A casual glance at the photo and you might think we’re re-reviewing the HP MediaSmart EX487 Home Server we looked at back in December. In actual fact, this is the business-centric cousin to that device, the HP StorageWorks X510 Data Vault. Intended for small businesses or serious home offices, the X520 Data Vault promises not only backup but various shared storage options too. Check out the full SlashGear review after the cut.
Here we are again with another week in review, let’s jump right in. A new 160GB Apple TV has popped up with better integration with iTunes 9. This is a good thing, I have one season of Heroes in HD on my 40GB unit and the thing is almost full. Samsung unveiled a new home theater projector this week called the P410M. With football season now going, a projector is a great way to watch the game with life-size players, assuming your room is large enough.
It’s not all premium ultraportables and new netbooks from HP’s holiday line-up. Elsewhere there’s a pair of new MediaSmart Home Servers, the EX490 and EX495, together with a compact home all-in-one, the HP MS200. Finally business users have the new HP Compaq 6000 Pro and 6005 Pro desktops and various new HP and Compaq LCD displays to choose from. More details after the cut.
HP have announced a new range of consumer desktop PCs, together with an update to their MediaSmart Server software for TouchSmart PCs. Slimline, Pavilion and Elite desktops have all been announced, together with a new Compaq Presario desktop. In addition, HP have announced that select consumer PCs bought from today onwards will be eligible for their Windows 7 Upgrade Program.
Video demos after the cut
It’s not only the new dv6z Artist Edition and dv6t that HP are unveiling today: the company has also taken a knife to the price tags of their ultraportable Pavilion dv3t and Pavilion dv2z. The former, a 13.3-inch machine with Intel processors, went on sale back in April and now gets a $150 cut to $649.99. Meanwhile the dv2z with its 12.1-inch display and AMD Neo processor slides down a similar amount to $599.
If you want to add a little color to your HP MediaSmart mobile viewing experience, you can look into getting a Lime Green PSP to view those completely legal and unlocked DVD rips on the go.
The HP MediaSmart servers (EX485/EX487 models) received a software update today from HP. The news software allows media to be streamed to wireless devices such as iPhone, iPod Touch and PlayStation Portables. The new software also adds the ability for the servers to convert videos (including unprotected DVD’s) into two separate formats: one high-resolution for playing on home devices, and a lower resolution for portable media players.
We got our share of HP second-gen MediaSmart Home Server less than a month ago. In our test, the impressing media tools were straightforward, offered a cleverly designed software package that allowed a simple yet effective digital media backup, remote access and files sharing solutions for regular Joes. The features didn’t stop there, HP has recently updated its MediaSmart Home server, released a new HPMSS-1.3-R1 system software to further improve performance, add new feature and correct mirror errors.
We kicked off the week with a review of HP’s MediaSmart EX487 Home Server, but after that brief dalliance with Microsoft it was Apple that caught most of the headlines. Much of it is rumor, of course, about what will launch at Macworld next week – A new unibody 17-inch MacBook Pro with integrated battery? A new Mac mini? An iPod touch HD tablet? – but the Dev Team gave us something more concrete with the release of yellowsn0w. If you’ve been waiting to unlock your iPhone 3G, now’s your chance.
HP’s first-generation MediaSmart EX475 was the poster-child for Windows Home Server. Now, HP are back with their second-gen version, the MediaSmart EX487; the hardware looks the same, but what’s under the hood has seen some serious improvements. Is this the best backup option for Windows and Mac users? SlashGear set to finding out.
SlashGear Japan
