WD TV Live HD Wireless

Forums › Home Theatre (including HTPC and EPG Collector) › WD TV Live HD Wireless - $148 @ DSE

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#602779 31-Mar-2012 01:44

$147 at DSE in Oz, so you got a bargain!
I'm looking at one myself... let me know how it goes!

JimmyH

2886 posts

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#603073 31-Mar-2012 22:50

Apart from the integrated wireless, does it offer anything over and above the WD TV Live model that it replaces?

kiwijunglist

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#603074 31-Mar-2012 22:53

I don't think it does, only wifi.

HTPC / Home automation (home assistant) enthusiast.

kiwijunglist

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#604790 3-Apr-2012 21:23

OK some of you asked for a review. Here is a quick review :D

I got my 3rd Gen WDTV Live HD today.

Package includes
Unit
Power supply
AV cable (Composite RCA style)
Remote control
2x AAA batteries

Took about 5 seconds to setup on my network, and was browsing network shares straight away.
First thing I did was update + download the latest firmware, this was easy as just clicking on update using the menu under setup.

Plays all media I've tried including avi, mkv, divx, xvid, 1080p, 720p
No problems streaming HD video other the ethernet LAN
No problems with audio using HDMI pass through. No problems with DTS or AC3 or AAC.
Skiping / Fast forwarding works well even with streamed files over the network.
The front USB port provides enough power for an external 2.5" USB HDD

The WDTV also has the function to scrape posters/actors/plots/etc for both tv shows and movies from the internet. To do this it has to have write access to the network share, it also creates 2-3 files per episode/movie which contains the metadata. Using the inbuilt media scanner would probably be quite cumbersome as there is no keyboard to edit the filenames for searching for media that can't find an exact match, However if you want to use metadata there are some programs for your PC that will add scrape all the meta data and add the files needed to your network shares, so that when you browse your movies you get fancy backgrounds, search via genre or actor etc, and all that other HTPC functionality. Check http://thumbgen.org/

I'm not gonna bother with metadata, as my folder structure is already quite good, and I don't want to clutter my media drives with additional files. I also have more than 4TB of media, so adding all the meta data would take forever, and might make the WDTV slower for browsing my files.

WDTV can also do the following;
Access online services - youtube, facebook, flixter, etc. (see WDTV website for full list)
Play MP3/Music
Display Weather
Display RSS Ticker
Display your photos
Act as a NAS when you attach an external HDD
Play basic games

The 2nd generation WDTV Live HD is also available and is slightly cheaper.

Advantage 3rd gen vs 2nd gen
1. Nicer default GUI (?faster as well)
2. WiFi
3. Smaller + more attractive unit
4. Nicer remote

Advantage 2nd gen vs 3rd gen
1. The firmware is not encrypted, so it is more hackable.

***

Conclusion:

I can definitely recommend the WDTV Live HD 3rd generation device as a media player. It is very small and is quite cheap. It has both wireless and wired network support, and can also play media from an external HDD. You can have it browsing your network shares within a few minutes. It plays all the files I tried without any problems. It is very responsive when browsing, and quickly loads movies. If you want to setup metadata then this will take quite a bit of time, and you may need to reorganise your library, however this is true with all the HTPC software. If you are only using the file browser then it is very very easy to setup and use.

I bought this because my HTPC is currently broken and I needed something to play my movies on my lounge TV, I also wanted something that I could use to take + play movies at other locations. I would recommend one instead of an HTPC because it is easier to setup, not really breakable, easier for women to use :D and it is cheaper + quieter. The only real disadvantage is you can't display Live TV on it.

HTPC / Home automation (home assistant) enthusiast.

tdgeek

29746 posts

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#604816 3-Apr-2012 21:56

How is the iPhone app as a remote? I have the first two, WDTV and WDTV Live, the keyboard input for YouTube, etc is painful, can anyone advise how the app works as a remote?

blakamin

4431 posts

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#604821 3-Apr-2012 22:11

awesome review!

