Which WDTV to buy?

livEwirE

Hi all,

I am stuck between buying these two media players:

Western Digital TV Live Streaming Media Player
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Western-Digital-Streaming-Media-Player/dp/B005NYOKC2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1327054694&sr=8-1

Western Digital TV Live HD Media Player
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Western-Digital-Live-Media-Player/dp/B002LZUHMI/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1327054694&sr=8-3


Anybody own either of them and your thoughts please? Pros and cons of each would be great! I am not interested in other media players thanks.

Cheers:D

fox65

I would buy the newest one. Reason-More services available and more support.

WDTV live released 2009
Live streamer Released 2011(according to amazon pages you linked)

I own the WDTV live, it has no wireless built in. You need to buy a seperate dongle and it is tricky to find them. The unit itself is so so good. Not enough praise. It plays any format i've thrown at it over the last 2 years. Still going

The live streamer has built in wifi, is newer and will have more services. i'd for that one. I'm considering updating mine to this

livEwirE

Cheers fox65, you've helped me decide on the Live Streamer version, thanks

slowlydownwards

fox65 wrote: »

I would buy the newest one. Reason-More services available and more support.

WDTV live released 2009
Live streamer Released 2011(according to amazon pages you linked)

I own the WDTV live, it has no wireless built in. You need to buy a seperate dongle and it is tricky to find them. The unit itself is so so good. Not enough praise. It plays any format i've thrown at it over the last 2 years. Still going

The live streamer has built in wifi, is newer and will have more services. i'd for that one. I'm considering updating mine to this

While all of the above is valid, unlike the Live Streamer, WD TV Live (older varsion) has the advantage of being able to run MovieSheets once you install custom firmware. It's bit tricky to install, but once there it's great. Example here [youtube.com].

livEwirE

Looks good alright but I'm not interested in doing this at all so it doesn't affect my purchase. Would anyone know a B&M store where I could pick one of the streamers up this weekend at a good price?

tommycahir

slowlydownwards wrote: »

While all of the above is valid, unlike the Live Streamer, WD TV Live (older varsion) has the advantage of being able to run MovieSheets once you install custom firmware. It's bit tricky to install, but once there it's great. Example here [youtube.com].

Yeah have to agree here with the lack of custom firmware as one of the few downsides
I have the Western Digital TV Live Streaming Media Player and as it is not possible yet to install moviesheets so I have to rely on the built in scrapers that write an xml and image file to the folder that holds the video file in.

Other than that is it a pretty good box to work with and they have now ironed out most of the bugs relating to the SMB and NFS fileshares.
Have a look at the following forum for some more discussions on the boxes - Link

slowlydownwards

tommycahir wrote: »

... built in scrapers that write an xml and image file to the folder that holds the video file in...

Would you have any screenshots / links as how the resulting image file looks like?

tommycahir

Here is a screenshot of the directory of a film I have on my NAS - Link

and also a sample of the metathumb file generated by the automated scraper (pulling content from tmdb.org) Link. This is primarily used as a cover photo for when you are browsing through your media library in the WDTV.

also just for the craic here is a sample of the xml for that film attached below.

the .backdrops folder is only generated when in the WDTV SMP you choose to view backdrop photos.

While the movies side of things generally works quite well the TV shows side of it needs a little bit more work with regards the backdrops and the scraper (needs a specific naming format is needed)

also if you have a folder.jpg file in the folder already it will pick that up as the default image file.

tommycahir

livEwirE wrote: »

Looks good alright but I'm not interested in doing this at all so it doesn't affect my purchase. Would anyone know a B&M store where I could pick one of the streamers up this weekend at a good price?

I picked mine up in Argos (with €10 cash back) but looks like argos all out of stock (Link) at the moment and I am not aware of any other B&M shops stocking them at the moment.

I have seen them reduced on amazon lately to €96 compared t0 €115 on argos

Voodu Child

Always go for the newest one because WD are a useless shower when it comes to long-term FW support.

They released the original WDTV v1 in late 2008 and the last firmware came in late 2009... exactly a year of support then dumped it and even took it off the website.

I wouldn't worry too much about moviesheets or any of that because these standalone boxes have piss-slow UIs and displaying fanart backgrounds makes them even worse.

livEwirE

Cheers for all the info:D

slowlydownwards

Voodu Child wrote: »

I wouldn't worry too much about moviesheets or any of that because these standalone boxes have piss-slow UIs and displaying fanart backgrounds makes them even worse.

Not necessarily. Once indexed all fanart (provided that individual images are kept under 500kb) displays almost instantaneously and there is no significant slowdown compared to running vanilla firmware, at least where WD TV Live is concerned.

It is certainly still miles away from XBMC running on a dedicated HTPC box in terms of speed and user experience, but overall not too bad for a little dumb box.

