WD TV Live Plus 1080p HD Media Player

lol... so many of these reviews are entertaining to me.In this review, I'm only gonna discuss things that others have not. I've been using WD's since they first came out. I own 2 Gen 1's, 2 Gen 2's, and a "plus" version. They were SUPER buggy back then, infact, at one point they were upgrading the firmware almost every week! It is a fantastic little box but requires tons of patience. Every issue you read in these reviews, either there is a fix for, or the user doesn't quite know what they are doing. You will read about a lot of people having network issues but I can assure you it is because they don't really know how to network a device and are relying on DHCP to solve all their problems. Like it or not, networking is complicated. Between TCP/IP (subnetting), Netbios broadcasting, firewalls, wired vs wireless, rj45 connectors, DHCP, elecro mag interference around lighting and conduit, network conflicts, and ignorance, soooo much can go wrong and any one thing will halt your device. It takes a lot of knowledge and research to smoothly run "media servers" over a network and have them ALWAYS work but if you do things right, this box works flawlessly. The biggest complaint I would have about this box is that when you view a movie folder over the network, you will see ALL files in that folder instead of just video files, even if they are hidden files (this doesnt happen when the drives are usb'd into it or if you browse them through the media server option. Got a stable media server running off win 7 64bit but it was super unstable with XP and Vista, AND with the media server option it will not use your thumbnails but rather it will create its own thumbnail clips from the video. Furthermore, scrolling through the network share option seems speedy but scrolling through the media server option is super sluggish. Learn to use the search button and be advised that firmware update will allow you to use a usb keyboard). It kinda sux if you have 2000 movies in a folder including .sub files and thumbnails (some might think it won't play the movie when instead they are trying to play a thumbnail). On that note, let me say that some of the greatest features of this box is it's subtitle support. It supports multiple languages, lets you move the subtitles to any screen location, let's you change the size and font, let's you adjust the subtitle up to 20 sec forward or 20 secs back in the case that they don't fit (this happens alot when you dowload subtitles from web sites rather than create them yourself), and it has a subtitle interface that gives you more options than any other. My girlfriend is chinese and speaks little Eng so this is crucial! The only way for her to watch a movie with me is to rip it and download the chinese subtitles. WD is just what every foreigner needs!!! Anyway, This is a really great product no matter how you slice it. I have mine hooked to 2 local drives, each 2TB and full (now switched to two 3TB drives and working gr8). With this config, first thing you should know is it takes a LONG time for WD to build an index of the files and will act buggy untill it finishes, so... When you turn it on, wait 10 min before using it if you are an impatient person. If it appears to be frozen, it's not! Just wait it out and it will free up after 5 or 10 min. Remember, this little thing does ALOT and it takes time. ALSO, be aware that the device does not yet support 3TB drives, though I'm sure a firmware upgrade will fix that one day (fixed). I know there are others like me that were super PO'd about not having Netflix on older versions but it IS on this one and it works GREAT as expected.So, below i will just throw down some things people might want to know:For those of you that said your WD won't save movie stop points, I can guaruntee it's because the .WD folder that stores that info has become "read only" for some reason (or corrupt). Change that and you're back in biz! If all else fails, just delete the entire WD folder on a computer then plug it back into WD and let it rebuild.If your drive is FAT32, it will become buggier as the drive fills. NTFS is a much more stable file system. Folks like to keep it FAT32 so it works in their XBOX and PS3 but they just have to let that go at some point (usually the point where the drive crashes, which happened to my brother). FAT32 was originally designed for 32gig max and you should stick to that idea because there is a reason for it. Also, fat32 has a 4gb file size limit which means NO BLURAY FILES CAN GO ON IT (nor can the larger DVD's) unless you dumb them down and in the world of HIDEF TV's, you don't want to do that. For DVD's, the dif between an 800 res and 600 res is HIGHLY noticeable on a high def TV. Dumbing the bit rate down will also effect the noticeable quality of the video. Fat32 with a 2TB drive is HIGHLY