Need a hard disk dock for your PC? Before you fork out the cash for any peripheral, make sure to check out the latest in Brando’s line of all-in-one docking solutions: the SATA HDD Multimedia Player Adapter, which combines attractive storage-docking features, along with a host of input slots, multimedia playback and an HDMI out.
While I’ve heard of all-in-one docks before, I doubt anything this full-featured ever came along. As a hard disk dock, it can perform typical 480Mbps data transfers with your PC, along with integrated backup and disk cloning options. Not content with such nominal capabilities, it also offers input slots for microSDHC and USB storage.
Here’s the clincher, though – the box comes with built-in media playback capabilities, able to process 1080i video and 5.1-channel audio directly from the docked storage units. Instead of streaming all that to your PC, though, it connects directly with your home entertainment system, using AV, YPbPr and HDMI video connectors and CX 5.1 audio outputs. Even better, it handles a ridiculous variety of file formats, including video (MPG, MPEG, VOB, AVI, MP4 and DIVX), audio (MP3, WAV, AAC, MPA, WMA and AC3) and images (JPEG).
Even if you don’t particularly need a hard disk dock, this sounds like a better purchase than all of the PC peripherals I bought last year, despite coming out of an inventive yet suspiciously cheap accessory company like Brando. The SATA HDD Multimedia Player Adapter is now available, in all its versatile glory, for the cheap price of $69.