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WD TV Live Streaming Media Player for $99 at Harvey Norman

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WD TV Live Streaming Media Player for $99 at Harvey Norman
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Lbowtiehoon on 25/03/2012 - 20:52 files.ozbargain.com.au (2247 clicks)
Last edited 26/03/2012 - 15:06

First post so let me know if anything is missing…

WD TV Live Streaming Media Player at Harvey Norman Springvale Victoria for $99.

This is the latest WDTV live with wifi built in and the new interface etc…

So here's my story:
Went to Office Works Chadstone for the usual price match and extra 5% off.

Was told in order to get the price match, OW needed to call HN Springvale to confirm the offer was real. On the phone though, the HN Springvale guys refused to confirm or deny the deal was real and simply said they will only confirm the deal in person and not on the phone.

So Office Works Chadstone couldn't price match it.

In the end I gave up and I just walked over to Harvey Norman Chadstone (next door to OW chadstone). They price matched it no worries.

I've attached my receipt with this post so hopefully your price matching adventures will be easier than mine.

I know its not cheaper than that crazy amazon price match a while back, but $99 is the best price I can find for it going around at the moment so bargain in my eyes.

Edit:
Since I dunno if the receipt thing is getting accepted, here is the image I used to successfully get HN Chadstone to price match HN Springvale,
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/4/img0151vr.jpg/

Electrical & Electronics Media Player Western Digital

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Harvey Norman
Harvey Norman

closed Comments

  • kingofamazon on 25/03/2012 - 20:56

    Good Price

  • [Deactivated] on 25/03/2012 - 20:58

    Is this their store price or a price match and if so to what?

  • bowtiehoon on 25/03/2012 - 21:05
    +2

    Long Story short.
    $99 is the in store price at Harvey Norman Springvale.
    I was too lazy to head back there so I got Harvey Norman Chadstone to price match it. Their usual price was $145.

    What I am suggesting is take my receipt photo and see if office works will honor this:
    http://www.officeworks.com.au/retail/content/Lowest-Price-Gu…

    • netsurfer on 25/03/2012 - 21:20
      +4

      Harvey Norman Chadstone is one of the better Harvey Norman stores. Quite willing to price match. They even offered me additional discount when Harvey Norman was having 20% store wide discount.

      • [Deactivated] on 25/03/2012 - 23:21
        +3

        Who negs this stuff?

        • kingofamazon on 25/03/2012 - 23:25
          +4

          Yea there are some unpredictable pals in the forum mate get used to it!

      • evolution-flip on 25/03/2012 - 23:28
        +25

        My one vote to neutralise the negatives. This is my unofficial job at OzBargain.

        • kingofamazon on 25/03/2012 - 23:33
          +3

          There you go one + for you :) for the nice work!

        • Timski on 26/03/2012 - 07:12
          +5

          You're doing Gods work son.

        • blitz on 26/03/2012 - 10:14
          +2

          If only there were more like you!

    • [Deactivated] on 25/03/2012 - 21:52

      How do you know it's the in store price at Harvey Norman Springvale?

      • pumpkinspice on 25/03/2012 - 23:38
        +1

        I think bowtiehoon had been there earlier.
        "I was too lazy to head back there" implies that they had been there at some point in time before he/she went to Harvey Norman Chadstone.

        • bowtiehoon on 26/03/2012 - 00:17

          Yup, that is the correct answer, my 1st bargain post has been a bit of a mess lol

    • wbeer on 25/03/2012 - 23:27
      +5

      I want to hear the long story : p

  • llama on 25/03/2012 - 21:16
    +3

    I'm still trying to work out how you got HN to price match themselves. LOL

    • ozdesi on 25/03/2012 - 21:28

      Anything can happen with HN stores, usually for the worst though!

    • [Deactivated] on 25/03/2012 - 21:53

      They're mostly franchised so may have different prices.

      • [Deactivated] on 25/03/2012 - 23:50

        More likely they make up prices on the spot! Don't they get 10% of sales margin?

