 "Great if you don't want ALL features to work 100% of the time!" | 2009-11-14 |
| - Reviewed By beepblip |
Well, after spending the past month or so with this device, I can say it works wonderfully-- sometimes.
My intent was to use it in the kitchen as I use the Xbox 1 XBMC in the living room. That's not happening.
The streaming on the device constantly drops off within 5-7 minutes of starting any video running from any of my 3 home PC's, and it completely drops off my wired home network (loses IP and needs to be manually reconnected from the network settings menu). Youtube videos work fine streaming (watched about 45 min. of a movie on youtube just to test with no issues at all), as do any USB-stored videos. So I'm kind of baffled, and WD isn't talking or returning emails. A google search tells me I'm not the only one with this issue.
It has tons of potential, and is a great device if streaming from your home network isn't your intended use. Everything else works great! Of course, if there's something someone thinks I'm missing, please feel free to reply here.
I'm keeping the unit for the parts that DO work (the USB portion), as I feel it's worth it for the price. I'm also maintaining hope that it's just a firmware issue that WD will eventually address or return an email on. But I'm not holding my breath.
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 "Can't play Blu-ray" | 2009-11-13 |
| - Reviewed By User: AQ2A39X7XL3I9 |
This uses the new processor Sigma SMP8655 instead of Sigma SMP8635 in the previous model. However, this new processor does not support Blu-Ray. Might be important for some.
[...] |
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| "Great Device. Still some network and CODEC issues" | 2009-11-09 |
| - Reviewed By a_mexicanum |
This is very tiny hardware media player.
I'll just put the cons here since the pros are fairly easy to read in other reviews.
1) Will not recognize any folder on the network that is named MOVIES, MUSIC, PICTURES.
2) Only passes dts into stereo. Licensing costs too much WD says.
3) Does not play my Quicktime (MOV) files (which are four years old).
4) Cannot hot swap USB drive. You have to power off/on the player or it will not be recognized.
5) No E-sata port like the ASUS
Those are just minor quibbles. It's a fantastic device and easily replaces your HTPC. Uses 5% of the space and 5% of the energy of a HTPC!
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 "It works" | 2009-11-08 |
| - Reviewed By cbrown2382 |
| This product works flawlessly for me. I can stream my videos from my server and I can watch videos from an attached HD. I tried the ASUS O!play and it didnot work properly. It was returned. Get the WD unit. |
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| "Finally!" | 2009-11-06 |
| - Reviewed By User: A1ZG0NV74UNO89 |
Ok, I expect anyone who wants a product like this to do some homework first and have some tech knowledge. That being said, I love this device.
I've been putting downloaded media onto TV's for years. I had an old ati card that had a composite out to my 22" crt back in 2002. Loved that but getting up to change the volume/file playing etc was a pain.
In college I bought a $40 philips dvd player that would play divx/xvid files I burned to cds and later dvd's - loved that and used it for years. I could fit a half a season of a show on one dvd disc!
More recently I watched everything in my room on my 22" lcd using a basic usb remote and windows media center. It works well though the screen is a bit small.
Enter my living room. I have an HDTV. A blu ray player that streams netflix well (love the LG players!). Still, I download a lot of content, archive even more, and watch hulu often. What about all those HD movies I have?
The WDTV Live is the best solution I've seen for playing/storing media in HD. It's gorgeous quality, fast UI, and great featureset make this the best technology purchase I've seen in ages.
Pandora? Check
UPNP/DLNA - Buy playon and suddenly you have Hulu, Netflix and many other streaming options at your fingertips
The network just works flawlessly for me (I have an Ethernet to 802.11N adapter that works well).
Haven't seen a file yet that this can't play. It's so fast and natural you could set one up for your household and I'm willing to bet just about everyone could figure it out.
If you're looking at this sort of device, this is THE one. I've researched it for weeks, and let me tell you this can't be beat. Unless you need more functionality or flexibility, in which case you should build a home theater pc.
Protip:
Once this is on your network, you can transfer files to the device from there. I have a desktop downstairs hosting my files, and from my laptop upstairs I can transfer everything I want - albeit more slowly.
Awesome, simply awesome. If only it had esata and gigabit ethernet... |
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| "Way better than it's predecessor" | 2009-11-03 |
| - Reviewed By ftlbrit |
Finally, they have solved the DTS downmix issues, plus there is an Ethernet connection for Firmware updates (shame the original didn't allow this, rather than having to fork out for an entire new unit). However this also features live streaming, which works like a storm with my Cyberlink Media Server. Plus it has UTube and Pandora built in, much easier access than via my Samsung BDP-1600.
My one comment would be shame on you Amazon...6-8 weeks backorder ??
How come I can walk in to Best Buy and it's sitting on their shelves. One can only assume your buyers had no idea how popular this would be.
Prior to this I also tried the Briteview CinemaTube, that tried to do everything this does (but without UTube and Pandora). When you compare the two, the CinemaTube fails miserably and is being returned as we speak.
What Western Digital have done is come up with something that equals the Popcorn Hour at $100 less than Popcorn's price !
Now if Amazon only had stock, you could all enjoy it's features as much as me !!
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