USB Device Turns Laptop into Wireless Personal Video Recorder with Free HDTV Reception
FREMONT, Calif. -- Mar. 28, 2007 Plextor(R) LLC, a leading developer and manufacturer of high-performance digital media equipment, today announced the immediate availability of the PX-HDTV500U Mini Digital HDTV Receiver. The USB stick-sized device, which weighs less than 20 grams, allows users to watch, pause, and record crystal-clear High-Definition TV on most Windows-based laptop computers. Wherever they are - at the office, on the go, or at the airport - PX-HDTV500U users can enjoy unlimited hours of entertainment without paying recurring charges or expensive subscription fees.
Plextor's Mini Digital HDTV Receiver includes software that automatically scans for free air-to-air digital and HD signals in the area. The signals are pulled in by a digital flat antenna. The receiver features a Hi-Speed USB 2.0 interface for easy connectivity with laptops running Windows(R) 2000/XP/Vista(TM) operating systems. In this basic configuration, users can watch, pause, and record live TV with standard definition TV and HDTV video resolution. Recorded TV is converted to MPEG-2 files in real-time and stored on the hard disk drive.
"We spent a significant amount of time developing an intuitive user interface that makes it easy for users to get started enjoying this very cool and useful mini HDTV receiver immediately," said Michael Arbisi, vice president of channel sales for Plextor. "This new product is actually highly complimentary with other Plextor products that our customers may already own and use every day. For example, once a series of shows has been recorded from the HDTV receiver onto a laptop's hard drive, a user may want to burn them onto a DVD using one of our DVD recorders."
PX-HDTV500U Mini Digital HDTV Receiver
The PX-HDTV500U Mini Digital HDTV Receiver supports the US DTV Standard ATSC Protocol for free air-to-air digital terrestrial TV and audio program playing. The tuner frequency is 42-864 MHZ, with a 6 MHz bandwidth. The receiver also supports advanced viewing features such as automatic channel scanning, picture-in-picture, aspect ratios of 4:3 and 16:9, full-screen view or scalable screen for multitasking, and still-picture capture.
Minimum System Requirements
For Standard Definition TV, the Plextor PX-HDTV500U Mini Digital HDTV Receiver requires a Windows 2000/XP/Vista computer with Pentium(R) III 1.0 GHz or equivalent CPU, 256 MB RAM, 32 MB VGA card, sound card or on-board sound chip, and USB 2.0. For High Definition TV, the receiver requires Pentium(R) 4 3.0 GHz or equivalent CPU, 512 MB RAM, and 128 MB VGA card.
Pricing and Availability
Plextor's PX-HDTV500U Mini Digital HDTV Receiver ships to distributors in North and South America in the beginning of April 2007, with a Manufacturer's Suggested Retail Price (MSRP) of $99.00 USD. All retail packages include one-year full warranty and unlimited toll-free technical support.