  • k on 25/03/2012 - 21:44

    I'm still trying to figure out your story…

    • bowtiehoon on 25/03/2012 - 21:57

      ok i edited my story, hopefully its less confusing now, otherwise I give up :)

      Only wanted to let everyone know about the $99 price, prob should have left out the story lol…lesson learned for my next post…

  • yanman on 25/03/2012 - 22:06
    -4

    Might be a little more but I'd prefer an Apple TV + FireCore mod.

    (http://firecore.com/atvflash)

    • cooldog on 25/03/2012 - 22:13

      Does it work on Apple TV 2012?

    • Jack D Price on 25/03/2012 - 22:40
      +1

      Prefer having a laptop + wireless keyboard to any of these devices

    • noz on 25/03/2012 - 23:08

      Correct me if I'm wrong. but AppleTV doesn't support 1080p though does it?

      • wog_ta on 25/03/2012 - 23:28

        it does now,after the refresh

      • pumpkinspice on 25/03/2012 - 23:50
        +1

        AppleTV can play 1080p files but it outputs 720p.

        I was looking at buying one of these WD boxes a couple of days ago but decided to spend more and build a mini-PC with XBMC instead. More money but much better device and OS.

        • wog_ta on 26/03/2012 - 00:25
          +2

          i assumed the new model could actually also output 1080p, otherwise what's the point?

        • bargainy on 26/03/2012 - 07:57
          +1

          New model does 1080p output.

          Jail broken ATV running XBMC is nigh on perfect. Note there is no jailbreak for the latest model at this point.

        • yanman on 26/03/2012 - 08:22

          aTV Flash improves on even XBMC :)

        • pumpkinspice on 26/03/2012 - 10:41

          Sorry, I stand corrected.
          I'll be looking out for a jailbrake for ATV, if it runs XBMC and does 1080p that's awesome, and cheap!

    • rygle on 26/03/2012 - 10:16

      From the FireCore FAQ;

      Can I play video from sites like Hulu?

      Unfortunately due to the AppleTV's limited processing power streaming Internet video is not currently supported.

      Can I stream web video?

      Yes! Currently HTML5 based streaming video is supported.

      So it's pretty limited in terms of streaming. Don't know for sure but this sounds like no iView etc.

    • bowtiehoon on 26/03/2012 - 14:52
      +1

      The deal breaker for me with the Apple tv was I can't plug my usb stick or portable hdd to play files. Jailbroken or not.

      I don't wanna turn my computer/laptop on every time I want to watch a movie or show. Why apple removed that feature in the later apple tv revisions is beyond me.

  • ccrap on 25/03/2012 - 22:14

    does this work well with custom firmware like wdlxtv?

    • turbodude on 25/03/2012 - 22:33
      +3

      This model won't run custom firmware like the previous model

      • ccrap on 26/03/2012 - 00:34

        thanks turbodude

  • wbeer on 25/03/2012 - 22:16

    Good price, does it lag like the old wd live when using the menu/ startup?

    • bowtiehoon on 25/03/2012 - 23:08
      +1

      Owning now both models, I can say yup there is a bit of a lag, but I can live with it considering the price. Not sure if the new model is worth the upgrade. I only got because I needed an extra media player. I was considering the d-link boxee box but decided to save some money.

      One thing I like with the new model is you can download an app on your iphone to turn it into a remote for your wdtv media player. Great for using the player's youtube channel, because you can use the iphone as a keyboard :)

      • z00m on 26/03/2012 - 11:49

        Is there an app for Android?

        • thangcuoi on 26/03/2012 - 12:17

          Yes, there's an app for Android.

    • m0nkeycheese on 26/03/2012 - 00:33

      If you put custom firmware on the old one it starts instantly no joke

      • spal on 26/03/2012 - 07:54

        Hi

        I have two of the earlier version. Can you provide a bit more information about custom firmware. Mind you my tech knowledge is gain from OB and WP posts, so may not be much.

        Thanks.

