Apacer Technology AL720 Quick Manual

Brand: Apacer Technology

Model: AL720

Type: Quick Manual

Media player

Apacer’s AL720 is a small and quiet hardware

media player, nicely designed with a simple

and elegant case that doesn’t stick out like a

sore thumb in a living room.

e AL720 outputs video through HDMI

and component at up to 1080p resolution,

60Hz framerate. Audio is also carried over

HDMI, but there’s an optical S/PDIF

connection too – potentially useful if you’re

hooking up to a high-end sound system. Two

USB 2.0 ports let you hook up an external

drive and a computer to the AL720.

You don’t need to be a geek to use the

AL720 thanks to a simple-to-navigate user

interface. As long as your content is of high

enough quality for the big screen, the AL720

playback is great, with very good image and

audio quality.

Delving into the tech specs reveals that

Apacer built the AL720 around the new

RealTek RTD1185 system on a chip that

provides HD media playback of many

common formats such as MPEG-1, 2 and

4, H.264 and plenty of those less common,

such as RMVB. While it wasn’t possible to

test every single format out there, the AL720

had no problems with the les I threw at it and

played back video in 1080p high denition

with no trouble.

A new feature of the RealTek chip is that

it plays back multi-channel DTS surround

sound, as found in Blu-Ray movies. DTS

and Dolby Digital AC3 audio worked great

through an Anthem MX 500 AV receiver, over

an HDMI connection.

e AL720 adds a Western Digital Scorpio

2.5in 500 or 640GB hard drive for media

storage inside the device, extending its use to

more than playback. is isn’t a new thing, but

it’s a nice feature for $249 (500GB) and $269

(640GB) respectively.

e onboard storage means you can take

your content with you and play it back

elsewhere, with only the AL720: no external

storage is required. It also saves you the upfront

expense of an external hard drive, which would

be a must with a storage-less media player.

However, as you start lling up the hard drive

with your content you run into a couple of

nuisances. First, a network connection is an

optional extra. You have to buy a Wi-Fi dongle

that eats up one of the two USB ports.

Second, unlike other media players we’ve

tried, the AL720 doesn’t have a wired Ethernet

port. is means you’re relegated to using the

USB 2.0 port for content transfers. On the

upside, that’s easy enough, and faster than your

typical 100Mbit/s home LAN at between 180

to 200Mbit/s.

Downside? During transfer, you’re locked

out of the AL720 and can’t watch or listen

to other content until you unplug the USB

cable from the media player. Working this out

from the manual is hard though, as its poorly

written instructions take considerable eort

to decipher.

While I like the results the Apacer AL720

produces, I’d be happier if it came with a

wired Ethernet port or a fast 802.11n wireless

connection as well. As it is, it feels overly

limited with network access relegated to an

optional extra.

Juha Saarinen

Apacer AL720

CUT OFF: Network

connectivity is an

optional extra.

TheLounge

June 2011 pcworld.co.nz 93

AT A GLANCE



Compact, good looking design



Supports a wide range of video,

audio and image formats



User-friendly interface



No wired network connection at all,

and no wireless out of the box

APACER AL720

RRP incl GST: $249 (500GB), $269 (640GB)

Contact: ap.apacer.com

A multiformat media player with DTS

surround sound support, a neat little

package and a good price; shame about

the missing network connection.

Apacer Technology AL720 Quick Manual

Apacer Technology AL720 Quick Manual

Apacer Technology AL720 Quick Manual

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