Western Digital WD TV HD 1080P Media Player

by Western Digital

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 3.9 x 4.9 x 1.6 inches ; 10.7 ounces
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B002USAIYS
• Item model number: WDBABF0000NBK-NESN
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (104 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank:
  • #94 in Electronics > Computers & Add-Ons > Networking Products > Digital Media Devices

Product Description

From the Manufacturer

WD TV HD Media Player - Turn your USB drive into an HD media player. You've collected photos, videos and music but they're stuck on your PC. Set them free! Play Full-HD 1080p movies, digital music and family photos in brilliant 1080p resolution on your big screen HD TV.

Full-HD 1080p resolution. Experience spectacular Full-HD video and crystal-clear DTS 2.0 digital audio.	Enjoy your media instantly. Plays most popular file formats so you can instantly enjoy your favorite media on your TV.	Collect without limits. Turn your USB drive into an HD media player. There's no limit to the size of your media collection. Just add more drives.

Simple and compact. Designed to easily fit on or in your media cabinet.(My Passport™ portable drive sold separately)

Browse through your media with beautiful high-definition menus.

Turn your USB drive into a Full-HD media player.

Play content from most popular USB drives, and digital cameras, camcorders, and portable media players. Optimized for My Passport portable hard drives.

Full-HD 1080p video playback - Experience spectacular Full-HD video picture quality and crystal-clear DTS 2.0 digital audio.

Easy on-screen interface - Use the included remote control to navigate through your entertainment choices using our crisp, animated HD menus.

Play a wide variety of file formats - Plays most popular file formats so you can instantly enjoy your media.

Collect without limits - There's no limit to the size of your media collection; just add more USB drives for more space.

Transfer files easily - Picture Transfer Protocol (PTP) lets you view or backup photos and video directly from your digital camera, camcorder or USB drive. Use the on-screen menus to copy, move or delete files.

Automatic play - Set the player to play a selected media file automatically when the unit is turned on. Perfect for living art on your HD TV or for digital signage.

Advanced navigation

Thumbnail, list and video previews – Browse your content by file name or by thumbnails of photos, album covers and movie cover art. Preview videos while you browse your content.

Media Library – This unique feature lets you view all your media by media type in one menu regardless of its location in folders or drives. You can view your content by categories such as genre, album, artist and date.

Search – Search by genre, title, artist, filename and partial filename.

Photo viewing

--Create custom slide shows with a variety of transitions and background music
--Zoom and pan
--Search by filename, partial filename, most recently viewed and date

Movie viewing

--Fast forward, rewind, pause, zoom, and pan
--View subtitles
--Search by filename, partial filename, most recently viewed and date

Music playback

--Fast forward, rewind, pause, shuffle, repeat
--Search by filename, partial filename, most recently viewed and date

Access two USB drives simultaneously - Two USB ports on the player let you connect two USB storage devices and access them simultaneously for playback and file management. Our Media Library feature aggregates the content on both drives into one list sorted by media type.

HDMI 1.3 and composite video connections - The High-Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) version 1.3 port lets you connect to the highest quality HDTV or home theater. Additional composite (RCA) outputs ensure compatibility with virtually all television sets.

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

Photo: JPEG, GIF, 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

Note:
-- MPEG2 MP@HL up to 1920x1080p24, 1920x1080i30 or 1280x720p60 resolution.
-- MPEG4.2 ASP@L5 up to 1280x720p30 resolution and no support for global motion compensation.
-- WMV9/VC-1 MP@HL up to 1280x720p60 or 1920x1080p24 resolution. VC-1 AP@L3 up to 1920x1080i30, 1920x1080p24 or 1280x720p60 resolution.
-- H.264 BP@L3 up to 720x480p30 or 720x576p25 resolution.
-- H.264 MP@L4.1 and HP@4.1 up to 1920x1080p24, 1920x1080i30, or 1280x720p60 resolution.
-- An audio receiver is required for multi-channel surround sound digital output.
-- Compressed RGB JPEG formats only and progressive JPEG up to 2048x2048.
-- Single layer TIFF files only.
-- Uncompressed BMP only.
For details, please refer to the user manual.

