CES: Seagate Intros Free Agent Theater HD player (removable HDD)

[edDV]

Ships in March. $129 without drive.

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2338336,00.asp

[lordhutt]

no hdmi...bummer.

[SatStorm]

It has component.

With so many locks on TVs through the HDMI 1.3 ports, it makes sense. HDMI 1.3, doesn't provide always the best possible quality in practice, especially when upscaling is somehow related. It forbids upscaling in many cases.

[yoda313]

It doesn't mention if it supports ntfs or not.

Also without hdmi would that make the wd media player a better choice for this form of media adapter?

I'm not really in the market for one just curious.

[edDV]

It needs evaluation. Will connect to external USB drives. No mention of ethernet or wireless.

[RogerTango]

I am watching 720 encoded MKVs on my WD TV, via HDMI... and it looks awesome! Much better than component. (I used comp before I bought an HDMI cable)

Andrew

[RabidDog]

They should get some flac (for not including it) .. also its not free.
Better for photo's, 20miggypixels ... will await full review somewhere, pro's vs Cons
Possible buyer, *IF* it comes up with some must-have capability's.

[Soopafresh]

Dude, it's only a $129 media player.

[festmaster]

So far I have not read of any feature this has that the WDTV does not have. They both have the same MSRP, but as several people have pointed out the Seagate does not have HDMI.

Since I have bought my WDTV, I have followed the weekly sales of external drives and it always seems as if the Seagate drives are $10 more than the corresponding Western Digital or Toshiba drives. They are all good brands and I don't know why Seagate thinks they should get a premium.

While I have no need for this Seagate device, I am happy to see competition come into this market. It can only mean better products and lower prices to come.

[yoda313]

I'll say this about products like these - firmware upgrades are amazing. You get more than you originally bought. Plus the option of having certain annoyances like menu layouts tweaked in the future.

I like how the ps3 and xbox 360 continually update their layout and abilities over the year. It's nice to know your not forced to live with an issue until you buy the next physical version of the product.

[SingSing]

The best of CES 2009. It's all in the shoes.

[RabidDog]

Standards are way down all over the place...

[davie89]

yeah by the spec it doesn't look as good as WDTV.

[pippas]

One more nail in the Blu-ray coffin

[rhegedus]

Looks cheap and nasty...

[disturbed1]

Seagate says the system supports MPEG-1, MPEG-2 and MPEG-4 formats, and DIVX files with video resolutions for NTSC, PAL and HD up to 1080i, and that it even supports subtitles. It does not, however, handle H.264.

http://gizmodo.com/5157609/seagates-freeagent-theater-hd-media-player-is-a-set+top-doc...or-hard-drives

Wonder if the above is correct or not.

[jagabo]

Seagate says the system supports MPEG-1, MPEG-2 and MPEG-4 formats, and DIVX files with video resolutions for NTSC, PAL and HD up to 1080i, and that it even supports subtitles. It does not, however, handle H.264.

http://gizmodo.com/5157609/seagates-freeagent-theater-hd-media-player-is-a-set+top-doc...or-hard-drives

Wonder if the above is correct or not.

Looks like it's correct. MPEG4 could mean h.264 (Divx/Xvid are MPEG4 part 2, h.264/AVC are MPEG4 part 10). But Seagate's site says:

Supported Formats Video: MPEG-1, MPEG-2 (AVI/VOB/ISO), MPEG-4 (AVI/DivX /Xvid)... supports MPEG-4, Xvid up to 1280 x 720 60fps and supports MPEG-2 and photos up to 1920 x 1080i 30 fps.

http://www.seagate.com/theater/