I was looking at buying the Western Digital WD TV LIVE and came across this cheap price from officeworks. Searched the other retailers and most still sell above $170. Wondering what you guys think!
Western Digital WDTV Live HD Media Player $157 @Officeworks
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Good price, bad product. Kept stopping in the middle of videos when I had one.
Get a modded original xbox and install XBMC on it. Cheaper and more reliable.How long ago was that? Mine works perfectly, and never have any playback issues (apart from when the original file is not encoded correctly). I wonder if a previous firmware update fixed the problems that you experienced.
Urm, think it must have been about 4-5 months ago.
Check out their forum. Loads of people had the same problem as I did and the manufacturers weren't doing anything to fix the problem so I got my money back. They may have fixed the firmware since, I don't know.If you don't need the device connected to the internet, they do a non-live version for about half the price. Think I seen it at around $99 one day. Was a while ago tho…
Actually, it was Feb this year I had mine. Oops, time flies…
http://community.wdc.com/t5/Networking/Lost-network-connect-…
Is the link to the WD forum.
Good price, great product. Had it for 6months and it NEVER stopped playing in the middle of any video. Plays flawlessly off the network, USB, any codec.
I had XBMC on xbox for years, but its inability to play any medium/high bitrate files left it wanting. I never thought anything was going to replace it until the WDTV Live showed up.
Each to their own, but it certainly isn't a bad product.
Yeah, the lack of HD and 100meg network meant I never used my old xbox. I kept meaning to upgrade the processor as they say it will run HD then but it would still slow my 1000meg network down. So its gathering dust in the roofpsace.
Modded xbox 1 cant play 1080p mkv's. Sounds like you dont really know what your talking about.
Yeah, ur completely right. I have no idea about replacing the old 740Mhz processor with a faster 1480Mhz processor and upgrading the RAM from 64mb to 128mb.
Doing this will let you happily run 720p mkv video files.It still wont play 1080p h264. Dont waste your time.
Good price for the WDTV Live, but why not try a [TViX N1](http://www.mpcclub.com/download.php?f=review_tvix_n1.pdf "Review TViX N1").
You can get them at [Umart](http://umart.com.au/pro/products_listnew.phtml?id=10&bid=2&i… "TViX N1") for $129.
Am looking a various options at the moment. Do you have a TViX QuiOui? Most online reviews aren't very positive.
No I don't actually, but the review from MPC club came out recommended. I use a Topfield 2460 PVR to play my mkv's.
Excellent price for a top notch product.
I just ordered two of them online from officeworks.com as Xmas gifts, as my nearest 3 stores were already sold out of the product. The online order has gone off as an order on "back order" too, which means it may be a few weeks before i actually get the order delivered. I imagine it will be the same scenario for other, too.
The device plays everything you can throw at it & with a community based firmware update (try one of B-rad's), it will play almost anything you can imagine.
I think dual channel compressed mp4 audio inside 1080p .mkv rips (multiple language audio streams) is one of the only issues still remaining, right across the board. You only need to delete out all but one of the audio language tracks though to fix that issue.
I have one and agree it does play almost all videos but I personally think the user interface is terrible. I used XBMC on XBOX1 for years and now XBMC on a linux media PC and hate using the WDTV Live. A huge failing in my opinion is lack of skip back and forward other than a 10 minute skip. Yes there is fast forward and rewind but it is very inaccurate if for eg you want to rewind 5sec(I end up trying 2-3 times before success). When watching a show and just missed a punchline I should be able to SKIP backwards 5sec, 10sec, 30sec or whatever amount I have configured it for. Even XBMC on an XBOX1 from 7 years ago is much more responsive and user friendly (although no HD as mentioned).
Your comparing a hardware media player to a piece of open source media player software. XBMC certainly dumps all over the WDTV's user interface, but the XBMC media player software has been in active community development for like 8+ years and does require a $300+ computer purchase to install on & get running - a price that is double what we have here for this product. The WDTV UI does well, especially for a mobile media centre product like this that the XBMC couldn't be run on (last time i checked?), but it cant compete against XBMC's UI. But to compare the two is like comparing apples & oranges when you take in to consideration the hardware side of things required to run each. A marriage of the two would be awesome, but i cant see that happening any time soon. If the XBMC guys could develop their product in to a commercial combo with a mobile media player unit like the WDTV, they'd be rich. I know they'd get my money.
Sorta expensive. They are like $90 in USA.
