WD TV Mini arrives in Asia

Philip Wong | Aug 27, 2009

(Credit: Philip Wong/CNET Asia)

The miniaturized Western Digital media player has landed in Singapore. Designed for the Asia markets, the petite WD TV Mini offers RealMedia video compatibility at a more pocket-friendly S$129 (US$93.20) pricing. For this level of affordability, the new model supports only standard-definition video clips upscalable to 1080i resolution and basic stereo sound. The Mini also loses the HDMI output and replaces this with a component-video socket via a proprietary breakout cable. There are also fewer supported media formats. Nonetheless, the Mini features a few enhancements over the WD TV such as a new user interface with live video preview, as well as digital still and video camera support via USB.

The WD TV-series allows users to playback their multimedia files directly onto a big screen and home theater system instead of via a computer. This is via USB input connectivity to an external storage device such as a hard drive as well as through various onboard A/V outputs.

Here's an overview of the key differences between the original and mini version of the WD TV. Similar supported file formats are not listed below. Check back for updates to Asia availability and pricing when these become known.

	WD TV	WD TV Mini
Additional music format supported	Dolby Digital 5.1, AIF/AIFF	Dolby Digital 2.0, APE
Additional photo format supported	TIF	N.A.
Additional video format supported	WMV9, AVC, H.264, MKV, MTS, TP and TS up to high definition for selected formats	VOB, RM and RMVB up to standard-definition
Video resolution	1080p	1080i
Video output	Digital HDMI	Analog component-video
No. of USB inputs	Two	One
Dimension	125.5 x 100 x 40mm	91 x 91 x 21mm
Weight	303g	113g
Price	S$199 (US$143.78)	S$129 (US$93.20)