Western Digital TV HD Media Player 1080p - €100 delivered [Expansys]

Voodu Child

That Asus thing looks class, should be a good alternative to the WD. Excellent price, apparently better picture quality and faster menus, plus it has network support. However, these devices succeed or fail depending on manufacturer support (firmware updates/fixes, including requested features etc) and Asus are very crappy in that regard. At least WD put out a near-monthly firmware update. So I would wait for reviews before buying.

As regards the hard-drive stand, WD are bringing out new 750GB and 1TB Passport drives soon, and they will be slightly thicker than the current ones, so i'd say they stopped including the stand simply because the passport drives are no longer 'standard' dimensions. They'd have people complaining that the new drives didn't fit the stand.

Actually, my old passport drive didn't even fit the stand, it was a different shape to the current one. So I wouldn't be whinging too much that it's not included anymore; meh, its just a piece of plastic.

KeRbDoG

What about the Xtreamer as an alternative? - http://www.xtreamer.net/

beanhead

HDX1000 - which I think is slighly better designed than the popcorn hour A110 (the newer popcorn) is back on ibbod today at 10euros less than last time

madmoe

Just read this today about the WD HDTV 2 lads - http://www.engadget.com/2009/08/16/wd-tv-2-spruces-up-western-digitals-already-attractive-media-pl/

I only bought my WD HDTV a few weeks back!!

Voodu Child

madmoe wrote: »

Just read this today about the WD HDTV 2 lads - http://www.engadget.com/2009/08/16/wd-tv-2-spruces-up-western-digitals-already-attractive-media-pl/

I only bought my WD HDTV a few weeks back!!

There's always something better around the corner, but for €90 the original one is still a bargain. The new one will likely be a little more expensive, probably in the €120-130 region.

madmoe

True mate.

EKRIUQ

Just for anyone else looking for one, elara have them at €93 + €8 postage, plenty in stock and next day delivery.

coldfire1x

EKRIUQ wrote: »

Just for anyone else looking for one, elara have them at €93 + €8 postage, plenty in stock and next day delivery.

Komplett now has them again for €89 - and you can collect to save on postage.

WEST

basquille wrote: »

Got mine today.. is the business alright!

Have it hooked up using HDMI and optical out to my 5.1 sound system. Looks and sounds the biz!

Have the 1.02.10_B-RAD.CC_WDLXTV-0.5.5 firmware on it.

All that's left is..

Anyone have alternative for a Mac? Have an XP PC too but a Mac one would be handy.

Hi basquille,
I'm thinking of using WDLXTV firmware with laurent G's OSD mod so I can view the movie sheets created by beanian's great app:
http://wdtvforum.com/main/index.php?topic=1349.0

I remember using the WDTV (with the latest official Firmware) to view the move cover art but I found the browsing the movies very chucky and slow. In the end I set the view to 'list view'. This could be due to the fact that my move cover art was not set to the ideal resolution for the WDTV. Can you or anyone else share their experience of using the above mod combo with the movie sheets and cover art? If you have 100+ plus movies, is the browsing very slow etc?

Thanks in advance,

W.

glic83

cant wait for the wd hdtv 2,if the price is right could be the 1 to go for

builder22

kerbdog wrote: »

What about the Xtreamer as an alternative? - http://www.xtreamer.net/

Hey there,

Has anyone bought one of these, are they any good?

degsie

Lot of unhappy ppl on xtreamer forums regarding delayed delivery and noisy fans. Could be be biz when bugs are ironed out.

Neilw

Hi all,

I bought a ED TV a couple of weeks ago along with a 1tb WD HD, I'm having some problems with the unit

Whats happening is sound and picture tend to go out of sync sometimes. I was watching a 1 hr show, at the start the sound and picture were in sync but by the end of it there was about a 1 second difference.

Also the picture seems to be slightly jumpy at times, if there is a scene in a move where the camera is panning across a landscape it seems to pause for a split second. The pictre is not fluid if you catch my drift

Anyone seen thhese problems before, the unit has the latest firmware and is connected to my tv with a hdmi cable.

Thanks.

confuzed

Neilw wrote: »

Hi all,

I bought a ED TV a couple of weeks ago along with a 1tb WD HD, I'm having some problems with the unit

Whats happening is sound and picture tend to go out of sync sometimes. I was watching a 1 hr show, at the start the sound and picture were in sync but by the end of it there was about a 1 second difference.

Also the picture seems to be slightly jumpy at times, if there is a scene in a move where the camera is panning across a landscape it seems to pause for a split second. The pictre is not fluid if you catch my drift

Anyone seen thhese problems before, the unit has the latest firmware and is connected to my tv with a hdmi cable.

Thanks.

Are you sure this is not problem with downloaded print. Try running same print on comp. May be movie itself if out of synch.

FredH3as

confuzed wrote: »

Are you sure this is not problem with downloaded print. Try running same print on comp. May be movie itself if out of synch.

Neilw

FredH3as wrote: »

Yep

Why would the start of a movie me in sequence and start to go out of sequence as it plays. A 1hr file was about 1.5 seconds out of sync by the end.

BArra

what he meant im guessing was the file was of poor quality, something to do with the way it was encoded and it ended up going out of sync

and he wanted you to try and play it on ur laptop or your computer to see if it replicated the out of sync problem

try another file and see if the same problem persists

eamon234

I find if you rewind by a couple of seconds it usually goes back in line.
My DVD player here at home plays AVI's perfectly never goes out of sync but I found when I was in Spain last week my DVD player there which also has USB was constantly going out of sync.
The files in question were also on my iPhone and played perfectly.

Neilw

eamon234 wrote: »

I find if you rewind by a couple of seconds it usually goes back in line.
My DVD player here at home plays AVI's perfectly never goes out of sync but I found when I was in Spain last week my DVD player there which also has USB was constantly going out of sync.
The files in question were also on my iPhone and played perfectly.

Something else for me to try, thanks

madmoe

I have noticed with some AVI movies that when it is panning it can be jumpy but this was only on my Philips DVP 560 DVD player, I must check to see if the same thing happens using my WD HDTV. I have a 1TB Western Digital Elements hooked up to it. What type of 1 TB drive did you buy mate?

Cheers,
M

465

I am seriously thinking about getting one of these.
I have a number of BBRIPS that I think that would look nice,but the image is generally 1280x544,so I am wondering if this will play them?

The nfo for them does say mediaplayers and mentions the popcorn hour in particular but I'm still worried.

Voodu Child

465 wrote: »

I am seriously thinking about getting one of these.
I have a number of BBRIPS that I think that would look nice,but the image is generally 1280x544,so I am wondering if this will play them?

The nfo for them does say mediaplayers and mentions the popcorn hour in particular but I'm still worried.

720p (ie 1280x) H.264 is a walk in the park for the WD TV.

1080p (1920x) is a little more challenging for it, especially with very high bitrates or extreme numbers of ref-frames etc. But everything I have plays.

coldfire1x

Looks like the new WD Media Player will soon be available in Komplett.

http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.aspx?sku=493316

Its now called: WD TV™ Live Media Player

madmoe

This looks savage - http://www.engadgethd.com/2009/06/16/popcornhours-latest-c200-media-box-is-blu-ray-and-anything-else/

Its being release in America today apparently, wonder when over here? Anyone getting it when it comes out?

Edit: Another linky here - http://www.engadget.com/2009/08/26/popcorn-hour-c-200-launch-nearly-upon-us-preorders-start-tomorr/#continued

Jesus Wept

coldfire1x wrote: »

Looks like the new WD Media Player will soon be available in Komplett.

http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.aspx?sku=493316

Its now called: WD TV™ Live Media Player

Is it worth waiting for this one instead?


Pretty clueless here, few silly questions:

Why is the WD TV preferred here over other players that have their own storage?

I have a maxtor external hard drive, does the WD accept any external hard drive? (I ask because a lot of people are mentioning the WD Passport in conjunction.)


Some people have mentioned formatting and updates, do I need to do anything with this before I use it??

torrid

It does accept any External Hard-Drive\USB Stick etc. Just looks nicer with the WD passprt as has similar styling...

voxpop

You can use any external usb harddisk or a usb memory stick - the reason ppl are mentioning the passport is because it is powered from the usb - i.e no extra plugs

Voodu Child

The-Rigger wrote: »

Why is the WD TV preferred here over other players that have their own storage?

-Price. Its only €90 right now.

-Formats. Especially x264 in a mkv container. If you just want to play ancient Xvid/DivX videos though, you might be just as happy with one of the cheaper alternatives.

Voodu Child

Voodu Child wrote: »

If you just want to play ancient Xvid/DivX videos though, you might be just as happy with one of the cheaper alternatives.

Yeah I was wondering what all the fuss what about too but I suppose the clue to its selling point is in its name: WD HD. I still just watch xvids so XBMC does just fine. All you guys must be on superfast connections with huge download caps to be getting all this HD ****.

madmoe

madmoe wrote: »

I have noticed with some AVI movies that when it is panning it can be jumpy but this was only on my Philips DVP 560 DVD player, I must check to see if the same thing happens using my WD HDTV. I have a 1TB Western Digital Elements hooked up to it. What type of 1 TB drive did you buy mate?

Cheers,
M

Anyone had this issue as well?

v240gltse

I have noticed that dependent on the make of ¬Memory stick i use the out-of-sync will either not be present or drift in and out .


haven't got around to naming and shaming yet but over the weekend i hope to do some more work identifying the good and bad ones.

hth

brendan

eamon234 wrote: »

I find if you rewind by a couple of seconds it usually goes back in line.
My DVD player here at home plays AVI's perfectly never goes out of sync but I found when I was in Spain last week my DVD player there which also has USB was constantly going out of sync.
The files in question were also on my iPhone and played perfectly.

