Hard Disk Drive Video Players Hit The Mainstream

The Test Candidates In Detail

THEbox HP-25OTG: Portable Hard Drive With A/V Support

This silver aluminum box is extremely compact, and not only acts as a digital storage device for video and audio files, but is also the ideal playback companion for when you're on the go. While the remote control unit is fiddly-looking, it has a nice feel in your hand. To keep it tiny, the HP-25OTG has no display of its own and no control knobs save for an "on the go" (OTG) button, one press of which copies data from an external USB device to the built-in hard drive. This is a neat function if you want to quickly save some photos from your digital camera but don't have a laptop handy. The HP-25OTG's hard drive thus serves as an image tank of sorts. Using the included RCA A/V cable, you can play back multimedia content stored on the device directly on any normal television set. Unfortunately, there is no delete function, meaning you can only get rid of your stored files in conjunction with a PC.

The specs as listed on the package