A.C Ryan Playon! Media Players
In April 2010 at the Gadget Show in Birmingham, we caught up with the team at A.C Ryan to look at their range of Playon! media players. Here is a transcript of our interview with Paula Stevenson from A.C.Ryan.
Listen to our FrequencyCast Special from Gadget Show Live 2010 Our interview with Paula from A.C.Ryan starts 17 minutes into the show |
A.C Ryan Interview Transcript:
Pete:
If you remember a couple of shows back, we talked about the Western Digital WDHD media streamer, and when we were at the Dabs show in London the other week, we looked at something from LaCie called the La Cinema. We actually found something else exciting, didn't we?
Carl:
Yes, a tall blonde.
Pete:
Yes, we were also pretty impressed with the spec of the box she was holding.
Paula:
This is a pure media streamer called the A.C Ryan Playon! HD Mini, that basically provides you with a video and audio experience like no other.
Carl:
So we talked about a rival's device that we obviously won't mention now, because you'll probably slap me. From a practical point of view, the idea is, you plug one of these into your telly through the little HDMI socket there, two USB sockets, so you can plug in and watch movies. The other device that we looked at a little while ago had some limitations, notably it wouldn't play certain file formats. Now this supports a lot more file formats - is that right?
Paula:
We do indeed, notably MKV files, as well as all Blu-ray file support. So they're two things that tend to make us stand out from the others. The other thing is, we also include a free HDMI cable in all our bundles, which is effectively worth around £40 on its own.
Carl:
Does this support WMV?
Paula:
Yes.
Carl:
Because that's the one the other one doesn't do, so that's good to know, that's superb. I also saw this does internet radio as well, is that right?
Paula:
Yes, it does, you can access all internet radio feeds via the very easy-to-use user interface.
Carl:
Yeah, I was playing around with the interface earlier, it does look rather smooth, it's quite nice, sort of graphical, scrolling through the different features, which is rather good, a nice feature.
Paula:
Yeah, it is, it's another thing that we get a lot of compliments on, that it's not particularly generic, and that it is very user-friendly.
Carl:
On the back, I see composite and component outputs, HDMI, a LAN socket, and two USB sockets, so obviously I can plug this into my internet router through the LAN socket. Is there any way that this could be connected using Wi-Fi?
Paula:
Yes, we also sell a wireless dongle.
Carl:
Now, the one we were looking at was in the order of about £100 - are you going to tell me this is more expensive, or less?
Paula:
No, it is only £87.
Carl:
And it does so much more, wow!
Paula:
It does.
Carl:
And you also do a few other products, particularly I notice one to do with Freeview HD? - would you mind just telling us what that one is?
Paula:
Yes, that's our newest product on the market, it's the Playon DBR HD, and this is not only a full HD media player, but is also a recording device, and the exceptional function of this device is that you can access it via the internet from anywhere in the world, and schedule a recording of your favourite programme, or stream that programme back to you, wherever you are.
Carl:
So if I were to record some Freeview HD at home, and be travelling, I could use my laptop to actually watch that recording over the internet from wherever else I am?
Paula:
Yes.
Carl:
So that's a Slingbox?
Paula:
Better than a Slingbox.
Carl:
Wow, go on then - scare me with the price.
Paula:
This one, with one terabyte hard drive, is actually only £279.
Carl:
Actually, compared with the price of a Slingbox Pro and a hard disk recorder, that's actually a very reasonable price. So Paula, thank you - where can I find these, which shops would stock one of these units?
Paula:
We are currently selling through www.scan.co.uk in the UK.
Carl:
Now I really feel quite jealous, you talk to the stunning blonde, I get to talk to blokes with beards. Do I get a kiss, or anything? Not from you, Pete!!
Pete:
What I thought was really funny is the end of it, after we'd recorded our interview, Paula asked if we wanted to get a picture of the Playon models, so I started taking pictures of the HD mini box that we were talking about, but it turns out that wasn't quite the models she meant, was it?
Carl:
No, quite confusing, but you've still got the evidence.
The A.C Ryan Models
Listen to our FrequencyCast Special from Gadget Show Live 2010 Our interview with Paula from A.C.Ryan starts 17 minutes into the show |
More information:
Share This Page:
