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The AC RYAN VEOLO is a wonderful little device which is so small that it will easy fit next to a television in the corner of a room, I have enjoyed using it for the last couple of weeks. I really like the Android operating system, using it now on a fairly regular basis with a tablet and mobile phone. AC RYAN are tied into an older version for the time being (2.2) which somewhat hampers the device, V3.0 which is available on mobile products today, looks and feels much more advanced.
The VEOLO on a software level does raise a few minor concerns, but I am positive they will be fixed with updates in the coming months. I had a long discussion on the phone recently with their European Marketing Manager and he is confident that they will support their customer base with regular updates. Having dealt with AC RYAN in the past, I do know they are dedicated to their customers, so the minor quirks and issues are sure to be resolved.
One of the main selling points is the excellent remote controller which becomes second nature to use. I use a similar Gyration controller with my Windows Media PC, which cost over £100 a few years ago. The AC RYAN bundled remote isn't quite as smooth in operation, but it is still very good and much more sophisticated than a mainstream design.
I am particularly impressed with the design of the VEOLO. It is passively cooled, meaning it generates absolutely no noise at all. It has a very small physical footprint and demands under 10 watts of power, even when loaded. We measured between 7 watts and 9.8 watts when viewing some media files, this is incredibly efficient and will certainly help lower electricity bills over the coming months.
High Definition image quality is very impressive, with nicely saturated colours and balanced sharpness. That said, there is still some way to go before they can challenge Nvidia or AMD discrete graphics cards in this regard.
The VEOLO is currently quite expensive in the United Kingdom, retailing for £180 inc vat. To be fair, the remote controller is probably worth at least £50 due to the technology inside it. Overall I feel it is a great purchase for a living room, or bedroom, as everything you need is included in the box. It is a great product that I would happily use myself on a daily basis.
Pros:
- Fantastic remote.
- silent.
- very low power drain.
- Small physical chassis, ideal for a space restricted living room, or bedroom.
Cons:
- Its quite expensive.
- Needs an update to fix a few minor niggling issues.
- FROYO OS feels a little dated.
Kitguru says: A very stylish little media center and entertainment system for the family.
I think I was the first person to buy one of these in the UK when scan stocked them. I love it. its very small and the remote controller is brilliant. I dont use it for downloading apps much, just a memory optimiser which was free and a new browser. It works fab with my LCD tv in the living room.
Looks lovely, very small too. I always looked at a playon device, but many people on their forums complained about the lag problems and that would drive me batty. This one seems more responsive.
Piano black looks great in pictures, but my DVD player is the same and it looks like someone played football with it last night, its cleaned every week too.
Still, im impressed with this, apart from the almost £200 asking price. seems a bit much even with the gyro style remote.
What a brilliant little product. ill be ordering one from scan this week.
Nice idea, but it seems to lack a lot of image adjustment settings, is that all their is? contrast, brightness etc? thats a bit lame,
Good company, I bought their mini device months ago and its served me well, its still a bit sluggish but it must be down to the hardware for that series. at least this one has half a gig of ram which will work well with android.
I wouldnt even look at this if it wasnt for the power consumption. thats exactly why windows/Intel/AMD designs are so inefficient. T here are other alternatives and this is one im going to look at in more depth soon.