wesociety used our news submit to tell us that he saw an article of interest over at PC World. What we have here are some nice set top boxes that can communicate with your PC and create a bridge to the television. We have reported on the IOData unit already, but here is a little information about the Buffalo player.
| Buffalo's PC-P3LAN/DVD Link Theater
is similar to the IO Data player. It offers the same broad support for DVD and CD media, and accepts the same wide variety of file formats. Among the differences is the Buffalo device's lack of a built-in wireless LAN adapter. However, the device does support RMP4 video and DVD Audio discs, which the IO Data device does not. Buffalo expects to ship its player in Japan in mid-September priced at $ 270, but has not disclosed plans for international availability. IO Data AVeL Link Player Almost every type of digital content can be played with IO Data Device's AVeL Link Player. This optical drive accepts all the major DVD formats, except DVD-RAM and DVD Audio, and supports a variety of CD formats including Video CD. The drive can play MPEG1, MPEG2, DivX, XviD, and WMV9 video; as well as JPEG, bitmap, GIF, and PNG image files; and MP3, AAC, Windows Media Audio, PCM, and Ogg Vorbis audio. Its connectivity is good, too, with an Ethernet socket, USB 2.0 port, and built-in 802.11b/g wireless connectivity to hook up to a computer, and D4 (Japanese digital video), DVI-I, component video, S-video, and analog and optical audio outputs to connect to a TV or audio system. You can also attach a device like a digital camera or external hard drive to the USB port. The AVLP2 is scheduled to ship in mid-September in Japan priced at $ 285. It is expected to become available in the U.S. in October for less than $ 300. |
If you are interested in these type devices, you should
definately pay a visit to our new Stand Alone
Devices & Home Entertainment Forum.
Source: PC World
