What is Digg?Sponsored by Gilt Man
It's a Gilt Man's world view!
giltman.com - Get gear and gadgets at up to 70% off. Shop like a guy, dress like a man. You're invited.
75 Comments
- backwardscompat, on 10/15/2009, -1/+22Wow, I've wanted something like this for ages
- VermiciousKnid, on 10/15/2009, -0/+13how do u download hardware?
- icepick314, on 10/15/2009, -1/+9i've been using Popcorn Hour for a year....
before that modded Xbox and XMBC.... - thejynxed, on 10/15/2009, -0/+8Also - wireless streaming isn't as reliable as a cable connection.
I'll take reliable wired over dropped-packet/lost connection wireless any day. - geoken, on 10/15/2009, -0/+7Depends, do you mean an Xbox 360 on it's own or a 360 supported by a PC running some media server and pegging it's CPU while it struggles to live-transcode some HD content?
If it's the former, it plays a ton more video formats. If it's the latter, it relieves you from needing your media server to be live transcoding content (a big deal if your media server is a PC that someone is actually using at the time). - inactive, on 10/15/2009, -1/+8Not cost 250-300$ Oh and its MUCH smaller than the Xbox360.
- jerrycan, on 10/15/2009, -0/+6Plays more codecs. Cheaper. It lack RROD. Tiny. Silent. User firmware upgradable. Plays off of SMB shares
- arthursk, on 10/15/2009, -0/+6im sick of converting mkvs and isos to play on my xbox... anyone know when this is coming out?
- jerrycan, on 10/15/2009, -0/+5I WAS WAITING FOR ETHERNET CONNECTIVITY ON THIS THING! THANK YOU WD.
- Parastie, on 10/15/2009, -0/+5Yeah, it's called VLC.
- geoken, on 10/15/2009, -1/+6"If you use windows media player with codec packs to view videos, you're a complete noob."
So what does it make you if you couldn't even get that far? - willski, on 10/15/2009, -0/+5Kind of. The 360 can stream basic MP4s with main profile H.264 encodes. It chokes on files >4GB though, and won't work if 5.1 audio is embedded in those files.
- Bleue, on 10/15/2009, -1/+5Cheaper, plays more formats and most importantly it is quiet. Also this does not have a 70% failure rate.
I've always been amused by the notion of buying an xbox360 for use as a media extender since anyone who seriously considers this has obviously never used one. Jet engines belong in the airport, not the living room. - rkthoadan, on 10/15/2009, -0/+4I think it's out, but not widely available. Best Buy shows it backordered. Amazon has it for pre-order but several Amazon affiliates are showing it in-stock.
- fleischkopf, on 10/15/2009, -5/+9Is there anywhere I can download this?
- realmike15, on 10/15/2009, -0/+4WD is great company, they're not trying to rip you off like Apple does with Apple TV and all it's restrictions. Personally i'm going to build a HTPC for the versatility, but this thing is great for anyone on a budget. My HTPC will however be full of WD HD's... hello storage.
- theonlywizdum, on 10/15/2009, -0/+4The fact that this thing moves enough air to fly a small plane, yet still has massive overheating problems, is a testament to its willingness to die.
- bjs74, on 10/15/2009, -0/+4must have now!
- rkthoadan, on 10/15/2009, -0/+4According to the review over at CNet WD will be adding more Internet based features to the firmware in the future. I think I'll be getting one as soon as it has Netflix support.
link: http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-10367685-1.htm ... - SummerofGeorge, on 10/15/2009, -0/+4I've had this since it first came out and could not be happier with it
instead of lugging my laptop downstairs and connecting the hdmi cable, this pocket novel-sized player plays almost everything i've thrown at it - inactive, on 10/15/2009, -0/+3Exactly!
All it really needs to be wife proof, is an IR extender. Then it will be completely hidden, make no noise, and you can attach a USB hub and add multiple external drives (or stream via network).
People have been hacking the older WDTV for a while now, so it stands to reason that what features arnt on it now, will eventually show up in hacked firmware.
http://b-rad.cc/926/wdlxtv-enhanced-wdtv-firmware- ...
http://www.wdtvc.com/ - decker12, on 10/15/2009, -0/+3As stated by others, try the Popcorn Hour instead. Sure, it's more expensive, and it's geared more for tech heads, but that thing will play everything and anything, hell it'll even download torrents and NZB files for you. WDTV and this new WDTV Live are kind of a "Popcorn Hour Lite". I've bought WDTV and returned it a couple of days later after realizing what it can't do (but what the PCH can).
Popcorn Hour also has HDMI 3.1a which means you can output DTS-MA HD and Dolby TrueHD, which offers a significant audio improvement over regular Dolby Digital (assuming you already have a decent 5.1 or better home theater setup). - Fuzi, on 10/15/2009, -0/+3I have the first one ($99 at best buy) for several months and it's been great... this is the second wdtv and it finally supports decoding of dts so you can actually use it on tvs that don't have a receiver also network support!! The two biggest request for the original one.
It's no HTPC but it sure comes close if you just need playback with tons of files from the internet
Another alternative is the Popcorn hour which has more features (supports torrents , usenet) and also recently Asus O! Play. Check those out too. - Stumped, on 10/15/2009, -0/+3It does wireless just need a compatible usb wireless N adapter
- sexybobo, on 10/15/2009, -0/+3i am going to buy one of these to retire my xbox xbmc. I got my parents set up with one of the old wdtv's and they love it but i needed Ethernet before i could switch.
