We have to admit that we have a soft spot for the Seagate GoFlex TV HD media player. It may not be the most powerful or the smallest, but it did combine a decent feature set with a killer feature: seamless integration with
GoFlex Portable drives. The only thing which was lacking was storage capacity. By relying on smaller 2.5" drives, the GoFlex TV was capacity limited. Well, the all new Seagate GoFlex Cinema is not. In fact, this new model is a completely new direction for Seagate.
Unlike the previous model, the new
Cinema is not what you would call a large standalone player in which a GoFlex drive would be inserted. The heart of the Cinema is simply an adapter which happens to come standard on GoFlex Desk hard drive. Of course, unlike other Desk adapters, this doesn't provide a different interface for the hard drive. Rather, it contains a fully working HD media appliance complete with both analog (RCA) and digital (HDMI) outputs. By opting to for the GoFlex Desk, Seagate has also solved the storage capacity issue, as Desk models use 3.5" hard drives and as such come in capacities ranging from large (1TB) to
massive (4TB).
Where the GoFlex Cinema is first and foremost a media appliance first and an external storage solution second, it supports all the major codec's such as Xvid, MPEG 1/2/4, AVC, H.264 as well as DVD and BluRay ISO's. Add in a decent remote and the overall package is sure to be one that will make Seagate fans take notice. The only downside to this new device is the fact that it is not sold as standalone adapter and comes with a 1, 2 or 3TB GoFlex drive. This does help explain the higher than usual - for the media appliance niche - asking price which varies from $175 to $315. It also means that if you already own a
GoFlex Desk, you will be in fact be buying a second hard drive. Hopefully at some point, Seagate offers a disk-less version for loyal GoFlex Desk owners.
Crystal Acoustics PicoHD 5.1 Media Player, As Big on Features As It is Small on Size
By Ian Chiu on October 15th, 2011
