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Home A/V at CES 2006



Search by brand: Avega Systems | D-Link | Denon | Empower Technologies | KEF | Harmon Kardon | Klipsch | Linksys | Onkyo | Philips | Pyramat | Samsung | Sharp

D-Link unveils two new members of MediaLounge family


The MediaLoung NSE-1701 enclosure lets you pick your hard drives.
(Click for larger image)
At CES, D-Link showcased a couple of storage products so new they don't even have names yet. Both are part of the MediaLounge family of digital entertainment devices. The NSE-1701 is a gigabit storage enclosure that lets you install two 3.5-inch SATA hard drives of your choice. The enclosure comes fanless, as the chassis is made of heat-dispelling aluminum, though buyers can opt for the fan if they like. The drives can be arranged in a RAID 0 or RAID 1 array and the resulting drive is a UPnP A/V server. The enclosure should be available sometime in Q1, likely for less than US$150.

The other product, the MediaLoung NSE-2151 is a sub-US$150 NAS unit with audio outs for connecting directly to a speaker system. Though the drive lacks an LCD on the case, D-link will provide an HTML interface for sorting through your music. The NSE-2151 will also emerge during Q1.

Credit: Felisa Yang, CNET.com

Expandable network audio player: D-Link DSM-120 MediaLounge


D-Link DSM-120 MediaLounge.
(Click for larger image)
Whether you call them network media devices or digital audio receivers, such devices--which let you stream your digital music from your PC to your home theater or audio system over a home network--have become something of a commodity over the past few years. Despite the availability of a wider variety of increasingly affordable models, however, we've been hard-pressed to find many that actually work well. One of the best-performing models of 2005 (after a few key firmware upgrades) was the D-Link DSM-320. Now D-Link has created an audio-only little brother in the same MediaLounge series: The DSM-120.

Instead of hooking up to your TV, the DSM-120 stands upright and has a small screen that allows you to navigate your music collection. It covers all the bases for a network digital audio device: Universal Plug and Play support makes for easy setup, and PlaysForSure compatibility means it can stream copy-protected WMA files purchased from (non-iTunes) online music stores, and it will pull standard MP3 and WAV files from a networked PC as well. The DSM-120 can also stream online radio stations straight off the Web--no PC required. Furthermore, the DSM-120 sports some impressive features we haven't yet seen on competing products. Its 802.11g wireless won't slow down your wireless network like products using the older 802.11b standard do (though the 120 will still work just fine on an 802.11b network). A built-in USB port lets you play music straight off of a connected USB thumbdrive or hard disk. Most impressively, however, is an empty 2.5-inch hard disk bay; do-it-yourselfers can drop in their own hard disk preloaded with tunes, negating the need for connecting to a networked PC. The DSM-120 is currently available for $230--though with no built-in iPod support, we think the price should be closer to US$150.

Credit: John P. Falcone, CNET.com

 

 
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