I picked one up :)
The US versions come with different power plugs & connectors. Once you factor in the converters & postage from the states (even without postal insurance) the cost works out similar, but you don't get a local warranty with the US version.
AFAIK the power pack is 110-240v. The plugs/connectors can be easily modified or a converter.
Im going to the staets in 3 weeks :)
I can recommend this player to anyone if you have it within your budget.
I have a few of these and havnt had any issues, would happily recommend it.
Excellent media player. I have 2 running of the network in my house and may be picking up a 3rd for a Christmas gift. Might be an idea to buy it now at this price.
For those wanitng to customise there is a custom firmware based off the officail frmware - WDlxTV. I've loaded it on one of my players but haven't played around with it too much yet. Includes a lot of extra features, even BitTorrent.
Great product.
got mine $175 few days ago.
Good price, great product. I've never had a problem with it playing any of my files from my home network.
SONIQ QPB302B
This plays every file format plus is a bluray player and is $99.
I don't see how you can compare the 2 they are 2 completely different products. That is a Bluray player, this is a media player.
Right off the bat that is missing a major feature of the WDTV Live - Ethernet.
I'm not sure of the full specs of that player but I'm sure the WDTV Live would support a lot more formats than that does.
Just a question for the WDLive owners. Can the WDTV Live play media files from a standard windows network share in say both WinXP and Win7 or are you required to install streaming software on the host machine in order to pick up network shares on the device itself?
I also agree that this is an awesome device, i own one and am looking to buy a second.
I can confirm that it will stream shows from window 7 and winxp without client software.for those unhappy with the osd/gui there is custom firmware that make it much more aesthetically pleasing.
Try:
http://www.michaelrottner.de/wdtv_live.html
b-rad.cc
http://forum.wdlxtv.com/for those who are willing to hack away with linux, I am pretty sure that you can get fan art and movie sheets, torrent downloading etc etc
I can give it a thumbs up too, great for watching all your downloaded stuff on your TV.
These are great. Got one after my Mediagate died and haven't looked back.
But how good are these when using a wireless network connection? Can it work with standard wireless adapters?
I use a D-Link DWA-125 adapter - it's one of the adapters WD recommends. Only $29 from Umart too. Works great. With a wireless N 150 router, I can stream 720p flawlessly. With my old wireless G router, HD was a bit iffy, but regular avis were perfect.
Here is a list of their recommended adapters - http://wdc.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/wdc.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.…
I've had one for 6 months. Not happy with it. I use the 'network shares' option to view my files. Unfortunately, the network shares rarely shows up, even though the media library from that same computer works, and other computers on the network can access the network shares fine. Apparently it's a common bug.
When it works, its good - I have a wireless N network and I can stream 720p from my computer flawlessly. I like the interface since it's simple to use. I wouldn't buy one again unless the bugs were ironed out though.
This isn't WD's fault, but the Youtube steaming is useless too. With the latest firmware update, Youtube won't let you stream many of its videos. An error pops up stating that the clip can't be viewed on a television device. Apparently this is because you don't view any advertising on the device. The majority of clips I've tried to watch can't be streamed onto the WD.
I got one, just plan WDTV, work perfectly. It plays almost anything. Just need to keep the firmware uptodate and reboot it from time to time or if it crashes( turn it off and on from the power point ); does not happen that often though.
AC Ryan Playon!HD mini canes the WD, and its cheaper !
This is a good price for the live. Ive got one, its so very convenient and easy to use. Hardly watch tv anymore.
I picked up a popcorn hour a200 for this price on ebay. For a comparison checkout the yamj skins, its amazing.
Great piece of kit. I've been running one since their initial launch.
Love the interface. You just have to enable list mode and disable the media library feature.
FWIW, these are currently A$118 shipped to oz from Amazon US. (less if you use wizard/28degrees)
No forwarder needed. Just a $2 plug adapter.Has anyone received their product yet? I just got my money back from OW so i can go buy it elsewhere, i purchased mine as Xmas gifts.
It was confirmed for me via phone call to OW Head Office on Friday, that Officeworks put this product on sale while not actually having any of it in stock, and knowing they wouldn't be able to guarantee supply till the second week of January.
Thought people who purchased these as Xmas gifts may want to know this, so they don't end up having to purchase second gifts in the mean time for their loved one's.
Picked one up last week for someone with a price match for $166.25 (It was $219 at officeworks :O) Awesome price and an awesome player. Had one for a while now… plays everything!