        • bashar20 on 26/03/2012 - 09:44
          +1

          http://b-rad.cc/wdlxtv/

        • rygle on 26/03/2012 - 10:28
          +1

          There are newer versions around than the b-rad.cc site as others took over when releases stopped coming. It's a definite step up from the stock firmware.

          1. Go to http://forum.wdlxtv.com/viewforum.php?f=10

          2. Choose the model of your box

          3. Choose the version you want. Flash=flashes the rom, non-flash=runs off a usb stick, but I think this requires flashing a boot loader anyway. I only ever did the flash version and had no problems. You can revert to the original if required.

          4. If flashing, you have to name the firmware version correctly in the text file that goes with the binary to make the box think it's a newer version - look around the forums/wiki for more info.

          Note that no version of WDTV box, even custom firmware, will play files downloaded using iview napper etc because of the variable frame rate. You will need to remux them. I took the easier route of going to an XBMC media centre as it plays anything. Details in the following posts;

          http://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/56096

          http://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/65915 - look for the comment by me

  • Magnate on 25/03/2012 - 22:39

    Can you record TV on this (to an external HDD)?

    • llama on 25/03/2012 - 22:50

      No, it is a Media Player not a DVR.

  • samfisher5986 on 25/03/2012 - 23:32

    I have this device and its great, but has some issues.

    It sometimes has issues that require a restart to fix it

    I've had a few 1080p files it refused to play and required a restart to get it to play anything else.

    • [Deactivated] on 25/03/2012 - 23:50
      +1

      I hate technology. Everything needs a restart now and then.

    • allyemil on 26/03/2012 - 09:48

      A while ago i had the same issue with my WDTV Live (non-wireless one) and it was really annoying me. Then i realised i hadn't updated its FW in a while so did that and haven't had any similar issues (or any other issues) since then. I'd try doing that if you haven't done so already.

      Kinda thinking about buying one of these wireless units and retire the current one to the spare room.

    • allyemil on 26/03/2012 - 09:49

      .

  • Nick Phan on 25/03/2012 - 23:41

    Thanks OP! Awesome price. Will test out my local OW tomorrow.

  • DeWalt on 26/03/2012 - 01:07
    +17

    I've owned the WDTV and the WDTV live for several years. Here's the lowdown.
    I have about 1000 movies. These boxes play them all. Someone said some 1080ps don't play on their WDTV. If VLC can, WDTV live can. Also plays just about any audio, inc mp3, ogg, FLAC, APE, etc. This product is the "kitchen sink" of media players.

    If you are an Apple acolyte, you're better off with Apple TV. Whilst it won't play about 95% of my collection of video and audio, and it downsamples 1080p to 720p, it does have an Apple logo. That counts for a lot to some, so don't knock it ;)

    Seriously though, WDTV live is da bomb (whatever that means).
    DeWalt

    • samfisher5986 on 26/03/2012 - 01:40

      Nope this is incorrect, I also have a large collection of 720p/1080p movies.

      I've had two scene release movies that didn't play on the WDTV Live but play fine in VLC and others.

      While the WDTV Live clearly supports the format, it just sits on the rotating arrow loading screen and then refuses to play anything else until you power cycle the device.

      VLC codec information says H264 MPEG-4 AVC (part10) (avc1), and it has two DTS audio streams, nothing unusual.

      • CLoSeR on 26/03/2012 - 08:43

        I've had a WDTV Live for years, most 1080p h264 content works fine. You do on rare occasions find a file which won't play even though it looks to be supported. I think in these cases the file is damaged somewhat and VLC player just handles broken files better. In all cases where a file hasnt worked I'll just re-encode and it's fine.

        For anyone who is considering a media player the WDTV Live units are excellent.

        Note: I stream all my content over 100Mb LAN from my PC, 1080p streams fine if you were wondering.