Formats not supported -- Does not support protected premium content such as movies or music from the iTunes® Store, Cinema Now, Movielink®, Amazon Unbox™, and Vongo®

Languages supported -- User Interface: English, French, Italian, German, Spanish, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Russian, Portuguese
Subtitle: English, French, Italian, German, Spanish, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Greek, Russian (KOI8-R & Windows 1251), Portuguese, Central European, Turkish, Bahasa

External Drive Formats Supported -- FAT32, NTFS, HFS+

System Requirements: WD's My Passport portable hard drive or other USB storage device with supported video, photo, or audio content stored on it. Television with HDMI, composite or component video connection.

Package Contents: HD Media Player, compact remote with batteries, composite AV cable, CD with sample media, AC adapter, Quick Install Guide.

Product Description

WD TV HD Media Player turns your My Passport, or similar USB drive, into an HD media player. Supports Full-HD 1080p video playback and navigation of a wide variety of file types. Simply plug in your drive to the HD media player. No need to delete movies to make room for more; simply add another USB drive to expand your collection.

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Customer Reviews

104 Reviews 5 star:  (53) 4 star:  (18) 3 star:  (11) 2 star:  (8) 1 star:  (14)           Average Customer Review 3.8 out of 5 stars (104 customer reviews)		Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews 64 of 70 people found the following review helpful: 5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding Device for the money!, December 22, 2009 By  LoveMyToys (Long Island, NY) - See all my reviews Amazon Verified Purchase This review is from: Western Digital WD TV HD 1080P Media Player (Electronics) I purchased the WDTV Media Player (version 2) through Amazon two weeks ago. I have an extensive collection of movies and tv shows that I have ripped from my blurays and dvds over the past few years, plus downloads etc (over 2.8 gigs worth and counting). I built a HTPC 1.5 years ago and always hoped there would be a simple, inexpensive solution that would allow me to easily transfer my media to the TV without constantly playing with settings to the point where my wife is getting up from the couch out of boredom. Along came the WDTV Media Player, the best solution for someone like me. I have tried as hard as I can to dig up a format (H.264, X.264, .mkv, .flac, .omg etc.) or problem to throw at this device to muck it up and I have yet to succeed. It has even been able to playback halfway decompressed files. I have it hooked up by HDMI through a Pioneer 819 AVR and set to bitstream audio codecs. I have had none of the audio syncing issues that were prevalent in the first generation machines. The user interface is attractive and intuitive. If you are use to using a HD set top box from your cable company and a PVR/DVR, this is basically the same functionality. Set up takes minutes and playback is beautiful. Unlike an previous reviewer, I have found that playback on standard definition content to be excellent. It upscales as well as any high quality dvd/bluray player. For HD playback, playback is just as good as bluray--without and time lag between pressing play and start time. As with any device, it has its flaws-although they are minor in the scheme of things. First, it will not play menus from ripped DVD's and blurays (only the largest file in the rip, i.e. the movie). The WDTV does have its own menu that allows you to change audio tracks and subtitles on the fly. Unless the chapters are ripped and formatted correctly, you cannot skip to the next chapter. This sounds like a bigger problem than it is. This can be rectified by ripping with better quality software. If you downloaded your movie with bit torrent, you get what you pay for with your "free"/stolen content. Even using content without the ability to skip chapters, fast forward and reverse work quicker than on my panny bluray player and I am able to fast forward up 16x speed and the devise allows you to skip ahead in 30 second intervals (just enough to allow you to jump ahead of commercials from video capture off your cable box). Other minor gripes: They are not able to bitstream lossless sound codecs (TrueHD and DTS-HD MA). Frankly, this is minor and most people will be happy with Dolby Digital and DTS (which the WDTV v2 and Live can send by bitstream over the HDMI capable--a feature lacking in the first gen WDTV). I have been told by people familiar with the Sigma 3365 processor that firmware may allow it to bitstream TrueHD, although probably not DTS-HDMA). We'll have to wait an see. I have seen the Asus, Seagate and Popcorn C-110 and, they all have their pro's and con's. Dollar for dollar, the WDTV (v2) or WDTV Live (for an extra $20) are the best media players on the market. I give this three thumbs up and my strongest recommendation. Update: 12/29/09 I picked up an WD HD Live at one of the big chain electric stores over the weekend to see if it was worth the extra few dollars. Pandora internet radio is a nice feature and I think the Live has a lot of "potential". There are some problems though. To test the machine, I tried to set up with a wireless dongle (g--i don't have a wireless n dogggle although I am not sure it would make much differenec). I also used a direct ethernet connection (obviously the best way to set it up). First, HD streaming from a network harddrive was disappointing. Although 720P playback was usually not bad through ethernet. It did stutter and lose audio sync from time to time. If I paused playback to allow the WDTV LIve to rebuffer (or HDD drive--I am not entirely sure which devise had the issue), it seemed to fix the problem for a while. Using the dongle, playback about the same as with the ethernet. To be clear, some files played back without a hitch and others were far more problematic. The same files played perfectly on both the WD TV Live and WD TV (v2) when connected directly to a USB HDD. With respect to 1080P playback, there were some significant hiccups. Using the network, playback stuttered badly on more than half of the files played. It appeared that the machine was dropping frames and lost audio sync. This was more prevalent when playing back large files (17 gig archived BD movies for example). Smaller 1080P files (8-12G) played about as well as 720P--some played perfectly and others with only minor issues. all files, however, played without issue using a direct usb harddrive. In my bedroom I am using an LG BD player that already has netflix, YouTube and pandora. The WD does not handle netflix, and the other services are redundant (Pandora is nice, but, frankly, YouTube is a pain to use with all of these systems). In conclusion, the WDTV Live and WDTV (v2)have the same capabilities when used as stand alone devices connected to USB harddrives. Although I didn't mention this earlier, streaming SD content from a network was no problem with the