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HP Mediasmart HDTV SLC3760N: media convergence at a price

Hphd HP are trying to stake a claim in the expanding world of your converged digital life, with the SLC3760N 37 inch high-definition TV that will connect to your home network and stream digital media from your home PC. It'll also connect to the Net for gaining access to online media services.

What gets me is the price of this unit. Looking at the specs of the TV, it looks like it'll do a decent enough job, but its convergence abilities are reliant on your existing TV and a network - fine if you already have those, but not a standalone unit.

There are other TVs that contain their own hard drive and operating system and so can act more as complete systems in their own right. Going this route, surely it would be better to buy an ordinary HDTV and connect it to a PC or a Mac Mini, and do the digital streaming that way.

I'm also not enamoured with the overall look of the unit - it's rather chunky to my taste. Still, I expect it'll serve some segment of the market. Not sure on UK availability - it's starting to make its presence felt in the US at $2,700.

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Posted by Andy Merrett on August 15, 2006

Comments

Viewable area 1366 x 768 pixels for this 37" HP, which at $2,700 does not compare well to Westinghouse 1920 x 1080p monitors.

Westinghouse 37" 1080p monitor LVM-37W3 is selling at $1,699.99 at www.newegg.com, one of their receommended retailers.

Posted by: Brian Reid | August 15, 2006 1:48 PM

The photo is wrong. The actual stand has a crescent shape. The correct photo is available from HP's web site.

The TV has wired and wireless (a/b/g) connectivity and can serve as a bridge between your TV in the living room and your PC in your office. It can also connect to any UPnP media server (NAS devices, etc.)
The idea here is to share content from multiple PCs, media servers, into a single HDTV.

It has one of the most comprehensive supports for protected content (Windows DRM, DivX) so that you can enjoy your movies on your TV.

Yes, it is more expensive than an entry-level TV, but this a new product category. Compared with a high-end Sharp or Sony TV you get both great picture and the connectivity.

Posted by: David | August 15, 2006 9:59 PM

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