Traxdata, manufacturer of media storage products, has today announced its MultiMediaDrive, a device which is essentially an external hard drive with video out.
Sounds simple enough, but it could prove to be very useful. Just about every manufacturer is working on solutions to make your PC-based multimedia accessible on your TV, and Traxdata's MultiMediaDrive could be the simplest yet.
The drive provides 500GiB of storage, and can be connected to your computer via USB 2.0. It'll chug along just fine as an external hard drive, but, should you transfer over your multimedia, you'll then be able to take the drive and hook it up to your TV. Making sure just about any TV is compatible, the MultiMediaDrive provides a multitude of audio and video connections, including HDMI, composite component and scart.
Once you've plugged it into your TV, the fun starts. The MultiMediaDrive will playback all your music, photos or videos, including DivX and XviD (with subtitle support) and it'll do so at HD resolutions of 720p or 1080i.
It all looks like a very tidy little package, and it's available now at a recommended retail price of £149.
It's complete specification, as detailed by Traxdata, is as follows:
| STORAGE | HDD: 3.5” SATA I/II |
|---|---|
| File System: FAT32 or NTFS | |
| Storage Capacity: 500GB | |
| INTERFACE | USB 2.0 (USB Type B Connector) |
| AUDIO/VIDEO INTERFACE | Audio/Video: HDMI*, Composite Video + Audio R/L (3.5mm phone jack) |
| Component Video: Y, Pb, Pr (3.5mm phone jack) | |
| Digital Audio: Coaxial S/PDIF Output(RCA)* | |
| SCART: SCART Connector (Europe)* | |
| OPERATING SYSTEM SUPPORT | Windows: 98SE/Me/2000/XP/Vista |
| MAC: OS 10.2 or above (FAT32) | |
| MEDIA SUPPORT | Media types: MPEG-1, MPEG-2, DivX, XviD, MP3, WAV, JPEG |
| Media Files: dat, mpg, mpe, mpeg, vob, m2p, avi, divx, xvid, jpg, jpeg, mp3, wav | |
| DivX Subtitle: IDX/SUB, SRT, ASS, SSA, SUB (type II), SMI, PSB | |
| DVD Folder: DVD Menu/Audio/Subtitle/Angle Selection | |
| CONTENT RESOLUTION | Video: 720 x 576 pixels |
| JPEG (Baseline): 5120 x 3840 pixels (Baseline) | |
| MP3: 320kbps | |
| VIDEO OUTPUT | TV: NTSC / PAL |
| Screen Ratio: 4:3 / 16:9 | |
| Component: 480i/480p/576i/576p/720p/1080i | |
| AUDIO OUTPUT | Analog Audio: Stereo/Left Mono/Right Mono |
| Digital Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1 / DTS | |
| SECURITY | Private folder: Password protection in both TV/PC mode |
| POWER SUPPLY | Input: AC 100-240V, 50/60Hz |
| Output: DC 12V, 2A | |
| GENERAL | Dimensions: 7.7(L) x 2.4(W) x 4.8(H) inches |
| 196(L) x 61(W) x 122(H) mm |
Official press release: Traxdata unveils its new portable home entertainment storage solution
Official product page: traxdata-multimediadrive.com