Apologies OP if this is gone a bit OT. One way or another you won't go wrong with the new WD player.

slim1919

livEwirE wrote: »

Hi all,

I am stuck between buying these two media players:

Western Digital TV Live Streaming Media Player
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Western-Digital-Streaming-Media-Player/dp/B005NYOKC2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1327054694&sr=8-1

Western Digital TV Live HD Media Player
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Western-Digital-Live-Media-Player/dp/B002LZUHMI/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1327054694&sr=8-3


Anybody own either of them and your thoughts please? Pros and cons of each would be great! I am not interested in other media players thanks.

Cheers:D

i want to get the top one to does any one know what its like buying of amazon never got anythink of them before

livEwirE

I've placed an order for the Western Digital TV Live Streaming Media Player, does anyone know if it is possible to copy media from one usb drive to another using it. I will have a 1tb usb 2.5" hard disk connected permanently, I would like to be able to plug in another usb drive and transfer the media files from it to the 1tb drive. Is this possible?

tommycahir

slim1919 wrote: »

i want to get the top one to does any one know what its like buying of amazon never got anythink of them before

Amazon are one of the most reputable sellers around and you shouldn't have an issue with them, i have bought lots of stuff from them ranging from a few books to tools to power washers and free delivery on orders over £25 is dead handy.

livEwirE wrote: »

I've placed an order for the Western Digital TV Live Streaming Media Player, does anyone know if it is possible to copy media from one usb drive to another using it. I will have a 1tb usb 2.5" hard disk connected permanently, I would like to be able to plug in another usb drive and transfer the media files from it to the 1tb drive. Is this possible?

Yes you can copy but it is on a file by file basis from what I can see. you are best just using a laptop\desktop to copy the files between the 2 drives.

slim1919

tommycahir wrote: »

Amazon are one of the most reputable sellers around and you shouldn't have an issue with them, i have bought lots of stuff from them ranging from a few books to tools to power washers and free delivery on orders over £25 is dead handy.



Yes you can copy but it is on a file by file basis from what I can see. you are best just using a laptop\desktop to copy the files between the 2 drives.

Thanks tommy ill be ordering that of them later so. Is it any good,

noodler

Just out of interest, how can I tell if one of the wi-fi ones can stream from Netflix?

Netflix launching is so new so it doesn't seem to be on the features lists.

tommycahir

slim1919 wrote: »

Thanks tommy ill be ordering that of them later so. Is it any good,

I think from the constant posting on this thread from me you can gather that it is pretty good ;) although as i said it still has some minor niggles to be worked out of it.

noodler wrote: »

Just out of interest, how can I tell if one of the wi-fi ones can stream from Netflix?

Netflix launching is so new so it doesn't seem to be on the features lists.

Netflix is enabled on the Live Streaming media Player (WDTV SMP) by updating to the latest firmware on the box (automatically detected) I updated mine last week and Netflix is now there for me to use if I choose to.

slim1919

tommycahir wrote: »

I think from the constant posting on this thread from me you can gather that it is pretty good ;) although as i said it still has some minor niggles to be worked out of it.



Netflix is enabled on the Live Streaming media Player (WDTV SMP) by updating to the latest firmware on the box (automatically detected) I updated mine last week and Netflix is now there for me to use if I choose to.

i want to get it because of the live streaming and the fact that it seems to play all file types plus have only heard good things about wd would have got the iomega one with the 1tb built in but its to much

livEwirE

I've placed an order for the Western Digital TV Live Streaming Media Player, does anyone know if it is possible to copy media from one usb drive to another using it. I will have a 1tb usb 2.5" hard disk connected permanently, I would like to be able to plug in another usb drive and transfer the media files from it to the 1tb drive. Is this possible?

tommycahir

tommycahir wrote: »

Yes you can copy but it is on a file by file basis from what I can see. you are best just using a laptop\desktop to copy the files between the 2 drives.

As I said above but if you need a more accurate answer then you are best to post on the WDC forum. Link

livEwirE

Cheers Tommy, hopefully won't be too frustrating, I previously had a popcornhour c-200 and could easily copy files from usb drives to the internal drive:)
Update: Posted and already got an answer already on the WDTV forum, they are faaaast:eek: By using the COPY or MOVE menu function you can copy multiple files and even folders.

livEwirE

Can someone please check on their Western Digital TV Live Streaming Media Player(2011) if the rear USB ports function correctly with usb 3.0 hard disks. The front port seems to be fine with both usb 2 and 3. USB 2.0 device seem to work fine with the rear ports.

See here: http://community.wdc.com/t5/WD-TV-Live-Streaming-Discussions/Rear-USB-Port-1-8-inch-gap-and-not-working-with-USB-3-0/m-p/283780/highlight/true#M839

http://community.wdc.com/t5/WD-TV-Live-Streaming-Discussions/are-the-usb-ports-different/td-p/319299

tommycahir

Unfortunately I only have USB2.0 devices and don't have any USB3.0 drives to test with.

livEwirE

In fairness I've only got my player today and haven't actually checked my 2 usb 3 drives on it yet as I am still in the office, just wanted to get some feedback from others, fingers crossed they will be okay, otherwise I will be returning the device:(

livEwirE

UPDATE: Okay checked this last night, my USB 3.0 2.5" drives are detected on the rear usb port correctly and I can play media, the player did loose power to the drives around 4 times and randomly rebooted, will need to monitor this over the next couple of days to see if it keeps happening.

