Connect to HDTV via HDMI, Play your movies, music, and photos on any TV, User-friendly graphical interface and shock-resistant design, USB 2.0 bus-powered on your computer for convenient media loading

LaCie announced today the LaCinema Rugged, the latest generation in multimedia products to provide high quality movie viewing with the compact and acclaimed reliability of LaCie’s trusted mobile enclosure. Bus-powered and durable, the LaCinema Rugged allows users to enjoy their collections on the go or at home.

Designed by Neil Poulton, the Rugged features a unique scratch-resistant aluminum shell, internal anti-shock absorbers, and a shock-resistant rubber bumper to better protect media files against everyday blunders. Similar to previous LaCinema creations, the Rugged edition provides the convenience of a centralized media library with graphic menus and an easy-to-use remote control.

Compatible with both Mac and Windows environments, the USB 2.0 interface connects to the computer for easy multimedia loading. Once the data is transferred to the portable drive it is ready to be viewed on any display, where the user’s media can be accessed through an HDMI connection or legacy composite video connection. Optimized viewing through HDMI 1080i upscaling will allow you to play back videos on your HDTV or enjoy photos in clear HD resolution.

“The LaCinema Rugged is the long-needed solution to the challenge of entertainment on the go,” said Christelle Dexet, LaCie Multimedia Product Manager. “The Rugged’s triple protection design and larger capacity options mean users can be confident transporting their digital entertainment collections to any location for enjoyment.”

In addition to the multimedia features, the LaCinema Rugged functions as an external hard drive.

The LaCinema Rugged is compatible with the following digital formats and can store up to 700 movies, 125,000 Songs, or 500,000 photos*.

* Audio: MP3, WMA, AC3, Ogg Vorbis, AAC**

* Video: MPEG-1, MPEG-2 (AVI, VOB, IFO, ISO), MPEG-4 (AVI, XviD)

* Photo: JPEG (up to 8M pixels), GIF, PNG, BMP

* Capacity: 250GB, 320GB, 500GB***

Availability
The LaCie LaCinema Rugged is available through the LaCie Online Store and LaCie resellers at the suggested retail price starting at $199USD. For more product information, visit www.lacie.com