Live. HD streaming capabilities were suspect, particularly with large files. As a caveat, other more sophisticated videophiles may have the time and computing power to convert larger HD files into smaller formats that will stream better. The thought of using handbrake to downsize my entire collection is not something I have any intention of doing. The WD TV LIve is a great first start. With some more firmware updates, it may be a better network streamer, but I think network streaming for 1080P is still a generation or two away from prime time. 42 of 51 people found the following review helpful: 2.0 out of 5 stars Great for high-def but poor upscaling for standard-def, December 2, 2009 By  Martin Schejtman (Argentina) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)    This review is from: Western Digital WD TV HD 1080P Media Player (Electronics) This review is about WD TV Live and WD TV generation 2 (featured on this page), which share the same hardware minus the network capabilities. I bought this unit recently, after having bought WD TV generation 1 a few weeks ago. There was a significant improvement in user interface, plus the capability to copy/move files between media and to play DTS audio over a stereo or HDMI output (on WD TV gen1 DTS won't decode, it only outputs it in digital mode through the optical output). Besides occasional problems with audio sync, the unit operates beautifully for high definition video. However, for standard definition video, which needs to be upscaled by the device to play on most LCD or plasma TVs, the picture quality is quite worse than that of the WD TV generation 1. The picture is grainier, with very noticeable artefacts. This is super annoying for me and a great disappointment for a device that otherwise would be ideal. WD has not addressed the matter and has not replied to queries about it. I hope this is solved in future firmware upgrades, because the device is otherwise excellent. I've seen this issue addressed in many user forums, there's no clear explanation for the phenomenon, hopefully WD will address it. Meanwhile, I'm returning my unit. 14 of 17 people found the following review helpful: 1.0 out of 5 stars A little too rough around the edges..., April 18, 2010 By  nijaju - See all my reviews This review is from: Western Digital WD TV HD 1080P Media Player (Electronics) I've now owned the Gen1 and Gen2 of this product. Gen2 is quite a bit faster for loading and navigating menus which makes it nice. They've released one firmware update but I don't think it fixed any of the many bugs and may have even introduced some. With the Gen1, I don't remember having audio/video sync problems like I experience now. This makes many of the movies I have completely unwatchable. I'm not talking millisecond differences, I'm talking 3 to 5 seconds for some movies. Sometimes more. There are workarounds for many, but not all, problems you'll experience if you own or plan on purchasing one of these. Many of the workarounds can be found on WD's community forum. If it wasn't riddled with so many bugs for so long, I would give it 2 or even 3 more stars but WD seems to have lost interest with device. Why didn't I give it more stars?? - Does not meet USB and HDMI mechanical specifications. Since this is the case, who knows about well the meet the electrical specs. (workaround - Some people trim 1 to 2 mm off the ends of the cable to resolve issues) - Problems with audio/video sync (workaround - I wish there was one. Sometimes stopping the movie and resuming playback works, but mostly it doesn't.) - Certain sized USB devices work when updating to new firmware, others do not. This is not documented so your guess as to what sizes work are as good as mine. (workaround - For updating, only use FAT32 formatted drives of less than 256MB and you should be fine) - While the power is on, if I plug in a USB drive, the first time I go to that drive, the WD hangs for about 1 or 2 whole minutes without any sign of doing anything. (workaround - Turn off the WDTV, plug in the drive, turn on the WDTV. This takes less time.) - The file manager (used to move files and whatnot) hides files with certain extensions. Unfortunately, it hides files with the .srt extension which contains subtitles for a given movie. (workaround - take the drive(s) to the PC and move the file) - Sometimes when I select a movie to play, it'll start playing the audio but not the video. This requires the box to be powered off and then on sometimes unplug and plug back in even because it stops responding to the remote. (workaround - After power cycle, try again.) This is only a smattering of the fun you'll have if you decide to buy one. In a nutshell, many bugs, slightly fewer workarounds, and even less support from WD.		Most Recent Customer Reviews 5.0 out of 5 stars Works great!! This product was in perfect working condition when received!! Thanks so much for providing me with a top notch media player!! Published 1 month ago by Sunlover1966 3.0 out of 5 stars I got a great deal for this used but... I thought for the money this thing costs that it would play my movies on my harddrive. It played the video part (.mkv) but it didn't support ac3 audio. Read more Published 1 month ago by P. Williford 5.0 out of 5 stars Solid Product - If you know what you are doing I just recently purchased my second one of these and I say that while there was a learning curve (more below), this box performs admirably. Read more Published 1 month ago by Gregory C. Schmidt 4.0 out of 5 stars WD media player. Plays everything i threw at it so far. But i cant seem to get to upgrade the firmware. Want to get the newer model. Published 4 months ago by Stingray316 5.0 out of 5 stars Runs great No frills. Runs right out of the box and it's cheap as hell. Why didn't someone tell me about this sooner? Published 7 months ago by racquetrepair 5.0 out of 5 stars WD DOES IT AGAIN! Amazing product! Easy to set up and use. Was seriously plug and play... and the HDMI port gives my photos and videos an extrodinary 1080i display! Read more Published 7 months ago by V3SUVIUS 5.0 out of 5 stars Pretty good I like this. Love the customizable folders etc so you can be pretty creative with it. Plays all my unprotected video and audio formats. Read more Published 7 months ago by Snakebitten 4.0 out of 5 stars Glad I bought it Got this Media Player to attach it to a 2 TB drive with over 800 movies. Works great and no problem with any of the different formats of the videos. Read more Published 10 months ago by Charlie 5.0 out of 5 stars Great gadget!! I love the media player!! now it's only a matter of sticking a drive to it and choose a movie to watch, I wish I had bought it sooner, anyway, great item, totally recommended!! Published 10 months ago by C. Britez 5.0 out of 5 stars Great! This device is great! It has played every single file format that I've thrown at it, except for WMV. But who wants to watch a WMV on a big screen anyways?! Read more Published 10 months ago by Derek Bain Search Customer Reviews Only search this product's reviews

