WD TV™ HD Media Player

[dfergie]

Turn your USB drive into a Full-HD media player
Amazon.com: Western Digital WD TV HD Media Player WDBABF0000NBK-NESN: Electronics@@AMEPARAM@@http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/312Pp27jIEL.@@AMEPARAM@@312Pp27jIEL (http://www.amazon.com/Western-Digital-Media-Player-WDBABF0000NBK-NESN/dp/B002USAIYS/ref=sr_ob_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1259079172&sr=1-2-fkmr0&condition=used)

[dfergie]

Ordered one last Thursday, came in Monday and I unboxed, but did not get to play with till 10 last night...took it into the bedroom where I have a Mitsubitsi HD1000U FPTV set up with a diy 120" screen... unhooked the Hdmi cable from the PS3 and plugged into the WD box...
I then hooked it up to an older 250 gig Seagate EHDD I have been using with my old Htpc (an old AMD machine in the HT room) it took a minute to find the files and then wow! I had access to both AVC HD and Mpeg2 HD files as well as a Dvd I had ripped in 5.1 sound , it played all flawlessly as well as playing .MOV files from my camcorder.
I then got the other old 250 gig drive from the HT room and swapped and again was amazed, there were some AVC HD files I had created a couple of years ago that the old AMD would not touch that it played again flawlessly... I had some MP3 files on the drive that I had for my ipod and again it pulled them up With the information (remember this box doesn't connect to the internet) and sorted into genre's etc...
I took one drive into the livingroom and copied some AVC HD files from the Haupauge box and again, flawless PQ and AQ... I had some 1080p trailers that it played with no problems, I have been playing with a PS3 for the last few days, looks like the WD will get more play as it is quicker to access than using the networked PS3.

[ronton3]

I have had a WDTV for a year and few problems, and it looks great. I believe the new one just out, the 2nd version does hook up to the internet. there have also been many firmware updates for the original.

[dfergie]

I missed seeing the new one or would have gotten it instead... Recording some stuff for later right now from the Hauppauge...

[diogen]

Actually, the first generation WDTV can be networked.
You need a Trendnet USB-Ethernet adapter and modified firmware (http://wdtvforum.com/main/index.php?PHPSESSID=f5d09c212b0f81e9342d71749fad7eaa&topic=446.615).
Best not to fiddle with Samba and go straight NFS.

Diogen.

[dfergie]

Thanks for the heads up!

[ronton3]

There is a huge thread on AVS forum about the player, and a new one about the new player, and threads about hacked firmware. You can get the" WDTV Live" the new one on Amazon right now for 119.00. If it isnt to late to return the other one.

[dfergie]

Yeah I came across those threads, and ordered the one I have... one thing I have found, it works better with disc images than disc files... and nah, I'll keep this one... perfect for the camper etc...:D might order one of the others later on...

[gash1965]

will the wd tv play external hard drive files transferred from a dish dvr?

[harshness]

will the wd tv play external hard drive files transferred from a dish dvr?No.

[gash1965]

Thanks. Do you know of a computer program that will play the files?

[dfergie]

Thanks. Do you know of a computer program that will play the files?No, they are encrypted by dish check out the dish mod/ rip groups at Yahoo as they are sort of related to the topic you are asking about...

[DJ Rob]

I've been using a thumbdrive plugged into my Pioneer DVD player (it has a USB input option) to play downloaded content on my HDTV. But ut won't support anything bigger than SD content so I'm looking to upgrade...

So is the WD Live the best media player out there now?

[dfergie]

I like my gen 1 non live version as it will play some BD Image files & files when ripped (Need to shrink others to make them work) plays mp3's, Dvd Image's and files and works really well in conjunction with my Hauppauge Box's files...

[harshness]

The PS3 is an awfully good media player and it features a Blu-ray player as well as the ability to play PS3 games. At just over a good Blu-ray player more than the WD extender, it is an awfully good deal.\

It's nice not having to mount a disc in your computer and add it to your media server library so you can play it on your TV.

[diogen]

So is the WD Live the best media player out there now?There are quite a few players in this space and picking a winner can be very personal.

Until recently all of them were based on the Sigma Designs 8635 chip. This has changed with the WD TV Live model using 8655 chip (quite a bit more powerful with many more modding (http://b-rad.cc/wdlxtv/)options) and a few players using the Realtek 1073 chip (e.g. the Patriot (http://www.patriotmem.com/products/detailp.jsp?prodline=6&catid=69&prodgroupid=159&id=895&type=20)player). The later, although hardly bigger than the WD TV, can host a 2.5" hard drive inside its case. It also plays DVD ISOs with menus - what WD TVs can't.
As long as you use only digital outputs (HDMI and SPDIF if needed) I don't think you'll see any difference in the output quality and convenience/reliability/pricing is going to be the main deciding factor.

Diogen.