        • 4wd on 26/03/2012 - 12:03
          +3

          If they are MKV containers they might not play because of compressed headers. You can try remuxing the file using mmg.exe, (from MKVToolnix):

          1) Drop the MKV onto mmg.exe
          2) Highlight the video track
          3) Go to the Extra options tab and choose Compression->None
          4) Start muxing

          Should take less than a minute.

          You can also set it under File->Options->Disable header removal compression for audio and video tracks by default

        • samfisher5986 on 26/03/2012 - 12:09

          The file isn't damaged, I will try what 4wd said though.

          Also unsure why silly people are downvoting my previous post for stating facts.

          I wasn't saying the device is bad, I was just warning people that the device is not perfect.

        • samfisher5986 on 26/03/2012 - 18:30

          Thanks 4WD!

          I did what you said and both movies now work!

          Hopefully a firmware update will make it so I don't have to do this in the future, but it is very easy to do so I don't mind.

        • 4wd on 26/03/2012 - 22:51

          Your welcome.

          You could probably add it as a post-processing command on your download pc, then you wouldn't need to worry about it again.

    • spal on 26/03/2012 - 07:57

      I have two of WDTV live. One has issues with audio while the same video file would work on the other one. Could it be because I have connected the problem one to a receiver and the working one connects direct to a TV.

      Thanks.

    • allyemil on 26/03/2012 - 09:55

      Couldn't agree more with this. Quite cheap and it just simply works.
      One issue i had with it got sorted out after updating its FW and I'm yet to find a file that i couldn't play. My other media player, Popcorn Hour A-110 is rarely used these days and even when it is used, sometimes it struggles to play certain file which is the reason why I'm going to sell it and buy one of the WDTV Live wireless units.

  • casval on 26/03/2012 - 01:41

    Nice work. + for the long story. And the bargain of course :-P

  • MrMaxwell on 26/03/2012 - 02:39

    A few points:
    1. The new Apple TV plays H.264 at 1080p due to the current refresh (no downsampling)
    2. The WDTV Live, whilst being a nice upgrade to the original, is by no means perfect. I come across several files per week that it will not play, for whatever reason.
    3. It freezes from time to time, requiring a reboot.
    4. Does not play YouTube HD files. Also does not login to YouTube if your YouTube account is attached to your Google account (majority of people-more a Google issue I believe)

    My summary - when it works it works great. But it is by no means perfect and can be fiddly at times.

    • samfisher5986 on 26/03/2012 - 12:14

      1. Its not perfect but can't easily be beat by anything

      2. Mine has never frozen after the firmware update a few weeks ago.

      3. The "Youtube" service does play HD perfectly, but doesn't support accounts. The "Youtube Videos" service does not support HD but does support accounts.

      As mentioned, my main problems now are that it can stop seeing networked computers requiring a reboot, or it can't play certain MKV's, which someone mentioned a fix.

  • socheap on 26/03/2012 - 08:52

    I might be completley off the mark but if i connected a hard drive to this could it be used as central media stoage (photos / movies / audio /data)for multiple devices?

    • turbodude on 26/03/2012 - 10:48

      I am not sure about this model but the previous one did. I used it like that for a while but it is very slow to copy to and randomly locks up and requires a power reboot. I gave up on it and now run a netbook with USB HDD as a server which works great and only uses 10w (all networked on 100MBit).

    • samfisher5986 on 26/03/2012 - 12:25

      Yes

      When you connect a hard drive all your networked computers can access it.

      Keep in mind that for some reason it can't handle extreme usage of connected hard drives as it seems to give lower speeds/performance to it being networked from a regular computer, but its more then enough for playing videos/pictures etc.

  • hoiboy on 26/03/2012 - 09:13

    I'm just curious - does anyone buy the WDTV if they have a laptop that has HDMI out (which is pretty common these days)? Seems to be redundant if that's the case.

    • z00m on 26/03/2012 - 11:58

      This is something I've been thinking as well. Interested to hear the answer :-)

    • samfisher5986 on 26/03/2012 - 12:17

      You need a laptop with enough processing power for 1080p, is ok with being online 24/7 (take the battery out so its not a fire risk), has remote support (buy it or something) and you need to install media centre software.

