I’m not sure if Lacie is actually making a better product or just trying to be the first to market with their latest LaCinema Rugged multimedia hard drive, the LaCinema Rugged HD. Yup, this little blackbox of rubbery goodness can not only survive the odd ding, drop or bump, but can output its content in all the full HD glory you’ve come to expect from your LCD TV. It includes a little remote control, HDMI output (composite video as well), is compatible with a shit load of video codecs and can upscale your non-HD videos, which is just about the last nail in the coffin for me to be convinced of its multimedia capabilities – it plays photos too. Adding additional content to its hard drive (250GB, 320GB and 500GB) just means jacking it into your computer’s USB port and a power adapter is included for when your not. The LaCinema Rugged HD drive looks to be available now and costs $169.99, $199.99 and $229.99 respectively.
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LaCie definitely isn’t short on variations of their products. This past Wednesday they officially announced their LaCinema Black PLAY and RECORD, which was followed the next day with the launch of their LaCinema Classic Bridge. It offers the same features as the LaCinema Classic, which includes the ability to playback photos (JPEG), music (MP3) and video (DivX, XviD) on your TV over HDMI, but lacks an internal hard drive. Instead you can stuff in your own internal HDD or connect any external HDD via USB 2.0. It’s available now for $99.99 and includes a wireless remote.
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In an attempt to keep things fresh, at least from what I can tell, Lacie has changed the name of their Lacinema Black MAX as well as introduced a lesser but comparable counterpart. Now called the LaCinema Black RECORD, it still performs the exact same functions at the Black MAX, which includes TV recording with EPG, as well as streaming media over WiFi or Etheret from UPnP network connected computers. Its less counter part, the LaCinema Black PLAY performs the same streaming capabilities as well as storage and upscaling, but lacks the DVR functionality. Both players are available in 500GB and 1TB capacities and should be available soon with prices starting at $429.99.
Update: Lacie just reached out and clarified that the Black MAX is the exact same product, it’s just the EU version.
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