slow, unstable, inefficient, and Microsoft says, "DON'T DO IT". FAT systems were invented at a time when it was unfathomable to have file sizes and hard drive sizes like we have today and that should be all I need to say. Furthermore, MS insists that you should leave 20% free on any hard drive or it will become unstable, not to mention that you can't defrag it once it goes below 15%.WD runs at it's heat capacity so can easily overheat when on top of a cable box or HD so keep it away from anything hot. When it over heats, it hangs.I find that rips work best as avi's using xvid with mp3 audio. If your vids don't fast forward and rewind smoothly or they hang up when you try, your format sux and you need something with less compression. The harder a device has to work to de-compress files, the less resources it has to manipulate them. avi with XVID and MP3 seems to play in everything... xbox360, ps3, samsung TV built in media player, media player for XP/Vista/Win 7It DOES support thumbnails if you simply give the file the same name (case sensitive). If you change a thumbnail but it doesn't update, just go into the \wd\thumbnail folder and delete the old one, then it will auto update the new one.A corrupt video will totally freak the wd out. If it just starts to act freaky as you're scrolling through the vid menu, there is a corrupt video prob causing it. In my experience, it only freaks when the corrupt video appears on the screen menu so it's kind of easy to weed it out.Also, if the WD freezes constantly, it will surely be a troubled network connection. If it senses the network connection going up and down constantly, it will use all its resources dealing with that. try to wiggle/jiggle the connection or change cables.This is a biggie... If setting up multiple WD's on a network with the intent to stream from each other, you MUST give each WD a unique name ie, WDTVLIVEPLUS1/WDTVLIVEPLUS2/etc... Each network device requires a unique name or can not be seen on the network.One thing about WD TV that totally confuses me is that when you plug the WD in, it turns on. Therefore, if your power goes off then back on, the WD will leave itself on. I wonder if that's the reason they tell you to unplug it if you're not gonna use it regularly.ok I'm tired now, I will continue on later. I could obviously right a book on this thing!UPDATE: On 5/12/11 they did a firmware update for the original WD and WD gen2 that now allows for 3TB drive support. V1.05 update is a must! But I'm told that if you do this update on the plus ver you will lose your netflix so be aware of that. My plus has not auto updated yet.Shawn Spector, MCT

WD TV Live PlusWestern Digital WD TV Live Plus HD Media Player WDBABX0000NBK-NESNI have been using the WD Live+ for several weeks now, and am ready to write a review.********* EDIT **********One BIG factor I forgot to mention about the WD. NO VOLUME CONTROL on the remote (nor is it a feature of the WD Live Plus at all).All volume must be controlled either by your TV or receiver remote, depending on how you connect it to your media center.I found this to be a particularly embarrassing issue when watching a 'video' at midnight and not being able to lower the volume quickly. :-)The Asus does have volume control, which can be lowered to a sufficient level BEFORE playing the video.In order for WD to enable this feature, they'll have to flash the firmware and completely rework the remote control, as there are no buttons for volume.</edit>UNBOXING:Included in the box -+ WD Live+ itself+ A/V Cables+ Power+ Install CD (why?)+ Instructions- No HDMI cable- No TOSLINK optical audio cableFIRST POWER ON:Once I had connected the power, network, HDMI, and TOSLINK cables (all 3 cables not included), I powered the unit on.It came up, in what I thought was a fairly long amount of time (compared with the Asus O!Play Air in the bedroom).The menu showed a new firmware update was found and asked if I wanted to install.Yes.Went through the firmware update and about 2 reboots.The reboots took slightly under 1 minute each - no change from the initial boot.Got another message about a firmware update.I looked at the current version and compared to the new one.Looks like the firmware updates are done in steps. No problem.Updated again, went through the reboots.About 15 minutes total for both firmware updates, now I'm ready to explore the menus.NETWORK:I tried to explore the network computer shares when it first booted, but it found none.Went to networking, which by default is set up for DHCP. Great - my router assigned an IP.There's an option to run through and verify various networking functions work. All green checks.Then I wonder why it didn't see my computers.Go back to the network, and now it picks up all of them, including the 'Media' share on the router.Tested again.-Power cycled WD Live+ unit-Went to network shares: Nothing.