Tech: Buffalo LinkTheatre Lt-v100ap

The best way to connect your USB flash drive to your telly is via one of the many media players on offer, and Buffalo has just added one of its own to the choice available. Don’t just go by the looks though, because this conventional-looking black box does pack in some great capabilities. The LT-V100-AP supports full HD 1080p playback and sports an HDMI-out at the back for hooking up to your big screen TV. There’s a composite out too, though component output is AWOL. Apart from a 3.5mm socket, there’s optical out as well, complete with DTS and Dolby Digital support.

The box can pull media content from a USB flash drive or external hard drive, and also from the LAN via an Ethernet port at the rear. There are two USB ports, one of them right in front for easy connectivity. There’s a full-fledged remote provided as well. Format support is excellent, and the box can play pretty much everything under the sun, including DVD ISO image files. The onscreen interface is quite intuitive — you will be off to movieland in a jiffy. The remote isn’t one of those dinky ones that are a pain to use, instead it gives you all controls you need right under your thumb. The performance is good, and playback butter smooth, so you can bid adieu to that cumbersome video conversion process or limiting yourself to your desktop or laptop screen for movie viewing. A tad expensive sure, but certainly an option worth considering.  

Rs. 12,000, www.buffalo-asia.com