Western Digital - WD TV Live Media Player (WDTV2)

[christoofar]

Originally Posted by csgamer

This is the specs for the new 3.5" WD elements external drive.

Key Features

WD quality inside and out - Designed with the same commitment to quality that made WD external drives the number one drives in the world.

Plug-and-play simplicity - Just plug it into a USB port and you?re up and running instantly.

USB powered - These drives require no power adapter; they are powered directly through the USB cable.*

Compact design - Weighing in at only a few ounces, these small drives fit easily into a pocket or purse.

Preformatted for PCs - Designed for use with Windows-based computers. Can be easily reformatted for use with Macs.

* An optional cable is available for the few computers that limit power from the USB port.


Package Contents

* USB 2.0 portable hard drive
* USB cable
* Quick Install Guide


No mention of AC adapter in box.

If it meets the spec of the other USB powered drives in WD lineup, I don't see why it wouldn't work.
Suggestion: Plug your WD TVLive wall wart directly into a wall socket, versus an AC strip for maximum AC power feed. Sometimes the filters in those strip do strange things to low power adapters. You should be fine.
edit, per Guy's response above, I stand corrected

[daphatty]

I've read through every page in this thread (although I've skipped over the pissing and moaning) and haven't seen anyone mention Jumbo Frames. Has anyone tried enabling this functionality on their NAS/Server device? Is this something that can be enabled on the WDTV? Might be something to look into for those trying to stream uncompressed HD content.

[christoofar]

Originally Posted by kjgross

Same here. