WD TV Live HD £67.69 on Amazon

dubrov · 19-03-2011 10:14AM #1

I bought this as a present for someone and was so impressed with it decided to pick one up for myself

A great little media player that will pretty much play anything and can be used as a basic NAS. There is also some excellent custom firmware available.

The amazon price is by far the cheapest I have seen around

Rsaeire · 19-03-2011 10:22AM

Here is the link for anyone interested.

Voodu Child · 19-03-2011 11:43AM

Good price, it was normally about £79 on amazon.

CombatCow · 19-03-2011 01:28PM

Paid £80 for this before xmas from amazon. Fantastic little box and great bargain.

cianr · 19-03-2011 02:22PM

I have one of these-great gadget. Interesting you mention NAS and custom firmware-what kind of stuff could you do with it?

TheDoc · 19-03-2011 03:09PM

cianr wrote: »

I have one of these-great gadget. Interesting you mention NAS and custom firmware-what kind of stuff could you do with it?

Had a read about this myself cause I've been interested in a NAS so you can

Stream from a PC/Server, direct to your TV
Add many external drives
Activate a Web Server
Download torrents directly to the box, when additional storage is attached
Automatically download torrents on release
Control the Box and its storage remotely in your network through any pc
SSH into this box, to control the box from outside your network
Setup IRSSI functionality, to run things like IRC Chat, Gmail, torrent Q's and more, from any device with SSH funct
And probably a **** load more

dubrov · 19-03-2011 03:58PM

Look up the app transdroid as well. It lets you control the torrent client on the box using an android mobile phone.

cianr · 19-03-2011 05:14PM

dubrov wrote: »

Look up the app transdroid as well. It lets you control the torrent client on the box using an android mobile phone.

Know of a good client for a (jailbroken) iPhone?

Bruno Batista · 20-03-2011 04:02PM

Quick question since I'm a bit clueless.
I have an Iomega network drive currently hooked up to my router.
Will the WD be able to see it wirelessly or do I need some kind of USB wireless adapter?

Also, does it read MKVs or just AVIs?
(looked on the website but couldn't see it, could only had a quick browse as I'm in work!)

Oops, found it!

File Formats Supported
Video - AVI (Xvid, AVC, MPEG1/2/4), MPG/MPEG, VOB, MKV (h.264, x.264, AVC, MPEG1/2/4, VC-1), TS/TP/M2T (MPEG1/2/4, AVC, VC-1), MP4/MOV (MPEG4, h.264), M2TS, WMV9, FLV (h.264)
Photo - JPEG, GIF, TIF/TIFF, BMP, PNG
Audio - MP3, WAV/PCM/LPCM, WMA, AAC, FLAC, MKA, AIF/AIFF, OGG, Dolby Digital, DTS
Playlist - PLS, M3U, WPL
Subtitle - SRT, ASS, SSA, SUB, SMI

soundsham · 20-03-2011 04:40PM

Sorry to be a thicko when it comes to technology
But in simple terms what does it do
I watch movies through my computer via hdmi connection what difference would this make ?

nulabert · 20-03-2011 04:47PM

Sorry to be a thicko when it comes to tethnology
But in simple terms what does it do
I watch movies through my computer via hdmi connection what difference would this make ?

This box connects to your TV. You then attach memory sticks or external drives to the box and watch the stored files on your TV.

If you use the LAN connection or a wireless network adaptor, you can see the harddrive on your home network as a network drive. The box can also see other computers on the network so if you have files on your computer, the box can see them and stream them from your computer to the TV.

soundsham · 20-03-2011 04:52PM

Thank you
so basically it replaces what I use my computer for

Voodu Child · 20-03-2011 05:42PM

Bruno Batista wrote: »

Quick question since I'm a bit clueless.
I have an Iomega network drive currently hooked up to my router.
Will the WD be able to see it wirelessly or do I need some kind of USB wireless adapter?

It doesnt have wifi built in, so you would need a USB wireless adaptor. You can't just use any one either, it must be one that is on their supported list.

Note that in general wireless speeds aren't great. Depending on your wifi network and the bitrate of your movies you may not be able to stream them smoothly.

20-03-2011 05:48PM

I bought a basic WDHD TV several years ago and I couldn't be more pleased with it.
Apart from the fact it's network compatible do you think there is any real point in me upgrading to the live? (any difference in quality for example )

Nemanja91 · 20-03-2011 05:48PM

Would this be pointless if I already have my films saved to Mac or ps3?

Basq · 20-03-2011 05:50PM

Nemanja91 wrote: »

Would this be pointless if I already have my films saved to Mac or ps3?

Do you mind watching them in front of your computer? If not, then no.

As for PS3.. it can't play HD stuff like MKV's I think. But other than that, it's fine.

But if, like me, you enjoy watching them on a large telly in front of the fire.. then this is a cracking device.

I have the original WDTV, and I use it every single day. It's fantastic!