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Tags Customers Associate with This Product  (What's this?) Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people. Check the boxes next to the tags you consider relevant or enter your own tags in the field below.  media player(41) multimedia drive with hdmi(17) 1080p(15) mkv(15) hdmi(12) multmedia hard drive(11) divx(8) jpg(8) xvid(8) high definition(2) Agree with these tags? See all 20 tags... Your tags: Add your first tag

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Customer Discussions

This product's forum Discussion Replies Latest Post AC Power adapter for Media Player. 1 May 21, 2011 Questions regarding audio playback and external HDD compatibility. 2 Jan 5, 2011 How many GB or TB? 1 Dec 8, 2010 Does anyone know how to play rm or rmvb files with WD HD Media Player? 0 Oct 2, 2010 Network Support 1 May 13, 2010 wdbabf0000nbk vs wdavn00bn 16 Mar 4, 2010 › See all 6 discussions...   Start a new discussion Topic: First post: Receive e-mail when new posts are made Prompts for sign-in   Guidelines Search Customer Discussions Only search this product's forum

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Full-HD 1080p resolution. Experience spectacular Full-HD video and crystal-clear DTS 2.0 digital audio.	Enjoy your media instantly. Plays most popular file formats so you can instantly enjoy your favorite media on your TV.	Collect without limits. Turn your USB drive into an HD media player. There's no limit to the size of your media collection. Just add more drives.

