WD TV live streaming media player.
Wirelessly stream your personal media and the best of the Internet to your TV in Full-HD 1080p with the WD TV Live streaming media player.
Saw this when looking for $5 SD card.
WD TV Live Streaming Media Player $99 @Officeworks
870
bonking on 02/11/2013 - 11:30 officeworks.com.au (3103 clicks)
Last edited 02/11/2013 - 16:38 by 1 other user
Last edited 02/11/2013 - 16:38 by 1 other user
Related Stores
closed Comments
- 1
- 2
Is this a a lot cheaper than norm? Just curious as i know i need to get one for my mum but i dont know whats the usual rate. Have been waiting for a sale.
It has gone down to 84 before, that when I bought 2
Yeah, it's cheaper than normal. Typical price is about $120.
Pretty good price. We've seen it a few times at this price this year!
Yeah, WD cash back deal was awesome… Although it took forever!!!And ever…
I paid 84 two years ago from OW. first one died at 1yr and OW replaced it. Great little box
Did the new ones have cinavia?
Cinavia is only for blu ray players
is that because Sony won't license blu ray format without it on there?
I think that is case!
Ive had one for almost a year now. Great little media player. Highly recommended.
really? I don't like ours, the software is buggy, and it just takes too long to navigate
I agree, had almost the exact same experience, I bought one the last time Officeworks did an under $90 deal on it. It was way too slow, kept crashing, and the Wifi would not connect (in a room with full Wifi reception on all my other devices). Promptly took it back to Officeworks the next day. Sounds like a great deal here, but I would advise people to avoid it.
This does happen from time to time. And I had a mate do the same thing as you. But like anything, you have to play with it and know how to operate it. If it loses the wifi connection, it takes me about 10 secs to get it back!!!
I've had the old version for years now which has been great, kids use it every night. looking forward to the better wifi in the new one with iview too.
great find!
can you attached a large 3TB? HDD to it and move files wirelessly from your PC to it which then can play on your TV (via USB port), is this the gadget to do this?
Suggestions? Thanks in advance.Yeah, it can act as a NAS although the speed is limited. I get around 9MB per second max
Yeah, I have a 1TB portable connected to it and move files wirelessly from laptop. Between 7 MB and 9MB per second.
yes I got 3tb attached. Few times I tried transferring files wireless, files transfer was very slow and in the end I couldn't played wireless transfer files (strange). So I'm not sure how good that process will do. It's much quicker to transfer through usb and guaranteed the files will play. If you can wait I recommend a better model may be a new one not sure something is released 2014 ?? Because this model lags especially when you got huge hard drive attached.
Cheers
Yeah, I have a WD Live hd hooked up to the router. Transferring isn't to bad and you're only going to transfer stuff across once. I normally just cut, paste and walk away for a while!
Streaming is great. Had the neighbours twin girls over last night that wanted to watch different movies, so I just put one on in each room and it worked flawlessly!!!Mustn't be identical twins..
I've been a faithful WDTV user for 4 years, just started with XBMC and haven't looked back. The interface is really slow in comparison, network shares disappearing is a constant problem, and no chapters means manually fast forwarding anytime it's rebooted, however it is simple and has good file format support.
my disappearing network shares, network printer, tv's etc have…disappeared since I changed my cheap router to a better(and more expensive) one
Definitely agree that the wireless features will only be as good as your router!
xbmc on wdtv?
I agree, i moved to xbmc as well. Love it. I still use the wdtv in other rooms. I bought them when they had the cashback deal.
They play almost anything i throw at it, but if you have a large collection look at a xbmc pc build.There needs to be a low cost (Sub $150) XBMC machine - which has a decent sized local thumbnail cache on a fast medium.
I tried XBMC on an Apple TV2, having heard it works well… man……. man
The ATV2 remote is awful and the whole UI was sluggish as hell. Total unsubscribe!There needs to be a low cost (Sub $150) XBMC machine
There is… I use my old original Xbox!!! ;)
Isn't that limited to 540p or 720p and can only play mpeg2 rather than mpeg4? I had a look at it and it just seemed like a lot of hassle.
I must be honest… I haven't touched it in years! I used to stream though the TiVo before Hybrid ****ed it, and I've been using a WD since early 2010! The little original WDTV was awesome to travel with, rather than having to sit with a laptop, you could just plug it straight into TVs at hotels, backpackers, etc.
I use a Raspberry Pi running XBMC combined with a wireless mouse and sometimes use my android phone using Yatse. Very cheap all up and runs 1080P video without a problem.
I have got a WD live with wifi however I can't get to work with sound on some MKV files.
Gbox Midnight MX2 is a really good one. I got one and never look back :). Amazon + Delivery = $149
Hey magoo,
Which XBMC player would you recommend? Preferrably below $150. Thanks.
I use the raspberry pie, around $35
Thanks magoo. Does XBMC come pre installed or do I have to tinker much with it?
To install xbmc, it's pretty easy. Just flash an SD card with xbmc, put it in the pi, boot up, and follow instructions.
there's "openelec" or "raspbmc" as your two main xbmc options for the pi.
