First and foremost lets get the obvious out of the way: Asus are a leading manufacturer of some excellent high end motherboards and graphics cards to name but a few, and quite frankly they should have stayed with motherboards.
To say the O!play HD2 is poor is an understatement. (I bought it with the intention of replacing my Popcorn Hour A-110). The O!Play totally sucks and is not fit for the purpose. Here are my reasons for this:
There is no network integration between the player and Windows File explorer so you cannot even map it as a network drive for easy file transfer. Instead you must connect using the NAS function which offers 3 modes: SAMBA, FTP, and iTunes. None of these work and even after trying 3 leading FTP clients none would find or connect to the O!Play. The only way to file transfer was to remove the HDD and put it into my PC or use a USB lead.
The GUI is nothing short of bland, short of options and overall an eyesore to look at. It is horrible!
The instructions and manual for upgrading firmware and performing other various tasks is another problem. Although there are plenty of pictures showing step-by-step guides they just happen to be screen shots from another media streamer and not the one you are using! The options are all different so it doesn't take long to get lost in confusion because the instructions point you to menu items that don't exist on the O!Play.
Another problem is that on first power up of the unit it tells you to upgrade the firmware using 'online upgrade'. Well, this option is not there either and will not be until you upgrade via USB stick first! Rediculous!
Now for the most serious problem:
For three weeks I have persevered with this unit experiencing issues such as:
The HDD will not be detected after coming out of standby.
The TV screen remains blank when coming out of standby.
A media file will begin playing only to suddenly stop, then an error stating there is no HDD present pops up.
If you do not use the unit for a while then the only way you will get it to work again is by recycling the power. This means physically unplugging the power jack and reconnecting.
I have tried and tried to find something positive to say about this device but have now given up and gone back to my A-110 which is far superior.
ASUS - Your motherboards may be amongst the best money can buy but please leave media streaming to others as the O!Play is a complete and utter disaster!
Rick