / LC-AAC / HE-AAC / COOK / RA-Lossless

What’s Hot
• Full-featured and convenient full HD media player
• Supports a full range of popular and rare formats
• Multiple connection options and external sources
• Fast booting speed
• Expandable Internal HDD up to 2TB

What’s Not:
• Small lag in response time
• Auto-file indexing can get in the way
• Does not include HDMI cable

Bottomline:
If you’re in the market for a complete media player, the A.C. Ryan ACR-PV73500 PlayON! HD Essential Media Player should definitely be considered. Its brilliant HD playback is highlighted by a full set of supported video formats and external sources. It’s convenient, complete, and all-around classy.

Buy Meter: 9.0

[This review originally appeared in the October 2011 issue of Gadgets Magazine]