Basq

Anyone whose files are going out-of-sync, are you using a USB 1.1 or USB 2.0 hard drive / memory stick?

Could be a problem with buffering if it's a USB 1.1 device.

465

Just about to order mine.
Can anyone recommend where to get a good HDMI cable?
The ones on Komplete seem a bit pricey.

coldfire1x

I got this one:

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.24546

Decent price. Until you get this, there's a av cable included with the player.

paddydriver

465 wrote: »

Just about to order mine.
Can anyone recommend where to get a good HDMI cable?
The ones on Komplete seem a bit pricey.

Get the cheapest you can find - the dealextreme ^ does the trick. I have a few. Don't want to open the whole HDMI cable debate - but unless you are going over 10M then the €100 is no better than the €4 one, and this has been proven time and again in many indy tests:D

nitromaster

Finally got enough disposable money to spend on this :pac: (I am an unemployed student like )
Now to debate whether to wait for the new one...or buy now...hmm...could just buy a MyPassport drive for now...and start filling it up with content.:)

465

Just ordered a cheap HDMI cable, thanks.

I forgot to ask guys, I will be ordering a wd hdd do I also need to get a USB
cable or does one come with the drive?

coldfire1x

^^ It will come with the drive, you dont need to buy the USB cable

Jesus Wept

coldfire1x wrote: »

Looks like the new WD Media Player will soon be available in Komplett.

http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.aspx?sku=493316

Its now called: WD TV™ Live Media Player

Can anyone tell if there much difference between this and the current one?

jamesd

"The major updates include DTS decoding (the original WD TV only allows passthrough of DTS audio) and an ethernet port for streaming from network drives. A component output has been added, which should improve picture quality for those using compatible SD displays."

http://electric-echoes.blogspot.com/2009/08/wd-tv-2.html

Jesus Wept

WD TV™ HD Media Player seems slightly cheaper on dabs.ie

€84.16 on dabs.ie + 12.66 An Post delivery
€89.00 on komplett + 12.50 An Post delivery

http://www.dabs.ie/products/western-digital-wd-tv-hd-media-player-5DJW.html

Vic Vinegar

The-Rigger wrote: »

WD TV™ HD Media Player seems slightly cheaper on dabs.ie

€84.16 on dabs.ie + 12.66 An Post delivery
€89.00 on komplett + 12.50 An Post delivery

http://www.dabs.ie/products/western-digital-wd-tv-hd-media-player-5DJW.html

You can get it from Amazon.co.uk for €95 delivered!

banchang

basquille wrote: »

Just bought a supported WiFi dongle for it on Ebay for €10.

With the addition of network support, a bit-torrent client, Rapidshare downloads, a Web Interface, DVD-ROM playback and CIFS/SAMBA/Windows Shares or NFS (all with a custom firmware) - this is kicking the Popcorn Hour's ass at half the price!

Basq

Got the dongle too, but how does it work ? Any links to how to set this up ?

Also don't understand all you have said in 2nd pgh, but what are they, & how do I set them up too ??

EKRIUQ

banchang wrote: »

Basq

Got the dongle too, but how does it work ? Any links to how to set this up ?

Also don't understand all you have said in 2nd pgh, but what are they, & how do I set them up too ??

I bought that dongle too and it doesn't do anything, it installs and thats it no recognition. I tried to work out how to make it compatible but it seems a long process and only works for the very few.

corkproducers

The-Rigger wrote: »

WD TV™ HD Media Player seems slightly cheaper on dabs.ie

€84.16 on dabs.ie + 12.66 An Post delivery
€89.00 on komplett + 12.50 An Post delivery

http://www.dabs.ie/products/western-digital-wd-tv-hd-media-player-5DJW.html

I ordered it from dabs.ie along with an exrernal hd,
and the shipping was 12.66 with UPS, not with Anpost?

Its being shipped from England too apparently, i definitely used dabs.ie and not dabs.com.

Basq

Instructions here on getting the dongle working.

It's a trial and error process... stuff like whether your USB key that you stored the net.config and app on is formatted correctly, and whether you wireless router uses WEP / WPA-PSK matters.

Haven't had much time to even try it... but if I can get it working, I'll use the dongle with my Dell Hybrid.

looperman1000

Has anyone played around with the firmware much?
http://b-rad.cc/wdlxtv
http://www.wdtvc.com/tutorials/#char_41

looperman1000

what id love to get working on the wdtv device is an app showing you what kind of a rating a film gets, a brief synopsis on the film, maybe cast and a film poster too. anyone got anything working like this on the device.

Basq

looperman1000 wrote: »

what id love to get working on the wdtv device is an app showing you what kind of a rating a film gets, a brief synopsis on the film, maybe cast and a film poster too. anyone got anything working like this on the device.

TViXiE?

JAMM222

anyone know where the cheapest place is to get the wdtv 2? and when it will be available dont think komplett will have it until :mad:10/10/09