      Even then I'm not so sure any software out there allows you to do the many things the WDTVLive allows you to do with a remote and no mouse/keyboard.

      Also if anyone didn't know, you can make ISO's of your DVD's and the WDTV Live will play them like an normal DVD. You get the menu and everything.

      • z00m on 26/03/2012 - 15:25

        Thanks sam

    • caprimulgus on 26/03/2012 - 15:08
      +1

      i have a laptop with HDMI out, and i have a WDTV Live (the old one without wireless).

      1. easier for gf to operate - simply has to turn it on and use the remote, rather than connecting up laptop and fiddling with settings
      2. leaves my laptop free for my use (and gf doesn't need to touch my baby!)
      3. nice and clean "install" which fits in with the rest of my system - no mess of laptop/cable connected to the tv.
      4. saving the hassle of having to connect and set it up every time!

      i used to always use a laptop to play everything, but once i bought the WDTV live, i would never go back! (unless i got a purpose built htpc)

      at the end of the day, a laptop with HDMI can do everything the wdtv live can (and more), so you definitely don't NEED one. but just for the convenience and to save the hassle, the $100 may be worth it to you!

      • z00m on 26/03/2012 - 15:25

        Thanks caprimulgus

        • hoiboy on 26/03/2012 - 15:54

          Thanks both for the replies. I guess the remote would definitely be a plus, but if it's just that I'll save my money (my TV is permanently set up with the HDMI cable so it's just a matter of hooking it up to the laptop).

  • jakentta on 26/03/2012 - 09:17

    Could someone with experience on this player comment on how well does it handle subtitles? Does it find them from a separate file, can you browse for the file and can it display subtitles within an MKV file? Also, as the new Apple TV is my other option, can it play stuff from just a network share, or do I have mess around with iTunes? How does Apple TV handle MKVs and subtitles?

    • samfisher5986 on 26/03/2012 - 12:18

      It handles subtitles fine, I mostly use it with the embedded subtitles in MKV files, but it supports seperate files and seems to work flawlessly.

      Please research the Apple TV really well, from what I understand its barely a media player compared to the WDTV Live.

  • HX925 on 26/03/2012 - 09:29

    yeah had this for a year now. got it for $95 from office works some time ago…
    Plays almost everything but recently, wont play SOME, 3d side by side MKV files, and cant resume of fast forward some MKV files, which are 720/1080p over 3gb. very annoying when yyour watching a 2 hour movie, and want to stop it half way and watch the rest the next day…. you basically have to leave the player on till it watches through to the part your up to, and continue watching it. VERY ANNOYING. overall it is a great player BUT im looking for something to play what this wont play.. or an update to the firmware.. might be better off buying a high performance laptop.
    ps:subtitles, work perfectly

    • samfisher5986 on 26/03/2012 - 12:20
      -1

      Your fast forward issue is specific to your device/firmware or video.

      In general 720p/1080p MKV's will work fine with fast forward, not sure if you meant to say this anyway.

      • HX925 on 26/03/2012 - 12:39

        yep thanks for that…most of the files can be FF>> but some files do not, and i think its due to the device/firmware. IF played through VLC, they can be Fast Forwarded.

    • pumpkinspice on 26/03/2012 - 11:15
      +3

      I see your point, but the comments really relate the device's ability to perform its intended function and comparable devices in similar price-range.

    • samfisher5986 on 26/03/2012 - 12:21
      +3

      I'm pretty sure 99% of people who use this device use it for scene material.

      • teknohead on 26/03/2012 - 18:25
        -1

        So what you're saying is, not only are you a tight arse, you're a thief as well.

    • rygle on 26/03/2012 - 13:45
      +1

      I see teknohead's point but want to offer another view. I don't condone pirating in any way, but why does this discussion have to be about pirated material?