Simple and compact. Designed to easily fit on or in your media cabinet.(My Passport™ portable drive sold separately)

Browse through your media with beautiful high-definition menus.

Turn your USB drive into a Full-HD media player.

Play content from most popular USB drives, and digital cameras, camcorders, and portable media players. Optimized for My Passport portable hard drives.

Full-HD 1080p video playback - Experience spectacular Full-HD video picture quality and crystal-clear DTS 2.0 digital audio.

Easy on-screen interface - Use the included remote control to navigate through your entertainment choices using our crisp, animated HD menus.

Play a wide variety of file formats - Plays most popular file formats so you can instantly enjoy your media.

Collect without limits - There's no limit to the size of your media collection; just add more USB drives for more space.

Transfer files easily - Picture Transfer Protocol (PTP) lets you view or backup photos and video directly from your digital camera, camcorder or USB drive. Use the on-screen menus to copy, move or delete files.

Automatic play - Set the player to play a selected media file automatically when the unit is turned on. Perfect for living art on your HD TV or for digital signage.

Advanced navigation

Thumbnail, list and video previews – Browse your content by file name or by thumbnails of photos, album covers and movie cover art. Preview videos while you browse your content.

Media Library – This unique feature lets you view all your media by media type in one menu regardless of its location in folders or drives. You can view your content by categories such as genre, album, artist and date.

Search – Search by genre, title, artist, filename and partial filename.

Photo viewing

--Create custom slide shows with a variety of transitions and background music
--Zoom and pan
--Search by filename, partial filename, most recently viewed and date

Movie viewing

--Fast forward, rewind, pause, zoom, and pan
--View subtitles
--Search by filename, partial filename, most recently viewed and date

Music playback

--Fast forward, rewind, pause, shuffle, repeat
--Search by filename, partial filename, most recently viewed and date

Access two USB drives simultaneously - Two USB ports on the player let you connect two USB storage devices and access them simultaneously for playback and file management. Our Media Library feature aggregates the content on both drives into one list sorted by media type.

HDMI 1.3 and composite video connections - The High-Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) version 1.3 port lets you connect to the highest quality HDTV or home theater. Additional composite (RCA) outputs ensure compatibility with virtually all television sets.

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

Photo: JPEG, GIF, 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

Note:
-- MPEG2 MP@HL up to 1920x1080p24, 1920x1080i30 or 1280x720p60 resolution.
-- MPEG4.2 ASP@L5 up to 1280x720p30 resolution and no support for global motion compensation.
-- WMV9/VC-1 MP@HL up to 1280x720p60 or 1920x1080p24 resolution. VC-1 AP@L3 up to 1920x1080i30, 1920x1080p24 or 1280x720p60 resolution.
-- H.264 BP@L3 up to 720x480p30 or 720x576p25 resolution.
-- H.264 MP@L4.1 and HP@4.1 up to 1920x1080p24, 1920x1080i30, or 1280x720p60 resolution.
-- An audio receiver is required for multi-channel surround sound digital output.
-- Compressed RGB JPEG formats only and progressive JPEG up to 2048x2048.
-- Single layer TIFF files only.
-- Uncompressed BMP only.
For details, please refer to the user manual.

Formats not supported -- Does not support protected premium content such as movies or music from the iTunes® Store, Cinema Now, Movielink®, Amazon Unbox™, and Vongo®

Languages supported -- User Interface: English, French, Italian, German, Spanish, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Russian, Portuguese
Subtitle: English, French, Italian, German, Spanish, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Greek, Russian (KOI8-R & Windows 1251), Portuguese, Central European, Turkish, Bahasa

External Drive Formats Supported -- FAT32, NTFS, HFS+

System Requirements: WD's My Passport portable hard drive or other USB storage device with supported video, photo, or audio content stored on it. Television with HDMI, composite or component video connection.