BArra · 20-03-2011 06:20PM

how does it weigh up against a boxee box?

im planning on picking up a 2TB NAS, pair of homeplugs and a media player for my projector in living room

cant decide on any of them though

Sneachta · 20-03-2011 09:38PM

Thanks to OP.

This looks good and need something like it.
Will buy this week unless someone else has a better recommendation

yabadabado · 20-03-2011 09:52PM

Basq wrote: »

Do you mind watching them in front of your computer? If not, then no.

As for PS3.. it can't play HD stuff like MKV's I think. But other than that, it's fine.

I think there is a programme for converting MKV's so they are playable on the PS3.
I have used the original WD player and its a good job.

TestTransmission · 20-03-2011 09:56PM

yabadabado wrote: »

I think there is a programme for converting MKV's so they are playable on the PS3.
I have used the original WD player and its a good job.

mkv2vob

nulabert · 20-03-2011 10:04PM

Thank you
so basically it replaces what I use my computer for

Its handy instead of booting up a PC every time you want to watch a film. This box also has a Youtube, facebook, flicker, deezer app built in.

I got this Targa wireless keyboard in Lidl a while back and pluged it in to and it works perfectly for browsing youtube.

smartblaa · 20-03-2011 10:13PM

can someone who has this box report back on what the mp3 music browsing and playback is like on it?

I have a netgear media box at the moment, and it only shows about 6/7 songs at a time while browsing folders.. and it only plays them in alphabetical order! :mad:

would defo make the move to this box if it presented the mp3s better than my current set-up

cheers lads

banchang · 20-03-2011 11:27PM

nulabert wrote: »

I got this Targa wireless keyboard in Lidl a while back and pluged it in to and it works perfectly for browsing youtube.

Good idea - will get one of these. I just searched ebay for wireless mini keyboard & found them at ridiculously low prices.

banchang · 20-03-2011 11:33PM

WD TV is good, but the latest model, the WD TV Live Hub, is better - I got one of these a week ago, & its the business

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Live-Hub-Media-Center-1TB/dp/B00466IEXE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1300663761&sr=8-1

1 TB hard drive, which enables you to store all your media on the unit, & eliminate the need for streaming (which of course you can still do).

Highly recommend, for the extra money.

EI111 · 20-03-2011 11:45PM

my external hard drive is formatted for mac, would this work?

yabadabado · 21-03-2011 01:24AM

TestTransmission wrote: »

mkv2vob

Thats the one ,I have it on the PC but was posting from my phone.

long_b · 21-03-2011 07:23AM

Can these yokes share files from a USB via Samba ?

tman · 21-03-2011 07:41AM

What're they like with subtitles?
My PS3 can play MKV files thanks to windows media server, but doesn't seem to pick up the embedded subtitles.

Would be tempted to pick it up along with a 1TB USB powered drive

M00lers · 21-03-2011 08:08AM

Subtitles work very well. Great little box, very handy to have plugged into your TV and home network.

cianr · 21-03-2011 09:08AM

Been using it with subtitles recently and it works very well-I've been watching Avi files and then getting the corresponding subtitle Srt files from www.EngSub.net (I think it is)-so long as the files have the same name and are in the same folder then you can select the subtitles on/off-works very well.

iggy · 21-03-2011 11:30AM

banchang wrote: »

WD TV is good, but the latest model, the WD TV Live Hub, is better - I got one of these a week ago, & its the business

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Live-Hub-Media-Center-1TB/dp/B00466IEXE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1300663761&sr=8-1

1 TB hard drive, which enables you to store all your media on the unit, & eliminate the need for streaming (which of course you can still do).

Highly recommend, for the extra money.

I got one of these at Xmas but only starting to get into using it.
Do u use the network share and it is possible to have file info on the hub so u can see info on the movie that is stored on the hub?

I'm awaiting a replacement from WD as mine decided to freeze

Sneachta · 22-03-2011 09:35PM

went to buy one just now but price has gone up to £79.99 seemed like a good price before

vibe666 · 23-03-2011 11:32AM

if you are on a tight budget and you don't need network connectivity and just want to play from a usb drive, the sumvision cyclone is a great buy on amazon at under £17 if you play mostly just divx's, but the newer sumvision cyclone 2 for under £31 (again, amazon) plays just about any format you are likely to throw at it.

no good for me with a centralised media collection, but for anyone with just a bunch of files on a usb drive they're perfect and come pretty highly recommended as a budget player over at AVforums.

Sneachta · 23-03-2011 09:18PM

Will check it out thanks vibe666

vibe666 · 23-03-2011 10:05PM

Sneachta wrote: »

Will check it out thanks vibe666

i came across it whilst looking for a media player with nas functionality so i can upload stuff from my nas here at home in navan to her in the UK.

didn't find exactly what i was looking for, but as a budget option it might be a runner if i can periodically get her to plug the usb drive into her laptop so i can upload to it via that.

budget and simplicity are everything for a pensioner with zero computer knowledge.

fergiesfolly · 25-04-2011 10:09PM

I had to update the firmware on this recently and now it won't play any files.
Anyone else come across this problem.

WD TV Live HD £67.69 on Amazon

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