Pi is just a little board with cpu and ram (and bits to get it to work together). You'll need also a power supply, case, keyboard/mouse or remote for it, plus storage (usb hdd, or a nas on your network). Element 14 is a good place to buy a Pi (can get one with a case and power supply for a bit over $50, free shipping).
Thanks salem for the detailed information. Much appreciated.
magoo, I swear you're living at my place when I'm not here… Samsung 64" and WDTV!!! ;)
Drove me nuts too! But if you use the time skip >> to go at 2x speed, then press the normal skip button >| it will skip ten minutes, not skip to the next movie/show.
jesus christ, thankyou! lol. My folks have one of these and I remember googling ages ago how to do this and could not find an answer, gave up and it's been a consideration every time I've thought of buying one, that either you just can't do it (which seemed absurd and I couldn't believe everyone was recommending them if that was the case), or I'd have to try again to find out how and couldn't really bear the thought of that. Ahhh, knowledge!
Get a HP Microserver, throw in a cheap graphics card, and you got yourself an excellent XBMC machine.
Not quite $150 but not it's not really a huge outlay considering you get a fully operational computer that can also store all your media.
Should try Raspberry Pi.
Available online too http://www.officeworks.com.au/retail/products/Technology/Hom…
Don't forget to use your ING paywave offer when buying in store :)Who do they use for delivery? Aus post or couriers? If its aus post then its alright. Otherwise someone needs to be home i guess.
This is one of the good media players. Highly recommended.
Has nice and easy UI too.
I have one of these and I love it. I have been considering a hptc but don't have the space to accomodate it so this is the next best thing.
Thanks OP, greatly appreciate your post as I've been after a deal on this WD media player for a while. Had been given a $100 JB gift voucher, so called my local store and no issues with a price match. Updating the firmware as I type :-)). Thanks again …. Cheers
How does this unit go with softsubs? My Seagate Go Flex does a pretty bad job… so for subbed material I tend use an Android dongle or burn the subs into video file.
It's played every type of subtitle I've thrown at it. The default orientation is a bit too high for .srt files but that can easily be fixed.
it was $149 last week which officeworks did you see this at
tv's can't play most file types.. cant stream to most…
most new tvs can play all file types.
Yes but Samsung E550 doesn't like a lot of USB sticks!!!
- Hulu, Netflix
i never got the point of these junk machines, plug usb into the tv?
Great idea… Especially when you have to pull the stick out because you don't want to watch one of the 6-7-8 movies on there, boot up the computer, transfer the movie and go plug it in again.
Or if you want, I'll just let you know how the movie ends coz I just have to hit play!!!
This the best way to stream stuff from my pc? Or should I use XMBC and a RasPie or something else? If Rasberry pie, wher's the best place to get it?
element14 but i have no idea how. its a messy site and with kits you have to get.
Go to Element14's aus website. RaspberryPi costs between $50-60 (model b), you need a sd card (minimum size 4gb), a micro usb cable to power it, wifi adaptor to plug in usb or an ethernet cable, mouse and keypad with usb connection. Install Raspbmc on SD card and start the Pi. Google 'using raspberry pi' and open life hacker's link. It is a good tutorial.
I don't know if you can put xbmc on WD media player. But Xbmc will give you option to stream tv shows, movies, sports, etc.
You can also put xbmc on Apple Tv.
Or for a little more you could go for the Cubieboard V2:
http://littlebirdelectronics.com/products/cubieboard
ARM A7 Dual Core, Mali 400, 1GB RAM, SATA, IR receiver, USB, 10/100 ethernet, etc
This seems good as well
on paper the cubie is much more powerful than pi. Only problem is the fan base is not that big. i am a bit worry that support could disappear in the future if it does not generate enough followers
how is this any cheaper than WDTV?
algy asked for the best way, not the cheapest - and that depends mostly on your particular circumstances.
I've found the regular WD HD Player to be actually quite good. Quick and responsive. Only issue is with fastforwarding and password based hard drives take a few minutes to load up.
Have had my WD Live for a few months and can't fault it. Has played everything I have thrown at it. Wouldn't mind another one for the lounge room.
Nice find OP!
I've got two. Both work flawlessly at the same time!!!
Amazon has it for $99. Apparently it is the only version that can play US steaming sites like Netflix.
The oz version can do it too. You just have to geolocate to US and the app will show up. The US edition can't do ABC, the Oz one can do both.
Btw, if anyone can tell me how I can put Bbc iplayer on the oz version, I will be eternally grateful :)
Netflix and most of other protected international content will not work on WD players sold outside of America. This is physical limitation of the player (missing DRM-compatible chip). If you intent on using for Netflix you must buy from USA.
My Oz version works well with Hulu and Netflix. My US version is limited to US content only.
LoL n00b!
I have an Australian box and happily have Netflix. I also believe HULU is available (haven't bothered to activate it yet on my box). I still have iView access as well.
Thanks OP!
This will replace my Noontec player :)
I thought at one point in time amazon had these for around $80 and you could get OW to price match them?