Package Contents: HD Media Player, compact remote with batteries, composite AV cable, CD with sample media, AC adapter, Quick Install Guide.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

64 of 70 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding Device for the money!, December 22, 2009

By 

LoveMyToys (Long Island, NY) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Western Digital WD TV HD 1080P Media Player (Electronics)

I purchased the WDTV Media Player (version 2) through Amazon two weeks ago. I have an extensive collection of movies and tv shows that I have ripped from my blurays and dvds over the past few years, plus downloads etc (over 2.8 gigs worth and counting). I built a HTPC 1.5 years ago and always hoped there would be a simple, inexpensive solution that would allow me to easily transfer my media to the TV without constantly playing with settings to the point where my wife is getting up from the couch out of boredom.

Along came the WDTV Media Player, the best solution for someone like me. I have tried as hard as I can to dig up a format (H.264, X.264, .mkv, .flac, .omg etc.) or problem to throw at this device to muck it up and I have yet to succeed. It has even been able to playback halfway decompressed files. I have it hooked up by HDMI through a Pioneer 819 AVR and set to bitstream audio codecs. I have had none of the audio syncing issues that were prevalent in the first generation machines. The user interface is attractive and intuitive. If you are use to using a HD set top box from your cable company and a PVR/DVR, this is basically the same functionality. Set up takes minutes and playback is beautiful. Unlike an previous reviewer, I have found that playback on standard definition content to be excellent. It upscales as well as any high quality dvd/bluray player. For HD playback, playback is just as good as bluray--without and time lag between pressing play and start time.

As with any device, it has its flaws-although they are minor in the scheme of things. First, it will not play menus from ripped DVD's and blurays (only the largest file in the rip, i.e. the movie). The WDTV does have its own menu that allows you to change audio tracks and subtitles on the fly. Unless the chapters are ripped and formatted correctly, you cannot skip to the next chapter. This sounds like a bigger problem than it is. This can be rectified by ripping with better quality software. If you downloaded your movie with bit torrent, you get what you pay for with your "free"/stolen content. Even using content without the ability to skip chapters, fast forward and reverse work quicker than on my panny bluray player and I am able to fast forward up 16x speed and the devise allows you to skip ahead in 30 second intervals (just enough to allow you to jump ahead of commercials from video capture off your cable box).

Other minor gripes: They are not able to bitstream lossless sound codecs (TrueHD and DTS-HD MA). Frankly, this is minor and most people will be happy with Dolby Digital and DTS (which the WDTV v2 and Live can send by bitstream over the HDMI capable--a feature lacking in the first gen WDTV). I have been told by people familiar with the Sigma 3365 processor that firmware may allow it to bitstream TrueHD, although probably not DTS-HDMA). We'll have to wait an see.

I have seen the Asus, Seagate and Popcorn C-110 and, they all have their pro's and con's. Dollar for dollar, the WDTV (v2) or WDTV Live (for an extra $20) are the best media players on the market. I give this three thumbs up and my strongest recommendation.

Update: 12/29/09 I picked up an WD HD Live at one of the big chain electric stores over the weekend to see if it was worth the extra few dollars. Pandora internet radio is a nice feature and I think the Live has a lot of "potential". There are some problems though. To test the machine, I tried to set up with a wireless dongle (g--i don't have a wireless n dogggle although I am not sure it would make much differenec). I also used a direct ethernet connection (obviously the best way to set it up).

First, HD streaming from a network harddrive was disappointing. Although 720P playback was usually not bad through ethernet. It did stutter and lose audio sync from time to time. If I paused playback to allow the WDTV LIve to rebuffer (or HDD drive--I am not entirely sure which devise had the issue), it seemed to fix the problem for a while. Using the dongle, playback about the same as with the ethernet. To be clear, some files played back without a hitch and others were far more problematic. The same files played perfectly on both the WD TV Live and WD TV (v2) when connected directly to a USB HDD.

With respect to 1080P playback, there were some significant hiccups. Using the network, playback stuttered badly on more than half of the files played. It appeared that the machine was dropping frames and lost audio sync. This was more prevalent when playing back large files (17 gig archived BD movies for example). Smaller 1080P files (8-12G) played about as well as 720P--some played perfectly and others with only minor issues. all files, however, played without issue using a direct usb harddrive. In my bedroom I am using an LG BD player that already has netflix, YouTube and pandora. The WD does not handle netflix, and the other services are redundant (Pandora is nice, but, frankly, YouTube is a pain to use with all of these systems).

