LaCie's Compact HD Media Player

LaCie's taking HD on the road with the latest addition to the company's LaCinema line: the Mini HD. The tiny 4.7- by 4.7- by 1.5-inch Mini HD fits nicely in a carry-on and outputs full 1080p via HDMI. Composite video, RCA audio, and optical audio outputs are also provided for less high-tech hotels.

The unit is highly connectable with both 802.11b/g/h wireless and 10/100 Ethernet for streaming media from UPnP or DLNA compliant servers. You'll need a very good wireless connection to stream full HD, however. You may also play content from USB media connected directly to the unit via the Mini HD's USB ports.

The LaCinema Mini HD will sell for $299 when it arrives this quarter, and the unit was already listed on the company's Web site at the time of its January 2010 CES announcement. Hopefully, the remote and interface for the Neil Poulton-designed, minimalistic, black, looks-real-nice-next-to-your-TV Mini HD have been reworked to eliminate some of my complaints about previous LaCinema products.

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This story, "LaCie's Compact HD Media Player" was originally published by PCWorld.