The Basics:

We'll take a quick look at the physical features of the FreeAgent Theater+ on its own, and then on the next page we'll compare it to the original FreeAgent Theater to make the changes more apparent.

The housing has a sleek black appearance, and with just one indicator light on top, the look is definitely minimalistic. All controls are now handled by the remote control, and what looks like a button in the lower left corner is just a power light.



A two piece removable cover is provided for the drive bay. If you are not using a FreeAgent Go portable hard drive with the Theater+, you can leave both pieces in place to maintain the solid look of the device. If you intend to use one of the 'lower' capacity FreeAgent Go drives you can leave the device configured as shown in the below left image. I attempted to install the drive, and then replace the end cap over it, but unfortunately you can not conceal the drive like this, as it just doesn't fit. While it might have looked better that way, it is probably best to let the drive get some air for cooling purposes.



If you intend to use the Theater+ with the newer, high capacity FreeAgent Go drives (like the 1TB unit), you must leave both pieces of the cover off for clearance (as pictured in the above right image).

The final image in this section shows the rear panel, where the bulk of the connections are found. You have the A/V output, component video outputs, optical audio output, HDMI, LAN, USB, the power jack, and a reset switch.



Not mentioned previously, but the Theater+ has a USB port on the front and rear. You can use these connections for flash drives or other external hard drives, but they are also how you may eventually take advantage of wireless networking via a USB adapter.