Buffalo rolled out an easier-to-set- up version of its LinkTheater Wireless Media Player, and it’s not going as far as its higher-end brandmate, the AirStation Wireless-N Infiniti, and staying on more finite ground with the 802.11a and 802.11g standards. In case you’re wondering, that’s just garden-variety Wi-Fi.
Its latest trick is its ability to play well in the sandbox with Intel Viiv PCs, even waking them up when they’re asleep, and it’s also Dolby Digital approved and certified by the Digital Living Network Alliance. Plus, it can play just about any music, image or video file formats such as MP3, MPEG 1, 2, and 4, Windows Media and even XviD and H.264 among others. Those must all be, of course, in standard definition. There’s more:
Other than that, this LinkTheater looks a lot like the media players Buffalo has been showing as for the past year or two. It’s a rather handsome box, but it also stops a little short in the output category, too, where it spits out composite, S-Video and component, but no dice with HDMI. Pricing and availability date wasn’t announced, but this will probably be the value-priced entry in the Buffalo home theater media player line.
