Buffalo offers wireless-capable
DVD player at CES
Buffalo Technology LinkTheater High Definition Wireless Media Player PC-P3WG/DVD
The product: The Buffalo Technology LinkTheater High-Definition Wireless Media Player PC-P3WG/DVD is a progressive-scan DVD player with built-in 802.11g wireless networking support, allowing you to stream digital music, video (including high-definition files), and photos from your PC. It also features Buffalo's AirStation One-Touch Secure Station technology for easy security configuration with other similarly equipped Buffalo networking products.

• Built-in 802.11g wireless networking support
• Supports MP3, WAV, WMV, WMA, WMV HD, DivX, DivX HD, AVI, JPG, TIFF, BMP, and GIF file formats
• Component-video, S-Video, and USB 2.0 ports

The price: Buffalo says the LinkTheater will cost $349 when it's released in February 2005.

The prospects: At last year's CES, Linksys announced a similar product, the WMLD54G wireless 54G DVD player, that never saw the light of day. So while other home networking companies, including Buffalo, have been hyping wireless media players without DVD capabilities, the LinkTheater will compete against wireless DVD players, such as the GoVideo D2730 networked DVD player, from consumer electronics companies. Unlike the Buffalo player, however, the D2730 offers wireless support only through an optional 802.11b wireless card and can't handle Windows Media video high-definition files.

By Sean Portnoy, senior associate editor, CNET Reviews