Reviews - Western Digital TV Live Gen 3 media player

[HEXUS]

The little box that could.

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[Nikumba]

Any screen shots of how media is presented when on local network in comparison to XBMC or the such?

[goldcd]

I picked one up a few months ago, to replace a functional, but annoying Sumvision (horrific UI and no firmware upgrades)
I love it to bits.
Has quite a few undocumented features (well they're documented in the very large pdf you can download, but not in the box - http://www.wdc.com/wdproducts/librar...779-705062.pdf). Has a built in DNLA server, so if you plug in an external HD, it'll stream media on this to other DNLA players, such as a second TV live. Also has built in webserver that serves up a 'virtual remote', so you can control it with a PC/phone without any apps.
With regards to the question above, it has a few optional file displays you can flip between. A 'cover-flow' style left to right, a vertical scroll and a nice 'grid' type display (from memory 12x3 grid of file names). What else... oh, it 'suspends' when you turn it on and off - i.e. assuming it's connected to the power, when you turn it on it wakes pretty much instantly, and displays the root of whatever media source you were connected to before. Might sound like a minor thing, but instantly being able to select stuff on my NAS, rather than waiting for bootup and 30 seconds of clicking through was worth the purchase to me alone.
Oh, and it can be setup to try to provide online info/pictures for your files - but it's a little bit hit or miss (this may be down to the strange file-names I seem to have on my rips though *ahem*)

[crossy]

Wish someone would do a box like this that allowed capture too, rather than just play capabilities. I've got a couple of recordings on my V+HD box that I'd like to backup/hold-onto if/when the V+HD fails (any day now).

Haven't got a spare laptop I can drag to the TV to capture which would have been the cheapest way to do it.

[miniyazz]

The box measures 125mm x 100mm x 30mm (WxDxH), making it smaller than three stacked CDs.

Just how thick are CDs these days

[dirky]

These do look pretty good, could be something for the inlaws / parents as a more simple solution to my epic xbmc setup

[Guppy]

Ive got the 2nd gen WDTV Live and its awesome, made even better with the custom WDLXTV firmware. Damn now I'm tempted to sell my current one and upgrade to this

[stavr0s2k3]

im almost sold, but can it do preview thumbnails/box art, and look stuff up on imdb from a widget?

[scottyman]

I bought one for travelling with (as it's really nice and compact) and works a treat. One weird inconsistency is that quite a few of the videos loaded from my ultra-speedy USB 3 stick don't load previews or codec information - but the same video loaded from an extrernal USB 2 HDD loads the preview and codec data. The iPhone remote works well, but if you are using it in the hotel room, enabling tethering to get the iPhone remote to work might not be the smartest idea when you accidentally go to Hulu and get an extra couple of meg of roaming charges (at 10NZD per meg of AT&T data it's a bit of a rip)

[JimmyBoy]

Its probably a really stupid question but I have no experience with media streamers like this, but could I attach a usb stick / self powered portable usb hdd to the usb port on the back and use this to watch mkv's etc? Will it play media locally? or can it only stream from a network? I noticed the review stated about attaching usb devices but I was hoping someone could clarify what I could play exactly? looking for something cheap and simple for the bedroom

would the usb port on the back be enough for a self powered 2.5" drive? As I keep a lot of media on a little drive I like to take to peoples houses etc

[rover214]

@ JimmyBoy

I think the answer to all of the questions you have asked is yes

I have a Gen.2 WDTV live and it plays every file type that has been tried on it, it does not have wifi like the gen.3 but, still streams over network via ethernet, usb on side and on back both power portable hard drives

[JimmyBoy]

@ JimmyBoy

I think the answer to all of the questions you have asked is yes

I have a Gen.2 WDTV live and it plays every file type that has been tried on it, it does not have wifi like the gen.3 but, still streams over network via ethernet, usb on side and on back both power portable hard drives

Thanx rover! I think I'll be getting one then

[JimmyBoy]

Got one of these in the end, have to say the interface is nice but the built in apps are pretty poor and slow, it's also a very clunky experience I have to say! Also no volume control on the remote?! What were WD thinking?! File playback has been great so far though which is what I primarily got it for so I won't grumble too much! Although I had hoped for the YouTube app to be better, it seems to crash back the systems main menu a lot and some videos will just buffer forever when I can be sitting in the same room watching the same video on my iphone. Can't say I'd recommend one if you were hoping to enjoy the whole experience, only get one if video playback from a network / usb stick is all you want / expect from the unit.

[technodean]

Been umming and arring whether or not to get one as I have 2 cyclone 2's around the house, which are great but the remotes suck. The interface looks great compared to the cyclone's. Quick search showed Scan to be the cheapest especially with free del.

[goldcd]

I got mine to replace a Cyclone. Cyclone just about worked, but never got any firmware updates and was 'ugly'.
If "You want something like a cyclone, but better", I cannot think of a better thing and one of the few things I have absolutely no regrets buying.
Some things people may wish to take note of - the apps are a bit of a mixed bag. They all seem to 'work' but if you're intending on these being the main source of media for the WD (rather than simple streaming) then you may want to check.
Other think (that didn't seem to be documented and I was unaware of when I bought it), is the thing runs it's own servers - e.g. you can connect on http and it gives you a little remote to click away at (and now noticed that there's an android app as well, that does similar).