The Gadget: HP's Mediasmart Connect, a networked receiver that plays back H.264, DivX, XviD, MPEG-2, WMV video, photos, and even connects to your Media Centre to act like an extender. It's also expandable space-wise with HP's Pocket Media Drives, and supports 10/100 Ethernet and 802.11a/b/g/n. It comes in a glossy piano black finish which attracts dust and fingerprints as easily as an actual piano.

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At some date in the not too far future, HP's MediaSmart TVs and its soon-to-be- released MediaSmart Connect receiver will get the ability to play YouTube videos stretched to full-screen HD. We've shown you the MediaSmart Connect in the past under its more formal name x280n. The Connect and the sl4278n and sl4778n MediaSmart LCD TVs will have searchable, browsable client software for accessing all YouTube videos already converted into the Apple-friendly H.264 codec. Warning: Not all YouTube videos should be viewed full-screen on HDTVs, but you're a grown-up (or something), so you'll just have to sort it out for yourself. Press release down below.

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Back around CES, HP announced that they were creating an updated line of MediaSmart TVs with built-in Microsoft's Media Centre Extender support. Now those models have been unleashed on the public. A couple of 1080p LCD HDTVs with a modest 2000:1 contrast ratio, the HP SL4282N (42", US$1,900) and SL4782N (47" US$2,400) support wired and Wi-Fi connections to your home network. It's a neat, convenient idea from HP, but you could definitely score a more spec-impressive image in the US$2,000+ LCD game. Also of note, existing MediaSmart owners can now download a firmware update that brings Media Centre support to their older-gen TVs. Here are the full details:

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After a very long wait, the FedEx man has finally delivered the HP MediaSmart Server. Chen gave you a look at a Windows Home Server last week, so you got a feel for the basic software package. Now we're taking it to the consumer level: HP's is the first fully configured official WHS product out of the gate.

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