Seagate FreeAgent Theater+ Offers Big Entertainment in a Small Pacakge

Setup
One of the nice things about the new HD Media Players is how easy it is to get them up and running. From the time I plugged the Seagate FreeAgent Theater + until I was happily watching movies was about ten minutes. I did not bother with advanced features until later.  When you first power on the FreeAgent Theater+ you will be presented with the option to set your default language and the time. After that you can begin using the Theater+, but you will probably want to setup a few extra options. The extras are a static IP address, firmware update type [online, USB or automatic] network shortcuts [if you have a Network Attached Storage system with video files stored on it] and one or two others. No matter what, you can still get your FreeAgent Theater+ running with very little effort.

Click to Enlarge - Opens new Window

Performance
For my testing I used firmware version 01.27.270595U; if you do not have this version installed I highly recommend it as it opens up more than a few nice features for the FreeAgent Theater+. To cover everything I broke the performance down into sections. These sections are; Network Video, FreeAgent | GO Video, Internet Functions, and Ease of use.

Network Video -
As I have multiple HTPC systems in my house I have always maintained a central storage sever where I keep my digital copies of the movies that I own. This is just a simpler way for me to serve movies and TV in a way that everyone can enjoy. To keep the kids out of the “grown up movies” [rated R and NC-17, sheesh people] I have setup password security on these shares. Thankfully the FreeAgent Theater+ allows you to setup Shortcuts that remember your logon information for individual network shares, so you do not have to change any security you have enabled. You access your network shares and shortcuts by selecting the "Devices" Icon in the main menu. As far as performance over the wired network I had no issues streaming even 1080p video to the FreeAgent Theater+ the audio and video were excellent. In some cases there is a slight “stretching” of audio when you play back digital audio. This can result in a shift of pitch to higher voices, and the effect is like they have taken a large breath of helium. This effect did not occur with the Theater+ and additionally there was no stuttering noted.

Click to Enlarge - Opens new Window

FreeAgent | GO -
Ok, actually this was with a PS-110 inserted but it is in effect the same thing as using a FreeAgent | GO drive. As you can expect using a directly attached storage device produced excellent results. Again there were no noted aberrations in audio or video. Playback was smooth and clean. To access videos off of an inserted FreeAgent | GO drive you simply select the "Movies" Icon from the main menu.

Internet Functions -
Sometimes, when you buy a product, you find that it is the unexpected little extras that really make it a great buy. This is the case with the FreeAgent Theater+. When I first played around with it the number of extra “Internet Functions” was limited to Picasa, Flickr, Weather and Finance. With the update to Firmware 01.27.270595U these opened up to add YouTube, Video Feeds and Text Feeds.

Click to Enlarge - Opens new Window

While I am not a YouTube junkie I can see the allure for people that do frequent this site. For me the addition of the Video and Text feeds was very welcome. With these you can catch up on news, or simply watch your favorite business and technology videos. I have moved the FreeAgent Theater+ into my office and now check the CNN news feeds in the morning while I get ready for the day.

Click to Enlarge - Opens new Window

Ease of Use -
The FreeAgent Theater+ has a very easy menu to navigate through. The large Icons are very self-explanatory. Everything that you need to do can be done with the included remote. Even using the virtual keyboard [for entering networked passwords] is simple and easy.  

Click to Enlarge - Opens new Window

Now there above I have covered what I felt was the most important core functions of the FreeAgent Theater+, but they are not the only ones. You can also view pictures [from either an attached device or over the network] and listen to music files. But to me these are mostly secondary functions and while nice extras are probably not why you would pick up the FreeAgent Theater+. Still it is important to note they are available and work very well.

Click to Enlarge - Opens new Window