This is the new Western Digital HD Live player. Major improvements from last year's model. Large codec support and much improved menu interface. Fast bootup time! Network streaming and dual USB ports.
I have the original WD HD media player. Isn't there a way I can hack a network port to mine?
Not sure about that but this streams 1080P content through the network no problem. I had the last gen Popcorn Hour and this is a little quicker and for much less.
joefla70
Member
posted: Nov. 2, 2009 @ 1:53p
g0dMAn, I have the original and the one and I've been trying to figure out the same thing. I know that custom (non-WD) firmware was made to make the old WDTV network enabled with an ethernet adapter. However, I was wondering if you could use the firmware from the WDTV Live and put it on the old WDTV and use it with a network adapter.
joefla70 said: g0dMAn, I have the original and the one and I've been trying to figure out the same thing. I know that custom (non-WD) firmware was made to make the old WDTV network enabled with an ethernet adapter. However, I was wondering if you could use the firmware from the WDTV Live and put it on the old WDTV and use it with a network adapter. Found the link, fellas: http://wiki.wdtv.org/doku.php
Hopefully I can get this to work or I'm going to have to buy this new one and sell my original (which I have barely used!) The reason I've barely used mine is I always have to transfer movies from my HTPC to my flash drive. I use the media player in the bedroom for my smaller 32" HDTV.
BB just can't keep this hot player in stock, online or in-store. It pays though to keep checking as units keep popping up locally. They've hiked the in-store price $10 - now $149.95, so definitely buy online. They may pricematch, but the coupon is not valid with discounts, so it may not go as they actually seem to be noticing the T&C these days, at least around here.
personally I would buy the CinemaTube It has better remote, faster response overall better unit. A little cheaper in price too. 104.99 free shipping to CinemaTube link
click CinemaTube specifications tab just under price follow link above
shingletingle
Senior Member - 1K
posted: Nov. 2, 2009 @ 2:21p
Will this play blu-ray iso's and bitstream HD audio codecs (Dolby TrueHD, DTS HD MA)?
knov87 said: lambo881 said: Should add YMMV to title.
It's $149.99 in-store. They can price match to web price, but they may or may not let you apply 10% coupon afterwards.
Even IF they let you use the 10% coupon, you still have to pay tax (~9% tax in CA)
I just bought one on Amazon Link for $119.99 + a nickle more for a 6ft HDMI cable Oops! Spoke too soon. It says ship in 1 to 2 months. I think I'd cancel it
shingletingle
Senior Member - 1K
posted: Nov. 2, 2009 @ 3:09p
aztecsurf said: shingletingle said: Will this play blu-ray iso's and bitstream HD audio codecs (Dolby TrueHD, DTS HD MA)?
It will bitstream TrueHD but will only play DTS core from the DTS-MA now. Hopefully DTS-MA will also be fixed in a future update.
Yes it will play BR ISO's but no menu support (yet). Also said to be corrected in the next firmware upgrade.
If that's the case nobody will be buying this thing. Once (if) they do make these corrections, then everyone will be buying it.
shingletingle said: aztecsurf said: shingletingle said: Will this play blu-ray iso's and bitstream HD audio codecs (Dolby TrueHD, DTS HD MA)?
It will bitstream TrueHD but will only play DTS core from the DTS-MA now. Hopefully DTS-MA will also be fixed in a future update.
Yes it will play BR ISO's but no menu support (yet). Also said to be corrected in the next firmware upgrade.
If that's the case nobody will be buying this thing. Once (if) they do make these corrections, then everyone will be buying it.
Until then, NO SALE from me.
Although I agree that having full BR ISO menu support would be great right now, most people who buy this device wont be rushing out and ripping BR ISO's. Not only are you talking about a HUGE amount of data being used per movie, but also added expense in other hardware to do so.
Also at this price point how many players on the market support full BR ISO?
I have earlier WD with hacked firmware and Network. It is little tough and getting NFS to mount is heck lot tougher. Streaming is very slow. Don't count on networking if you have not tried a remote NAS speed test. Video freezes and it gives the expression that player is hanging.
aztecsurf said: shingletingle said: aztecsurf said: shingletingle said: Will this play blu-ray iso's and bitstream HD audio codecs (Dolby TrueHD, DTS HD MA)?
It will bitstream TrueHD but will only play DTS core from the DTS-MA now. Hopefully DTS-MA will also be fixed in a future update.
Yes it will play BR ISO's but no menu support (yet). Also said to be corrected in the next firmware upgrade.
If that's the case nobody will be buying this thing. Once (if) they do make these corrections, then everyone will be buying it.
Until then, NO SALE from me.
Although I agree that having full BR ISO menu support would be great right now, most people who buy this device wont be rushing out and ripping BR ISO's. Not only are you talking about a HUGE amount of data being used per movie, but also added expense in other hardware to do so.
Also at this price point how many players on the market support full BR ISO?
I took a printout of Amazon's price for this, ordered it online at BB for $127.49 in store pickup (only store that had it in stock was 25 miles away!), took the 10-12% BB discount (posted elsewhere @ FW). I decided to browse the store to look at the product first and found 1 tucked away behind the old WD TV model. Since they did not have any price/area for the new WD TV Live and it rang up as $149, I asked for a price match with BB online price ($119) which they agreed to. I inquired about this being stocked under the $99 sign and if I could use the 10% coupon, the sales person (in BB Networking area) said he do a pricing fix for $99. So that + tax was better and I called to cancel the online order (funny thing is they cannot cancel an instore pickup order @ customer service nor online, you have to call an 1-888 # to do that!).
I can confidently say after the 4 wire (power, HDMI, USB & LAN) hook up, it instantly was usable out of the box. I could watch YouTube videos, it saw my Network shares (prompts for user name & pwd) and allowed me to play back WMV, DVD Rips (VOB's), Mp4's off both my USB external HD and PC running XP. From XP I could browse to the USB HD using the WDLIVE workgroup, copy stuff to it while it was playing.
riznick said: Does it support regular dvd menus? I believe not. While playing a folder of VOB files which included Menu's, it starts playing from the first VOB (largest I would guess), even if you select a different VOB from the same folder it would prompt to resume playback, but you can fast forward to the other VOB titles.
DaRam said: riznick said: Does it support regular dvd menus? I believe not. While playing a folder of VOB files which included Menu's, it starts playing from the first VOB (largest I would guess), even if you select a different VOB from the same folder it would prompt to resume playback, but you can fast forward to the other VOB titles.
It shouldnt matter, but that is really the only thing holding me back...
I've had this now for a few weeks. It works OK but has an issue playing back files off of wired (or wireless) network shares. seems to do OK playing back from a streaming source.
It does playback DVR-MS files fine, but not Windows 7 WTV files. W7 can convert WTV to DVR-MS but it's an extra step.
davneil said: I have earlier WD with hacked firmware and Network. It is little tough and getting NFS to mount is heck lot tougher. Streaming is very slow. Don't count on networking if you have not tried a remote NAS speed test. Video freezes and it gives the expression that player is hanging.
I'm running the original with a hacked network and I don't have any issues that you mention. I'm running Cifs, NFS, and Upnp shares from a wired connection. Only 1080p do I get some stuttering via the network, but I have a fewer lower bitrate 1080p mkvs (under 10Mbps) that run fine.
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