macnn/electronista
01/07/2009, 6:05pm, EST
Wednesday, January 7thLaCie rolls out LaCinema Classic TV-ready drive
LaCie has begun selling the LaCinema Classic, a new hard drive intended to serve as a media streamer for TVs. Users first connect the drive to a Windows, Mac or Linux system via USB, where they load the Classic with music, photo and video files; supported formats include JPEG images, MP3 or WMA audio, and DivX, XviD or MPEG-4 AVI video. A variety of subtitle files can be used as well. Once the files have been copied, the drive can be connected to a TV, where media can be browsed with a remote.
The Classic includes composite and HDMI 1.1 video outputs, and is able upscale resolution to 1080p. Audio options include regular stereo or S/PDIF. Two versions of the drive are being sold: a 500GB model retailing for $170, and a 1TB model whose price is currently unpublished.
Filed under: upgrades/storage
Other story tags: TV, LaCie
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HDMI 1.1?
I would have expected them to be using HDMI 1.3, as there are a bunch of devices that had compatibility problems with earlier versions of the HDMI spec.
neat idea
This is a pretty neat idea... too bad it doesn't have an ethernet port. It could have been a NAS with an HDMI out. That would be very cool... I can't believe that didn't cross anyones mind when designing this thing...
Re: chelsel
To play video and throw up photos as well as having an on-screen interface, this obviously has to have it's own OS an system tools, so making it a NAS device wouldn't have been a leap in terms of software support.
However, to make it work for a direct ethernet connection to your TV, you'd need to keep your router in the same room or use an ethernet crossover. Both are hassles most people aren't willing to deal with... yet.
If LaCie were truly forward thinking, they'd have chosen to support more interfaces than a simple USB 2.0. All too soon, there will come a day, even at the 1TB size and especially for the hi-def aficionados, when the drive is full. The smart solution is to connect another drive on and just keep on adding. The interface for this kind of daisy chaining is Firewire. 400, 800, or the rumored 3200 support 41 devices chained together, so you'd only have to buy new lacie storage drives and keep the original player for on-the-go titles and playback control.
But then again, that wouldn't help sell the upgraded versions of this device we might see in the future. This seems like a pilot devices for testing the waters or video file libraries vs. Blu Ray/DVD libraries. I'm fairly certain it's going to be at least a few years before we see a path to dominance in the hi-def video library device market.
connect 360
I like using connect 360 with my xbox to stream video, pictures and music. It even does it wirelessly. My tower is out here in the studio connected to a large lacie fw800 drive which houses my media.
There is also a program that does it for our p.c. in the house.... again, its all wireless and works like teh sex.
i like the lacie box and all but i am not understanding what i would need it for at this time... Perhaps down the line i could use something like this but for now this is pretty great.
loving you long times,
pandas
Firewire
Yeah, it definitely needs FireWire. Imagine filling up a 500GB drive with USB 2. That'll take ages.