      I personally use an XBMC media player with all my purchased DVDs ripped so my kids don't have to handle/scratch/chew/fingerprint/throw/lose the physical media. It also means I can take my external HD on holidays with the laptop and have access to my whole (legit) media library.

      You can also use these media centres to play legally allowed recordings from a computer/device with a tuner card like a MythTV box.

      There are also various sources of legit media on the net - XBMC has a whole swag of plugins to view legit streams (see for instance only the officially recognised video plugins here - http://wiki.xbmc.org/index.php?title=Category:Video_add-ons - not all work in Australia but several do like YouTube, TED Talks, TechCrunch, Al Jazeera, CNET, Classic Cinema, Engadget, National Geographic, Games.on.net, plus several others not mentioned in this list like iView) and WDLXTV (custom firmware the the WDTV Live) has a smaller subset of legit streaming sources.

      Like any technology (the hammer, the knife, the gun, the car, the modem, the keyboard, the TV, medicine, money) it can be used for good or evil, but that doesn't mean everyone does use it for evil/illegal purposes.

      • samfisher5986 on 26/03/2012 - 13:54

        The issue is that this device is too expensive for many to be used as a DVD watching machine as there are cheaper devices or even an old computer that will do this.

        The main reason people buy this device is for the wide range of formats including 1080p support.

        Its impossible to talk about the pros and cons of this device without talking about if it will or will not play this content.

        As already mentioned, it will not play certain 720p/1080p videos and the device stops working if you try, this is important information and since we are talking about content we are not ripping ourselves it needs to be mentioned as 99% of people are relying on content not ripped by themselves.

        Also AFAIK the latest WDTV Live can't have 3rd party firmware and the official firmware doesn't support any cool online streaming sites.

        • rygle on 26/03/2012 - 14:06

          The reason I use XBMC on an old Lenovo m55p with an HDMI video card (total cost $210 - see http://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/56096) is that it plays more than the WDTV (even with the WDLXTV firmware).

          The WDTV is limited to what the hardware can decode, which doesn't allow for stuff with variable frame rates among other things. XBMC does lots using hardware acceleration if available but can also use software decoding.

          The XBMC box also functions as a DVD/BluRay player/ripper (added a BD-ROM drive for $80 and AnyDVD HD for about the same) and also allows the playing of games, surfing the net (doing it now), checking email, whatever a PC can do. So for a little more it does a heck of a lot more.

          Forgot to mention above that we also enjoy watching slideshows of personal photos and videos after watching something else or while waiting for someone to get a cuppa etc, including all the pics we haven't printed out over the years. Very relaxing…

        • samfisher5986 on 26/03/2012 - 14:11

          I agree with you rygle, I would do exactly that if I had a spare computer capable of 1080p, my current spare computer is my download machine and extracting/repairing/verifying absolutely kills the CPU and prevents playing of video smoothly which is why I have this device.

          I use hyperspin (have a look on youtube) with my main computer with a very long HDMI cable, its amazing :)

          Anyway I guess my point is that a XBMC box is a lot more then $100, and if you buy some old piece of junk from ebay then its going to use a lot of power and be a fire hazard.

          Edit: Also just for clarification, I have an atom laptop and it can't output 1080p through its nvidia card's HDMI port properly anyway as its laggy, it also can't handle HD flash video and I have a feeling it would have issues with certain videos because it requires GPU acceleration to play anything useful. I do wonder if your computer would be up to my expectations for the cost anyway.

  • gbh on 26/03/2012 - 12:27

    anyone had any luck price matching today at a Sydney OW?

  • Oliver on 26/03/2012 - 12:28

    Better prices in older thread: http://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/61947

  • VictorPaul on 26/03/2012 - 12:44

    anyone priced match in melbourne?

    • jobski on 26/03/2012 - 14:51

      I want to know this to. Will any of the HN, JB Hifi and OW in the CBD price match this using the photo?

      • VictorPaul on 26/03/2012 - 15:10

        JB & OW in CBD won't price match - price match receipt has to be same day (less than 6hours) unless competitor website still shows receipt price.

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