slim1919

Ordered mine yesterday from Pixmania 100 that's with delivery cant wait to get it now. Does the player have the bbc iplayer i know it has it in the uk but does it support it in ireland

tommycahir

slim1919 wrote: »

Ordered mine yesterday from Pixmania 100 that's with delivery cant wait to get it now. Does the player have the bbc iplayer i know it has it in the uk but does it support it in ireland

The BBC iPlayer is installed on the box once BUT as with the BBC iPlayer on a PC its content is locked to IP addresses in the UK only.

slim1919

tommycahir wrote: »

The BBC iPlayer is installed on the box once BUT as with the BBC iPlayer on a PC its content is locked to IP addresses in the UK only.

was thinking that was the case, Do you know if it will be getting 4OD or any plans to get it, Alot better than bbc iplayer.

tommycahir

Hi, No plans that I know of yet to add 4OD to the box but agree it would be great if they did!

slim1919

just got mine there and so far looks tops.

dixiefly

Can anyone tell me how this compares for streaming tv programmes & playing a range of formats in comparison to the Boxee? I had read great reports about the boxee but it seems to have died down now.

tommycahir

they are pretty much on a par in terms of the features and services offered. looking at the supported formats for both boxes they are almost identical and both mention some issues with specific codec's used in the containers.

From looking through the boxee forum\knowledge-base a lot of people are getting pretty pissed off with the lack of support from the boxee team. Although saying that the WDTV team are not as responsive as we would like but the overall community on wdc.com is pretty helpful and snappy to respond as pointed out above.

If You are considering a choice between the 2 why not download the windows boxee software and test it out for a week on a laptop\desktop and see if it is worth almost €100 more than the WDTV.

Hope that is of some help.

dixiefly

tommycahir wrote: »

they are pretty much on a par in terms of the features and services offered. looking at the supported formats for both boxes they are almost identical and both mention some issues with specific codec's used in the containers.

From looking through the boxee forum\knowledge-base a lot of people are getting pretty pissed off with the lack of support from the boxee team. Although saying that the WDTV team are not as responsive as we would like but the overall community on wdc.com is pretty helpful and snappy to respond as pointed out above.

If You are considering a choice between the 2 why not download the windows boxee software and test it out for a week on a laptop\desktop and see if it is worth almost €100 more than the WDTV.

Hope that is of some help.

Thanks Tommy, I actually tried to download it before and it didnt work for me. Will try again. One thing, I remember seeing that Boxee has HD quality, is it the same for WDTV?

tommycahir

Hi dixiefly, yes the WDTV SMP provides for HD quality once the files you are using is encoded in a suitable format.

Please note that you will get a composite lead with the box but for the full HD effect then you are best pick up a HDMI cable.

podgeandrodge

I've changed from the original WD TV live to the WD TV Live streaming media player and have Netflix now etc.

What I can't understand, and hope someone on here can explain, is why I am now able to access the external hard drive attached to it on my network (from my pc) after I've powered off the WD TV?

How does that happen? Where is the power draw?

Thanks.

Edit: found out - power button on new WD TV only puts it into standby unless you hold power button down for 5 seconds

cracker

livEwirE wrote: »

UPDATE: Okay checked this last night, my USB 3.0 2.5" drives are detected on the rear usb port correctly and I can play media, the player did loose power to the drives around 4 times and randomly rebooted, will need to monitor this over the next couple of days to see if it keeps happening.

Just wondering if you have any update on this. I was about to order a 1TB USB 3.0 drive to plug into the rear usb port permanently.

livEwirE

Well yes, I have actually returned my device for a refund and am still using my Popcornhour C-200 for now. After further testing with either of my USB 3.0 drives plugged into the rear port of the device they lost connection after around 70-90mins mins of playback of 1080p mkv video, the connection is lost and you have to rescan the library on the drive to detect it again, this was way too much hassle for me so I got rid of my wdtv. The problem seems to be affecting a lot of people.

http://community.wdc.com/t5/WD-TV-Live-Streaming-Discussions/Rear-USB-Port-1-8-inch-gap-and-not-working-with-USB-3-0/td-p/283780

http://community.wdc.com/t5/WD-TV-Live-Streaming-Discussions/WD-TV-Suddenly-ejects-my-1TB-Passport-Essential-SE/td-p/323551/page/2

The WDTV Live Streamer is not a bad little device but this issue is too much for me to put up with long term, Western Digital don't seem to be admitting to any liability as far as I can see and no one seems to know if this is a firmware issue or hardware issue.:rolleyes:

My advice is to get a loan of a USB 3.0 drive if possible and test it out for yourself.

tommycahir

such a pity livEwirE that you had to return it but I guess I didn't see the same issue as I was using a NAS for all my files.

livEwirE

tommycahir wrote: »

such a pity livEwirE that you had to return it but I guess I didn't see the same issue as I was using a NAS for all my files.

Yeah, it was, it seemed like a great little device otherwise.