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(More customer reviews)I received the LaCie 500Gb today and hooked it up to my Apple. The drive was recognized immediately and it functioned like a normal hard drive would. I moved my music and movies onto the hard drive and downloaded the firmware/software update from LaCie's website (There is no manual in the box. Lacie gives you a CD that you have to load on your computer). After loading my files, I hooked it up through my stereo and television. The first connection using component video cables and an optical audio cable had a delay with the video and audio sync on my screen. I switched to the digital coaxial audio and component video and they synced fine. Once installed, I was taken back by how generic the software program is. The main screen has screen buttons for Movie, Music, Photo, Browse and Settings, but if you click on Movie, Music, Photo or Browse they all take you to the same directory. What is the purpose of having four on screen option buttons if they all lead to the same place? The remote is the same way; four buttons with the same titles but again, they all lead to the same place. (Since we are on the remote, I have to admit, it is confusing. I am moderately tech savvy, but I have not figured out many of the buttons - and the manual was no help). The fifth onscreen button takes you to the settings. This feature allows you to change the audio and video settings (playback from 720P, 1081i etc, audio Digital, analog. The default video output is 480P, if you have an HD TV, you will need to set each time it is unplugged back to 720 or 1080 or else playback will look grainy). Once I changed my settings, I chose the music directory. I have 14,000 songs from a couple thousand artists. This part was frustrating. When clicking the music directory, it took nearly 5 minutes to load the directory. It is terribly slow when reading and loading directories. As mentioned earlier, the screens are generic. When it finally came up, it showed the artists name only in a basic blue screen. When you click a name - it goes to albums. You can only choose to play an album or a track not associated with an album. There is no option to play all songs by that artist, just by album. The songs when played display the running playtime and kbs size and unlike the Ipod or Archos DVR stations, it does not show ANY album art. When that artists is complete and you click back to the main directory (for all artists), it has to go through the whole process of loading the artist by name (again ... waiting, waiting). It is frustratingly slow when loading the file directories and when reading the files, the whole system locks up until complete. In all, I played AVI, MP4, MP3 and WMA files and they do play fine, just extremely slow in loading. It was slightly better on the movie side but I do not have the quantity of movies as I do music. The movie on-screen display is again very basic. I have an Archos 504 with the optional DVR to play on my television and the Archos has a nice feature of giving a mini display of a scene in the movie next to the each file name in the file directory. The LaCie on the other hand has nothing but the name of the file on a basic blue screen. I know this is a first year model with LaCie and I hope (and quickly) they come out with a more interactive software update with a feature that reads the files by update so that the directory does not have to reload every time. I purchased this LaCie because I needed the extra space. My Archos is only 160gb. It would be ideal to have the software capability of the Archos along with the hard drive capacity of this Lacie. As is, I will use my Archos to store music and only the movies I need when I travel. I will use the LaCie to hold only movies. If you are buying the LaCie to place large amount of music files or any large file directories to display on your television screen, I think you will be disappointed, at least until there is a software update. UPDATE: 10/2008 When I wrote this article, the LACIE 500GB was selling for $249.00 dollars. I received one the first week they came out. The current price around $180.00 would make me give it 3.75 stars. I have grown to like it. It does play movies well, but as stated, it is slow loading. I was able to figure out a delay setting on the remote control to fix the digital audio and video sync tracking problem. The only problem is, it doesn't seem to be even with all videos, meaning I have to reset it with each feature. It is not a problem, just an annoyance if you cannot get them in sync right away. I have both analog and digital connected. Since the analog audio does not need adjusting, I use it 80% of the time. Lastly, and probably not even worth mentioning, but the back to the remote comes off easy and has now misplaced itself. Minor problem. Overall, this is not bad for $180.00. If it goes down to $150.00 I might pick up another.
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LaCie LaCinema Premier 301814 500 GB USB 2.0 Multimedia Hard Drive (Black)The LaCie LaCinema Premier 301814 500 GB USB 2.0 Multimedia Hard Drive lets you transform your home theater system into a virtual entertainment center, letting you enjoy your digital movies, photos and music from the comfort of your couch. With high-end optical output and 1080i upscaling capabilities, this drive lets you experience your digital media with HDTV-quality video and surround sound. Your Movies, Photos and Music on Your TV Are you tired of experiencing your digital media through the poor resolution and low-end sound system of your computer? The LaCinema Premier lets you play your digital media where you can enjoy it most--through your TV and home theater system. Simply connect the LaCinema Premier to your PC or Mac via USB to transfer your digital media files, then plug it into your TV for instant playback. This will save you time and hassle from having to constantly burn CDs and DVDs. Just plug it in and play it--the way it should be!With a 500 GB capacity, the LaCinema Premier can store up to 500,000 photos, 125,000 songs or 500 movies. Designed with HDTV screens in mind, it can adapt video content up to a 1080i resolution, and thanks to its optical output capability, it can also transform your audio into virtual surround sound. Best of all, you don't have to be a geek to get the full benefits of the LaCinema Premier. It was designed with the whole family in mind, with an easy-to-navigate on-screen menu and convenient remote control. If you know how to operate a television remote, you'll be taking full advantage of the LaCinema Premier in not time at all.Safe, Secure Storage and Back-Up When you're not using the LaCinema Premier to play back your photos, videos or music through your TV, you can use it as an external hard drive for additional data storage and as a back-up for your Windows, Mac or Linux computer. Since it comes with a USB port and cable, you can plug it into your desktop or laptop PC or Mac for an easy, quiet backup solution. The drive also includes LaCie's exclusive 1-Click Backup software for quick, easy backups.The drive is housed in an elegant, slim-profile black body and is designed to run silently without a noisy fan. It features a rotational speed of 7200 rpm and a cache of at least 8 MB. It measures 2.68 x 6.69 x 4.92 inches (WxHxD) and is backed by LaCie's 2-year limited warranty.About LaCie Established in France in 1989, LaCie is a leading manufacturer of computer peripherals for Windows, Apple and Linux users. With offices and plants in the USA, Canada, Japan, Australia, Europe, Singapore and Hong Kong, LaCie develops and manufactures external storage solutions and color monitors that help professionals and everyday people easily manage their digital lives. LaCie has differentiated its products through original designs and leading-edge technology.What's in the Box LaCie LaCinema Premier, remote control, A/V cable (stereo audio and composite video), power adapter, USB 2.0 cable, CD-ROM with User Manual, and quick install guide.
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