Western Digital WD TV Play Media Player

H

HardOCP News

[H] News
Joined
Dec 31, 1969
Messages
0
Legit Reviews has the Western Digital WD TV Play media player in house today for a little review action. At just under seventy bucks, the reviewer seems to think this would be a nice addition to your living room.

This week, Western Digital has released the WD TV Play Media Player. This player is continues Western Digital’s established tradition of providing quality set-top boxes to those looking to get the best out of their home theater. Priced at $69.99 shipped, the WD TV Play is designed to be a very versatile box that streams tons of internet channels, but can also play your personal multimedia that is housed on your network.
Click to expand...
 
I tried multiple Western Digital products over the years. I am done with them. I have not had a single item from them that I was happy with. I will stick with the Rokus that we have.
 
No DTS playback and the only access to network files is DLNA. Would pass this one up, spend the few extra bucks and get the better player.
 
I would rather not add another set-top box to the system. I have yet to see ANY device from ANYONE that can out-perform an actual computer connected to my tv and to my network. So, screw this. The last WD device I tried couldn't even manage to hold it's IP. With a computer, I see no point in Roku. None of these things are worth the money.
 
I've owned at least 8 or 9 media streamers like this and by far the WD Theater Live Gen2 is the best ever. Firmware updates are common ( fixes / improvements and additions to channels ) and it plays every avi / img and mkv I throw at it.

I could simply not imagine my setup without my WD box.

Avoid the play. New, used and refurbs are about the same cost, or less on eBay.
 
Still loving my WD Live TV Plus with B-Rad's custom firmware. I wouldn't hesitate to purchase another WD media player.
 
Had a WD TV Live SMP for a while but it is a love/hate affair since some of the problems are a bit annoying, such as not properly displaying episode numbers in folder view (have to edit the database file to correct), iplayer pause issues and early ending of programs plus the latest firmware suddenly stopped various films from working in network shares.
 
I'm sick and tired of so called media streaming or playback features on modern hardware. I have a new Panasonic DMP-BDT220EB Blu-ray player which can play MKV's using Samba or DLNA, and both ways result in stuttering while playing large 1080p mkv's, even on a wired connection. My network is Gigabit, and my NAS is capable of 76 MBps (Synology DS109+). My Playstation 3 plays these files fine BTW.

All I want is a small box that can access my NAS and play Blu-ray ISO's and high quality 1080p MKV encodes that's compatible with DTS and Dolby HD.

Anyone know of a good and easy to use box that will do that?
 
Ya I am researching these boxes to try and cut the cable bill. I'm stuck between this and Boxee.
 
prndll said:
I would rather not add another set-top box to the system. I have yet to see ANY device from ANYONE that can out-perform an actual computer connected to my tv and to my network. So, screw this. The last WD device I tried couldn't even manage to hold it's IP. With a computer, I see no point in Roku. None of these things are worth the money.
Click to expand...

Same, I tried a few, didn't care for them.
 
I've had a bunch of WDTVs and they've all been awesome. I currently have the WDTV Live Hub and love it. Never had an issue.
 
Yes, I know it's "older" but we have the WDTV Live Hub also and it's AWESOME. It plays 1080p mkv content locally on its own HD or over the netowrk. Netflix 5.1 support, hulu.
 
My WDTV Live is "okay" - UI is terrible, playback for large 1080p MKV's is slow to respond and I have had to setup a Tversity share on my computer just to get it to play right. Trying to play network shared MKV's outright from the WDTV results in a stuttery mess. It should not be this hard.

I would avoid any WDTV products in the future. Tech support is terrible at best. Support is downright confrontational at worst. Every firmware update seems to break more than it fixes as well.
 
Stimpy88 said:
I'm sick and tired of so called media streaming or playback features on modern hardware. I have a new Panasonic DMP-BDT220EB Blu-ray player which can play MKV's using Samba or DLNA, and both ways result in stuttering while playing large 1080p mkv's, even on a wired connection. My network is Gigabit, and my NAS is capable of 76 MBps (Synology DS109+). My Playstation 3 plays these files fine BTW.

All I want is a small box that can access my NAS and play Blu-ray ISO's and high quality 1080p MKV encodes that's compatible with DTS and Dolby HD.

Anyone know of a good and easy to use box that will do that?
Click to expand...

You have the same exact concerns as I do. I have yet to find a product that exists that isn't a HTPC solution.

I just want to turn on a set top box and play a few of my MKV's with DD/DTS. I don't want to logon to my computer, use my mouse and keyboard to do a few clicks. Just want it to work.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top