Thanks!

Looks like I'll be off to the shops sometime very soon!

kiwijunglist

2981 posts

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#604847 3-Apr-2012 23:08

I've tried the official android remote app. It is responsive with no lag, and has keyboard input so I assume you can use that to search you tube with the keyboard. It is a good remote, and requires no setup and didn't need to open any ports on the router etc. There are at least 2-3 other non official android apps, some of them let you stream internet stuff that is not available on the wdtv, (I assume it uses DLNA, but I havn't tried it out yet).

HTPC / Home automation (home assistant) enthusiast.

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kiwijunglist

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#606109 6-Apr-2012 14:04

Just to update my review:

All above comments stand, except for medialibrary/metadata support.

I think the media library is quite poor, and if you buy WDTV Gen3 for media library/metadata browsing then you will be disappointed, and should avoid the device.

If you want to have metadata support you need to either
1. Try another media player
2. Use HTPC
3. Use WDTV Gen2

WDTV Gen2 is compatible with the only good PC based scraper (Thumbgen) and allows custom firmware and mods to make the media library good, without these mods the media library function on the gen3 is severely lacking and not usable/too inconvenient to populate for those with sizeable media collections.

I still recommend WDTV Gen3.

HTPC / Home automation (home assistant) enthusiast.

dontpanic42

1574 posts

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#606123 6-Apr-2012 14:37

Why not go the whole hog and order one of these from Amazon.
I just ordered one, and it came to NZ$144 ish. And they appear to ship to NZ. Granted, I will have to wait around 1-2 weeks for it to arrive, but for the extra stuff, I think it's worth it.

As far as I can tell they are essentially the same thing, but they have the added bonus of having the US firmware version, which means you can watch Hulu and Netflix via the usual methods.

It seems like a much better (and cheaper) option to me.

/my 2c

kiwijunglist

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#606158 6-Apr-2012 16:37

Definitely sounds like a good idea.

HTPC / Home automation (home assistant) enthusiast.

dontpanic42

1574 posts

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#606162 6-Apr-2012 16:40

Of course, you could probably also get the same functionality (i.e. Hulu, Netflix) if you load on a custom firmware such as... http://b-rad.cc/

Although, I'm not entirely sure about that. Will have to wait and see when I get mine from Amazon.

kiwijunglist

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#606164 6-Apr-2012 16:42

wdtv live gen3 doesn't support custom firmware such as wdxltv, you need gen2 or older.

HTPC / Home automation (home assistant) enthusiast.

dontpanic42

1574 posts

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#606167 6-Apr-2012 16:58

kiwijunglist: wdtv live gen3 doesn't support custom firmware such as wdxltv, you need gen2 or older.

Ahh, I see. Noted. :)

Which is why it's probably a good option to get the US Amazon version. Even though it still doesn't support custom firmware (yet, until someone circumvents the firmware encryption), it still has Hulu and Netflix.

A winner in my book.
And for NZ$144 landed, it's cheaper than NZ prices as well.

I was thinking about going with a Roku 2 XS box, but the file format support was vastly better on the WDTV Live. Plus, it's more of a hassle finding a way to get the Roku shipped to NZ. Actually, strike that, I just test purchased a Roku 2 XS through Amazon, and it looks like it would also ship to NZ for pretty much exactly the same price.

kiwijunglist

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#606181 6-Apr-2012 17:51

I heard anecdotal evidence the wdtv plays more formats than the roku. I've been impressed with it having zero problems with my media formats thus far.

HTPC / Home automation (home assistant) enthusiast.

Kickass

292 posts

Ultimate Geek

#608607 13-Apr-2012 08:33

Its $148 for today only at Bond and Bond online - Free shipping as well...

Tivo is also $199 again..

http://products.bondandbond.co.nz/search?af=&login=false&items=0&w=13-Scarily-Awesome-Deals&x=7&y=9

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