In conclusion, the WDTV Live and WDTV (v2)have the same capabilities when used as stand alone devices connected to USB harddrives. Although I didn't mention this earlier, streaming SD content from a network was no problem with the Live. HD streaming capabilities were suspect, particularly with large files. As a caveat, other more sophisticated videophiles may have the time and computing power to convert larger HD files into smaller formats that will stream better. The thought of using handbrake to downsize my entire collection is not something I have any intention of doing. The WD TV LIve is a great first start. With some more firmware updates, it may be a better network streamer, but I think network streaming for 1080P is still a generation or two away from prime time.

42 of 51 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Great for high-def but poor upscaling for standard-def, December 2, 2009

By 

Martin Schejtman (Argentina) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Western Digital WD TV HD 1080P Media Player (Electronics)

This review is about WD TV Live and WD TV generation 2 (featured on this page), which share the same hardware minus the network capabilities.

I bought this unit recently, after having bought WD TV generation 1 a few weeks ago. There was a significant improvement in user interface, plus the capability to copy/move files between media and to play DTS audio over a stereo or HDMI output (on WD TV gen1 DTS won't decode, it only outputs it in digital mode through the optical output).

Besides occasional problems with audio sync, the unit operates beautifully for high definition video. However, for standard definition video, which needs to be upscaled by the device to play on most LCD or plasma TVs, the picture quality is quite worse than that of the WD TV generation 1. The picture is grainier, with very noticeable artefacts. This is super annoying for me and a great disappointment for a device that otherwise would be ideal.

WD has not addressed the matter and has not replied to queries about it. I hope this is solved in future firmware upgrades, because the device is otherwise excellent.

I've seen this issue addressed in many user forums, there's no clear explanation for the phenomenon, hopefully WD will address it.

Meanwhile, I'm returning my unit.

14 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars A little too rough around the edges..., April 18, 2010

By 

nijaju - See all my reviews

This review is from: Western Digital WD TV HD 1080P Media Player (Electronics)

I've now owned the Gen1 and Gen2 of this product. Gen2 is quite a bit faster for loading and navigating menus which makes it nice. They've released one firmware update but I don't think it fixed any of the many bugs and may have even introduced some.

With the Gen1, I don't remember having audio/video sync problems like I experience now. This makes many of the movies I have completely unwatchable. I'm not talking millisecond differences, I'm talking 3 to 5 seconds for some movies. Sometimes more.

There are workarounds for many, but not all, problems you'll experience if you own or plan on purchasing one of these. Many of the workarounds can be found on WD's community forum. If it wasn't riddled with so many bugs for so long, I would give it 2 or even 3 more stars but WD seems to have lost interest with device.

Why didn't I give it more stars??
- Does not meet USB and HDMI mechanical specifications. Since this is the case, who knows about well the meet the electrical specs. (workaround - Some people trim 1 to 2 mm off the ends of the cable to resolve issues)
- Problems with audio/video sync (workaround - I wish there was one. Sometimes stopping the movie and resuming playback works, but mostly it doesn't.)
- Certain sized USB devices work when updating to new firmware, others do not. This is not documented so your guess as to what sizes work are as good as mine. (workaround - For updating, only use FAT32 formatted drives of less than 256MB and you should be fine)
- While the power is on, if I plug in a USB drive, the first time I go to that drive, the WD hangs for about 1 or 2 whole minutes without any sign of doing anything. (workaround - Turn off the WDTV, plug in the drive, turn on the WDTV. This takes less time.)
- The file manager (used to move files and whatnot) hides files with certain extensions. Unfortunately, it hides files with the .srt extension which contains subtitles for a given movie. (workaround - take the drive(s) to the PC and move the file)
- Sometimes when I select a movie to play, it'll start playing the audio but not the video. This requires the box to be powered off and then on sometimes unplug and plug back in even because it stops responding to the remote. (workaround - After power cycle, try again.)

This is only a smattering of the fun you'll have if you decide to buy one. In a nutshell, many bugs, slightly fewer workarounds, and even less support from WD.