Product Listing

Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex TV

By Hafeez Sim & Vincent Chang - 1 Mar 2011

Introduction & Design

Free Your Media

With a wealth of media available online, haven't you had times when you wish you were able to enjoy them some place else besides your computer? The problem is that several common tasks like watching the video clip you just edited, sharing pictures you took on your latest holiday and more, are traditionally confined to the PC. That’s where media players come into play to bridge our media to the television set.

Seagate’s latest offering, the FreeAgent GoFlex TV, aims to offer users a solution in an easy to use and compact package. The small, black player may seem unassuming, but boasts the ability to play quite a handful of media formats. As their third entry into the media player market, will the third time be a charm for Seagate? Read on to find out.

Will third time be the charm for Seagate?

 

Free-hand design

The GoFlex TV is shaped like a little black box; it doesn’t exactly possess a slim profile, but more of a stocky look. This is due to the fact that it allows a Seagate GoFlex hard disk to be slotted into a dock at the front of the player, hence the pudgy look. But the player is small enough to not look too conspicuous among your A/V setup so fret not for those of you worrying it will stick out like a sore thumb. The choice of color for the player also helps it to blend it among the many black AV equipment on the market or in your living room. There’s a Seagate logo recessed into the matte top of the box, and air vents occupying the glossy sides and bottom. It makes you feel as though this black box will be emitting some serious heat, and the glossy sides do retain more fingerprints that we would have liked.

The Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex TV is a fingerprint magnet with its glossy look and feel. The front face is facing southeast in this picture, which means what you see here are the vents on the sides of the media player.

Note the lone USB port on the side. In this view, you can also note that the front face has a flap to insert a Seagate GoFlex hard drive for a more seamless integration between their products. Of course, you can still use other external hard drives to hook up with the media player, so it's compatible with all options in the market.

The jacks and ports are mostly found at the back of the player. Why do we say mostly? Because Seagate included a lone USB port at the side of the player as well. Due to the limited space available on the back of the player, the composite and component jacks are 'special'. The included composite and component cables end in a 3.5mm jack that interface with the player instead of the usual three-way connectors. Woe befalls the person who loses or spoils these unique cables! Apart from the 'break-out' connections for composite and component outputs, there is also a HDMI jack, a S/PDIF jack, a USB port and an Ethernet port sandwiched at the rear. While not exactly overwhelming, the jacks and ports do cover the minimum expected of a top of the line media players nowadays.

These are very 'special' break-out cables for composite and component connections. Do not lose them!

From left to right: An external power supply input, dual 3.5mm jacks for composite and component outputs, optical output, HDMI output, Ethernet port and a USB interface.

The remote follows the concept of the GoFlex TV; it is small and includes the barest minimum to navigate the menus. No fancy buttons here to confuse or confound.

A no-fuss, simple to use and intuitive remote.
 

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8.0
  • Design 7.5
  • Performance 8
  • Features 8
  • Value 8.5
The Good
Practically plays all media formats
Competitive price
The Bad
UI looks dated
Limited functionality
Underwhelming remote
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