-Checked network settings - still getting green checks...Tested one more time.-Power cycled.-This time I waited about a minute before doing anything in the menus.-Now it sees the shares. Interesting.Apparently the user must wait ~45 seconds to boot, then another 45-60 before using the networking features of the WD Live Plus. Not a good sign.VIDEO PLAYBACK:After setting to 1080p, 60Hz, I queued up some videos.Tested MKV, DVD (on hdd), AVI (divx and xvid), MP4, and MPEG. All worked fine.Then I threw a MKV video with DTS audio. Nothing. Tried another - same issue.Note: Found that my TOSLINK cable wasn't properly connected. Now I have that going to the receiver and have sound through the receiver only - not the TV. The receiver has a center, so not a big deal... or is it?Now that the TOSLINK cable is going to the receiver and the HDMI to the TV, there's an audio sync issue.It's slight, but enough to notice that it's off.So I have to turn the TV volume all the way down to enjoy a video that is not DTS. Ok, not a good solution, but an acceptable work-around for now.In all, video playback handles all the 1080p you can throw at it. Even my dual core computer with a 9800GT lags a bit with some of them, so cudos to WD for using such a capable video chipset.AUDIO PLAYBACK:Audio has gotten to be such an easy thing lately. There are a lot of options available from various vendors.The WD Live Plus doesn't disappoint. It did 5.1 music with no issues. Even simulated 5.1 from a stereo mp3 file sounded decent, and was played through the surround speakers. Good job guys. Some audio players only played the stereo files through the front L/R speakers, so it's great this one handles the full surround.INTERNET APPS:Used several apps, including Pandora, Netflix, Mediafly, and a few others.The video on all apps is not 1080p, but you can't expect that yet. Maybe in the next 5 years.Netflix - After setting up account info, it logs you in automatically and takes you to the Instant Play videos. Navigating is just ok, since you use the arrows and OK buttons to look around. Down-side is no search function. Guys writing firmware - ADD A SEARCH FOR NETFLIX.Pandora - Entered account info, and it logged in quickly. Selected 'Quick Mix', and it started playing the channels I had previously set up on my PC. Sounds great, and an added bonus - NO COMMERCIALS (at this time).Another good feature of the Pandora app is the login screen. When first starting Pandora, it lists all the users that have previously been logged in. Select your profile, and you'll be listening to your music in seconds.MediaFly - Flipped through the various channels, watched a few videos. Some are interesting, others suck. Can't win them all. Otherwise, it looks like this pulls video off other websites and full-screens them on your TV. Good for NOT seeing all the ads from around the web.Youtube - Looks like Youtube. Videos are low quality, as you'd expect from the web. Only problem is, even though most videos give you a 480p or 720p option on the browser, there appears to be NO OPTION to increase the video resolution. This means you're watching the 320p (or even worse, 240p) video on your humongously humongous big screen TV. Can anyone say 'BLURRY'? That's one feature that should also be included in the next firmware revision.Another thing to mention about Youtube. It looks like content can be viewed, as long as there is no copyright on any of the material (audio track included). If it has a copyright, it doesn't show up in Youtube for the WD Live Plus. I guess they can't make their ad revenue if they did show it.Other apps are available, and I suggest checking them out. Depending on your tastes, you'll like some more than others.CONCLUSION:Comparing this to other players (Asus O!Play Air, Boxee Box), the $99 price point gives this a clear advantage over the $199 Boxee Box, and is on-par with the Asus (although Boxee has a great remote and does ship with HDMI in the box).Features on both the Asus and WD Live Plus are comparable, with the WD winning in the internet apps department.The Asus wins on boot time, network location, and some navigation (it has shortcuts you can configure).The WD Live Plus is worth $99, but it would be nice to see HDMI included by default. Who needs L/R audio cables anyway? This isn't a VCR connected to a CRT TV.Recommendation - Power on the WD Live Plus first, then your TV, then receiver, etc. It might be booted and have access to the network file shares.It's not a Boxee Box, but it's also $100 less. I can deal with a few minor navigation issues and have 2 for the price of one Boxee.BONUS:I read some of the firmware update notes, and apparently this supports USB keyboards.I connected my bluetooth USB adapter and tested. Works great! Any time you need to type, just click away instead of going through the mind-numbingly slow on-screen keyboard.