Western Digital WD TV

Announced and launched immediately on November 3rd 2008, the WD TV HD media player is Western Digital's first foray into consumer electronics. Unlike the majority of HD media streamers that attempt to replace dedicated media PCs, the WD TV HD remains a simple external hard disk 'expansion' tool that can read and display a large variety of filetypes through a high speed USB2 connection.

Most importantly, the device includes a plethora of connectivity options - including HDMI and digital toslink audio, allowing full digital passthrough to potentially higher quality home A/V equipment. While in some way limited by its lack of connectivity or storage, this fact allows the device to lot less expensive and small.