Amazon have it for US$77.89 plus US$12.97 shipping. I bought one last week for closer to $90 plus shipping - fortunately Amazon agreed to refund the price drop difference because it's been less than a week since the order.
Not sure why I got negged, I read about it on here posted as a deal like a year ago, but didn't need one at the time, now I do so I'm asking, if it worked out to $90 with shipping and you have OW price match the delivered price plus 5% off for a total save of around $14 plus ING pay wave it, why wouldn't you, any true ozbarginer would jump at that opertuonty.
You probably got negged because OW won't price match overseas stores.
I was asking if you could? because the deal I recall seeing was specific to price matching with amazon, it was a while ago so maybe OW wised up to this and stopped allowing it to occur. But I remember as long as you factored in the dollar (at the time it was dollar for dollar) and shipping, that total price they would match (unsure if they would beat it though).
Correction. Some stores do! I actually got them to price match plus 5% for one that I purchased for my sister.
I believe their official policy is that they don't. Their terms are basically that they'll only price match with an Australian store with stock in Australia (they don't price match drop shippers), and either the store must be reasonably close or you must include shipping.
check out the Minix Neo X7. I got one a month ago and very impressed.
http://www.minix.com.hk/Products/MINIX-NEOX7.htmlwhere did you buy it?
How much was it?
Before you buy some random knock off china box or android stick take note that any issues will only be fixed with firmware updates, and I doubt half of those companies will bother to support their product. WD has constantly issued updates for this box throughout the year. Only issue is the demented way it remembers where you stopped playing a film - you need to enable the library option which causes it to rescan/update every time you plug in a HDD, and that library option only works on some file systems. Disable it (which I do) and you need to fast forward in 10 minute steps or 32x speed. Picked mine up via OW price match for less than $80 a while back. Zero issues with playback, a 26GB .mkv played back fine. No support for DTS HD/MA audio. If you want fancy 7.1 playback build a HTPC.
This to me is an issue if you put one of these in a home theater, a lot of 1080 mkv files are DTS audio, the only walk around I know of it to change your settings to 2 channel stereo, but in a propper theater set up to have such a high quality file but crappy audio is quite a let down and ultimately a deal breaker unless there's another way to get around this i'm unaware of?
This plays DTS fine, just not DTS-MA. Are you using optical/HDMI for audio? As for seeking through a movie, you can also skip to whatever time you desire by pressing the bottom left button (with the magnifying glass}.
It was at a friends house and the playback was direct HDMI to a little 1080 32" LED TV, so maybe the issue arises if you try play back DTS audio without and amp in to a stereo output, you manually need to tell the settings to output in stereo or it just won't play any sound? (I assumed it was a DTS audio issue but it basically also occurred with a lot of .mp4 files as well)
I'm not sure, the unit is not attached to the internet so the firmware would be at least a year and a half old.
The WDTV has trouble with .mp4 files with AAC audio. In my experience it usually takes 5.1 AAC tracks and converts them into 2 channel audio.
is this like the Apple TV media player thing?
wow, these things hold their price…they've been reduced to $99 (and sometime less) on sale for years!
i think i paid about $99 for my gen 1 version (non streaming) and $70 for my parents' one (discounted upon the release of the streaming version), $70-$75 AUD for my US streaming model (from amazon while the dollar was good), and $99-$50 for two AUS models during the cashback last year. (I still have my original gen 1 and the US streaming from amazon, but hardly ever use them anymore now that i have an HTPC with XBMC).
i'm just surprised with the rise of competitors, and in particular the cheap android dongles, that these still sell for exactly the same price! it used to be that at $99, the WDTV was easily the best budget media solution. if i was looking for a media player now, i would definitely be considering an android stick (i may still get one for a laugh, but i have way too many media players already! aha. someone give me an excuse!).
having said that, these are great little boxes, particularly for setting up less technology inclined family. if i didn't have XBMC, i'd be using them more (i do use one in the bedroom to access xbmc, but not very often. the other, i take travelling, and should replace with an android dongle! aha).
Agree!! This has been around for about 2yrs now and the price hasn't really dropped. There are so many other players (like the Roku) that's shit on this device.
The Roku doesn't shit on the WDTV because it's used for different purposes. I don't stream media, I play back media. All reviews I've said say that Roku is no good for local playback.
No "shitting on", just "different"
Finally they are back at a decent price. I'm going into buy mode for one of these!
How is youtube and other online video service streaming with this device? user friendly?It is so easy to use. Very clear, straight forward menu options (enough that the kidlet of the house has mastered it already). It'll also stream at 1080 whereas my Fetch box will stream iView at something like 720 or somesuch. The difference is VERY noticeable. Well worth it considering if you set it up right, you can get yourself access to HULU and Netflix through it.
Ok Great thanks. How much is an annual subscription to Netflix and Hulu cost you?
And don't forget to use the remote app on your phone, makes typing/navigating etc much easier
- 1
- 2
A good little box.
Wish WD had another cash back deal, it would make this even sweeter