Please suggest a cheap media player to play MKV/AVI/XVID from HDD

Forums › Home Theatre (including HTPC and EPG Collector) › Please suggest a cheap media player to play MKV/AVI/XVID from HDD

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NZRobin

161 posts

Master Geek

#562972 30-Dec-2011 19:20

ilovemusic: was in jb hi-fi today, latest wd tv live is only $129.

If you mean this one

http://shop.jbhifi.co.nz/computers-laptops/computer-accessories/wd-wdtv-live-full-hd-media-player/5137

then it's not the latest.

mattwnz

20141 posts

Uber Geek

#562973 30-Dec-2011 19:28

NZRobin:
ilovemusic: was in jb hi-fi today, latest wd tv live is only $129.

?

If you mean this one?

http://shop.jbhifi.co.nz/computers-laptops/computer-accessories/wd-wdtv-live-full-hd-media-player/5137

then it's not the latest.

+1, that is not the newest one. That is the one I returned due to problems fast forwarding /rewinding on videos, and it jumping to random areas in the file. Also laggy and horible interface.

NZRobin

161 posts

Master Geek

#563378 1-Jan-2012 00:39

mattwnz:

+1, that is not the newest one. That is the one I returned due to problems fast forwarding /rewinding on videos, and it jumping to random areas in the file. Also laggy and horible interface.

Did you replace it with the latest one? If so how did you find it?

Also this new Phillips one looks quite interesting for the price rrp $179.00 ?

Does have esata but no network connectivity which will probably kill it for me.

bodysoda

95 posts

Master Geek

#563680 2-Jan-2012 10:45

My friend bought philips HM5000 (wifi model). Other than ESATA I didnt find any features interesting. Compared to the price with WD live streaming ($199 - sadly pricely has gone up since the boxing day from $169) which has more streaming content than the Philips.

Philips has facebook, youtube only.

tdgeek

29740 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#563700 2-Jan-2012 11:45

Anybody got a new Gen 3 WDTV Live?

I've got a WDTV and WDTV Live, interested in feedback on the Gen 3. Apart from wifi N I cant see anything different in features. Altho there is an extra USB port if use a N Dongle as I do. And is the built in N ok?

fahrenheit

757 posts

Ultimate Geek

#563708 2-Jan-2012 12:10

tdgeek: Anybody got a new Gen 3 WDTV Live?

I've got a WDTV and WDTV Live, interested in feedback on the Gen 3. Apart from wifi N I cant see anything different in features. Altho there is an extra USB port if use a N Dongle as I do. And is the built in N ok?

Haven't tried wifi with it.

I bought a gen 2 to use as a video pattern generator and it had a terrible bug with my panasonic plasma that messed up the output whenever I changed inputs on the TV and then back again to the WDTV. Took it back and got a gen 3 which does the exact same thing.
WD can't fix basic problems with these. Every firmware they release breaks something. Its slow, it forgets what settings you had if you unplug it, it can fail playing back a file for no apparent reason which then catches like a virus, causing every other file to refuse to play until you reboot it.
Anyone used to an HTPC would run a mile from one of these. Sadly, there is not a lot of options in this price range. Even less choices here in NZ.

tdgeek

29740 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#563710 2-Jan-2012 12:17

Haven't tried wifi with it.

I bought a gen 2 to use as a video pattern generator and it had a terrible bug with my panasonic plasma that messed up the output whenever I changed inputs on the TV and then back again to the WDTV. Took it back and got a gen 3 which does the exact same thing.
WD can't fix basic problems with these. Every firmware they release breaks something. Its slow, it forgets what settings you had if you unplug it, it can fail playing back a file for no apparent reason which then catches like a virus, causing every other file to refuse to play until you reboot it.
Anyone used to an HTPC would run a mile from one of these. Sadly, there is not a lot of options in this price range. Even less choices here in NZ.

Wow, thats odd, Ive had the WDTV for an age and WDTV Live for a while, both are on full HD Panasonic plasmas, never an issue. They don't show up on threads with a history of issues.

The only thing I dont like is the text keyboard for YouTube, but the Gen3 has an iOS app, which makes it appealing.

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fahrenheit

757 posts

Ultimate Geek

#563725 2-Jan-2012 12:59

tdgeek:
Wow, thats odd, Ive had the WDTV for an age and WDTV Live for a while, both are on full HD Panasonic plasmas, never an issue. They don't show up on threads with a history of issues.

I'm sure if you change your output to RGB High and change inputs on the tv for a few seconds and then back again, you'll see those deep rich colours suddenly look very dull. That is part of the issue, its just less noticeable on the other colour spaces.

With YCbPr and RGB Low, you won't be able to spot it just from casual observation. Its a luminance issue (the intensity of the colour) which is much harder to see than something like a hue change (say green turning more blue etc).

I bought the boxes to use as simple video pattern generators that I could take anywhere to calibrate friends and families displays. Because I have equipment and software to qualify what the output was doing, I could immediately spot that one moment my readings were within the expected range, then next minute they were all over the place.

ilovemusic

1439 posts

Uber Geek

#563970 3-Jan-2012 11:53

mattwnz:
NZRobin:
ilovemusic: was in jb hi-fi today, latest wd tv live is only $129.

?

If you mean this one?

http://shop.jbhifi.co.nz/computers-laptops/computer-accessories/wd-wdtv-live-full-hd-media-player/5137

then it's not the latest.

+1, that is not the newest one. That is the one I returned due to problems fast forwarding /rewinding on videos, and it jumping to random areas in the file. Also laggy and horible interface.

Not that one, I know the difference between each generation.

The very latest squarer shaped one with built-in wifi and front panel USB.

Currently a friend (past owner of problematic Gen 2 and the one with the built-in HDD) is playing around with a Gen 3.

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