“Plug the Mozart in” used to mean inserting a CD of the classical composer’s music on the tray. If the new Mozart HDD Enclosure has its way, the whole expression should take on a whole new definition.
With black and white piano keys lined across a glossy white finish, the Mozart HDD Enclosure appears like a musical instrument for kids. Look closely though, and you’ll find that those keys are actually standard media playback buttons. Our good friend Mozart right here, as it turns out, is a full-featured hard disk case with built-in multimedia talents.
The slick-looking box comes with a slide-out rear cover that lets you plug in a 2.5-inch SATA storage inside the case. Docking a disk in and pulling it out is as simple as putting batteries on your remote, with no screws to fiddle with whatsoever. Instead of just facilitating USB data transfer like regular enclosures, though, the Mozart comes with its own navigation software along with a full set of media capabilities, able to play video (DivX, AVI, MPEG, RMVB, VOB, XviD, and RealMedia), audio (ACC, MP3, WAV, WMA and OGG) and image slideshows.
Like any decent player, it offers both HDMI and composite outputs, allowing you to connect the unit directly to an available TV. It also rocks A/V inputs that let you record shows like a time-shifting DVR in MPEG-2 format, a microSDHC card slot (up to 16GB) and support for external USB storage (like flash drives and other HDD).
Available wholesale from Chinavasion, the Mozart HDD Enclosure is currently listed for $68 apiece.
[Chinavasion via Crunch Gear]