Seagate's FreeAgent Theater has strengths and weaknesses
(Credit:
Seagate)
Storage brands like Western Digital, Seagate, and Iomega are looking for ways to tap into the growing number of consumers who have multimedia files stored on their computers and want to bring them to their TVs without much fuss. FreeAgent Theater HD Media Player currently comes in three versions--two include FreeAgent Go storage drives (either 250GB or 500GB) as part of the package, while a third model is a "bring your own drive" version that retails for substantially less.
Previously we reviewed the Western Digital WD TV HD Media Player and the Iomega ScreenPlay TV Link, both of which are little black boxes that attach to your TV and read a variety of audio, photo, and video files from USB hard drives. Both are designed to be paired with portable hard drives that are loaded with media files. Unlike the Seagate FreeAgent Theater, however, neither Western Digital nor Iomega integrated slots for their own respective USB hard-drive products.
Hunkered down in New York City, Executive Editor David Carnoy covers the gamut of gadgets and writes his Fully Equipped column, which carries the tag line "The electronics you lust for." He's also the author of "Knife Music," a novel. E-mail David. Follow David on Twitter. 
