MacRumors.com

HP today introduced the MediaSmart EX490 and EX495 home servers, offering upgraded features and greater Mac compatibility for the company's line of cross-platform home servers that received significant praise at Macworld Expo earlier this year.

HP today launched the HP MediaSmart EX490 and EX495 Home Servers, new models offering increased capacity, high-performance processors, more control, new user interface and additional Mac support - all at a lower price.

Based on the Microsoft Windows Home Server platform, the updated HP MediaSmart Servers have a refined user interface and a web-based home page that makes accessing and using the server easier than ever. Additionally, the new models offer a new video converter with custom settings and profiles that will automatically convert video libraries, including unprotected DVDs.

HP has addressed several shortcomings of the previous versions of the server line, adding server administration, media collection, and "bare metal" Time Machine data recovery for Macs. MediaSmart Home offers an overview of the new Mac-related features alongside a thorough overall review of the new servers, finding them a significant update to HP's already-solid MediaSmart home server line.

The new EX490 and EX495 also support the free HP MediaSmart Server iStream iPhone application introduced in April to allow iPhone and iPod touch users to stream media to their handheld devices.

Pre-orders for the new HP MediaSmart Server models are available beginning today with suggested retail pricing beginning at $549 for the EX490 with a Celeron processor and a single 1 TB hard drive and $699 for the EX495 with an upgraded dual-core 2.5 GHz Pentium processor and a single 1.5 TB hard drive. Additional hard drive capacity up to 7 TB (internal) or 17 TB (internal plus external) is supported.