Iomega ScreenPlay drives

Iomega on Wednesday announced it is launching a new addition to its multimedia drives, with the 1TB ScreenPlay Pro HD drive, meant to bring users' photos, music, standard- and high-definition videos from the computer to their home theater set-ups. The drive sports a 10/100 Ethernet connection for network access and includes a wireless remote that allows users to access their networked files without turning to a computer. Iomega has integrated a basic video recording capability from a connected set-top box into the new drive, letting users save a standard-definition clip directly to the drive.

The 3.5-inch hard disk drive is a 7,200RPM unit formatted in NTFS. Users also have the option of transfering files to and from the drive using a second USB drive. Other connections to allow home theater integration include an HDMI port, as well as component and composite video jacks. HD signals up to 1080i resolution are supported natively, while most common digital media formats are supported, including DivX, MPEG-4 and XviD.

For audio, there is an RCA input as well as a higher-quality optical port allowing for surround sound signal communication other than via the HDMI port. An optional USB Wi-Fi module lets users access files on their home network wirelessly.

The drive is officially compatible with Windows XP and Vista.

The Iomega ScreenPlay Pro HD 1TB Multimedia Drive USB 2.0/AV is now available in the Americas for $300. A 500GB drive version will be made available in Europe for the equivalent of about $253, though the company has not revealed any intentions to bring the drive Stateside.

By Electronista Staff