Iomega has launched its ScreenPlay HD Multimedia Drive today, bringing yet another portable external hard drive to the market that does away with the need for a PC as it can, by itself, deliver multimedia content to high definition TVs as well as home theater systems without breaking a sweat. This 500GB hard drive will be able to hold approximately 2 million photos, 9,250 hours of music, or 750 hours of video, allowing all and sundry to have a good time sharing high-resolution photos, music, and video clips in the comfort of the living room, sans a computer.

According to Loren Bryner, ScreenPlay product manager, Iomega Corporation, “Today’s mainstream home entertainment products are entering the high-definition era, which presents a huge opportunity for media devices in the living room like the Iomega ScreenPlay HD Multimedia Drive. The ScreenPlay Drive is a great solution for Windows users — there’s no better way to leverage a big-screen LCD or plasma TV investment. The combination of ScreenPlay and today’s televisions give users a seamless way to show off family photos, play music, and enjoy their videos from the best seat in the house.”

It is accompanied by a remote control for easy navigation, while both HDMI and component video outputs are thrown in for displaying high-resolution digital photos and video. Tipping the scales at 2 pounds, the Iomega ScreenPlay HD Multimedia Drive measures a highly portable 7.7″ x 2.3″ x 5″ that won’t break the proverbial camel’s back. Within lies a 500GB 3.5″ 7200 RPM hard drive which has been formatted with the NTFS file system. Video connection options consist of HDMI, component and composite video, and SCART (RGB). Audio connection options include composite RCA and coaxial S/PDIF outputs. PC transfers are done via USB 2.0 interface, and each purchase comes with USB, composite video, and component video cables. The Iomega ScreenPlay HD Multimedia Drive USB 2.0/AV 500GB is eyeing the North American market with a $209.95 price tag.

Press Release