Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex TV HD Media Player Review
GoFlex TV Performance
After setting up the GoFlex media player, we checked to make sure we had the latest firmware installed on the unit. Seagate makes it really easy for you to check and upgrade your existing firmware. Our unit had version: 02.04.299222U.
We tested a large number of multimedia files including: MKV, AVI, M2TS, VOB, Blu-ray ISO, DVD ISO, WMV, MP4, MP3, FLAC, OGG, and even RMVB! Everyone of these files played with no stutter from our local drive, attached USB drive and over the Ethernet. To be honest, I was so shocked that I had no problem with any of these files, I streamed them multiple times (including the Blu-ray ISO burn I did of “Up” and “Alice in Wonderland”).
As with most all media playing devices on the market, you can play your multimedia files over the net after setting up shared folders on the various computers on your network. We used our NAS devices, Windows XP, and Windows 7 machines to share files successfully. One of our favorite methods of sharing files is setting up a local media server using a program called PS3 Media Server. This method works cross platform with very little configuration and is a quick solution for anyone having issues (ie. Windows 7 shared folders).
Not only the GoFlex play these files flawlessly, I was stunned to see how fast they played especially from a local drive. On paper, the older FreeAgent Theater + and the GoFlex should perform the same exact way since their hardware is identical. The Seagate engineers and firmware programmers stepped up their game since the response of this unit is noticeably different than that of the FreeAgent and even has better response than the Western Digital.
The look of the GUI hasnt really changed that much and those who didnt like the Realtek-based GUI arent going to like the color tweaks in this firmware. But if you just care about functionality, then this player (and software) is all you need.
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