Compared to the Original FreeAgent Theater:

We'll take a look at the Theater+ compared to the original Theater on this page. This may prove useful to those who have already used a Theater and want to know what the new model offers, and it may also help those shopping for the Theater+ to avoid buying the Theater by accident. With just a '+' differentiating the two products, I suppose it is possible that someone could buy the wrong unit if they didn't take a closer look.

The original FreeAgent Theater is shown to the left of the FreeAgent Theater+ in the image below. Overall, the appearance has been simplified greatly. The original Theater had a set of eight buttons on the left hand side that have all been eliminated, along with an eject button near the drive bay. In addition, the Theater+ now includes the cover pieces to close up the drive bay when not in use. Features that carried over include the Seagate logo power light, a front panel USB port, and an IR sensor for the remote control.



The next image shows the devices with their respective remote controls. On the left we see the remote from the original FreeAgent Theater, which is rather compact and packed with small buttons featuring even smaller text labels. The Theater+ comes with a larger, more ergonomic remote that has 6 fewer buttons, and each is a bit larger, color coded, and more clearly labeled for easier use.



In the final image of this section we have a look at the back of the two devices. While a handful of features can be found on both (component video, power, and reset), others have changed format (composite audio/video out becoming an AV out 1/8" jack, and coaxial becoming optical), and then we have a handful of new connections. The Theater+ picks up the network jack, HDMI port, and the extra USB port, but overall the layout actually seems less cluttered.