- CrimsonFlash, on 10/15/2009, -0/+3I've got the old version of this. To get ethernet support, I installed WDLXTV. You can get the custom firmware at http://b-rad.cc/wdlxtv
I might get this second one for my basement. Or keep it and sell my old one to my girlfriend. lol
Edit: Would the WDTV Live firmware work on the original WDTV? If so, maybe they could mix the WDTVL firmware with WDLXTV (for the ethernet support) and it would pretty much be the second generation. Or would some things be left out? Do you need hardware to decode DTS? - jerrycan, on 10/17/2009, -0/+2What actually uses the Real video/media codec. I can't remember anything (website or stuff I've downloaded) that actually use it.... Just wondering...
- eSentrik, on 10/15/2009, -0/+2Except Popcorn Hour is like 3x the price
- TheInformer, on 10/15/2009, -0/+2WDTV Live f*cks the RIAA!
- antdude, on 10/16/2009, -0/+2http://www.maximumpc.com/print/8412 for one print page (will prompt to print).
- lindenwold, on 10/15/2009, -0/+2i have one of these and the old version as well.
really the best bang for the buck out there . . . networking ability made it a no-brainer. - inactive, on 10/15/2009, -0/+2You can sorta do that now with the Xbox, PS3 or Wii. But you need a PC always on and the menus are about a fascinating as navigating an FTP site.
http://www.themediamall.com/playon/
40$ isnt quite worth it, but it will technically do what you want it to do. - geoken, on 10/15/2009, -0/+2As someone who would be using this over a wired connection, I'm glad the wireless functionality was kept optional.
- EvilMerodach, on 10/15/2009, -0/+2I can't tell you how pleased I've been with my PCH. It does everything as advertised and does it well. Even the wife is sold on it, which ain't an easy thing to do.
- tristanoneil, on 10/15/2009, -0/+2Yea, I use Play On my problem is my primary machine is a MacBook Pro and while I can reboot into Windows it's more of a hassle than I'd like it to be, on top of the $40 price tag. It'd be nice if there was a cross platform alternative or if the movie/tv industry got it's head out of its ass and just made this stuff easy.
- junkneo, on 10/15/2009, -1/+3Best Media Play Ever.
- EvilMerodach, on 10/15/2009, -0/+23X the price? The WD is $150 and the PCH A110 is $215. The PCH allows you to install a hard drive in the unit which allows you to run an ftp server and a bittorrent client in the unit.
However, if you want to spend even less, try the free PS3 MediaServer - http://code.google.com/p/ps3mediaserver/ . This will turn your PS3 or XBox360 into a VERY decent media player -- it even supports MKVs! Like the WD and PCH devices, this thing will play just about anything. - bacon_skoda, on 10/15/2009, -0/+1#1 being Hulu
- d0pes1ck, on 10/15/2009, -0/+1Holy *****, that's badass. Gonna cop.dat asap.
- elite666, on 10/15/2009, -1/+2lol ok, the 360 in the uk is only £120... and it plays all the Xvid I need it to from my PC + its a top of the range gaming console.. and as for size, does anyone actually care?
- sexybobo, on 10/15/2009, -0/+1the wdtv lets you run an ftp server and webserver is you use the hacked firmware.
- inactive, on 10/15/2009, -0/+1Or cough up 50$ for a Wireless Access Point, which will take any hard wired ethernet port and make it wireless.
Avoid the ones supporting WEP only. Wireless N devices should be cheap soon. - Yage2006, on 10/16/2009, -0/+1I owned one of these its the best one for the price. It is not perfect its far from it in fact.
If you want the "perfect" one that would be a PCH popcorn hour it has the same video chipset but is much more feature rich.
Even better is a HTPC running windows 7 media center with media browser plugin. Just try to beat that. - absurdist, on 10/15/2009, -0/+1Does anyone know if there is a hardware media player that can be set up to automatically loop a video on startup?
- explodingzebras, on 10/15/2009, -0/+1Try the Archos TV+ instead if you want hdd.
- k3nnyd, on 10/15/2009, -0/+1I'm fine with my Phillips DVD player with USB port for now. It only handles Divx/Xvid but that's fine with me. X264 HD video is 3x as large as Divx videos and I can already max Comcast's 250GB limit without downloading any HD content other than video streaming sites if that really counts. Maybe one day when their is less ISP competition and I can choose an alternative that knows how to build a network that can allow for uncapped bandwidth, I might buy a WDTV and enjoy lovely 720/1080p video all day!
- girldrinkdrunk, on 10/15/2009, -0/+1Can you make MP3 playlists on the fly?
- mobbo, on 10/15/2009, -0/+1If they had Netflix and Hulu capabilities I'd definitely buy one.
- ModernTenshi, on 10/15/2009, -0/+1Personally I would love if Sony and/or Microsoft added .MKV handling to their systems. Likely going to hook up one of my old tower PCs to my HDTV to handle that for the time being, but it would really rock if one of the systems I have connected already could just play them.
I think I may snag one of these in the next 6 months if neither of them add it, though. - osarhan, on 10/16/2009, -0/+1I'm torn between the two, the popcorn hours newest model seems to be having allot of 'issues', basically it appears from the NMT forum that it is trying to do an awful lot but having lots of issues.
-
Show 51 - 76 of 76 discussions
© Digg Inc. 2009
— Content created and posted by Digg users is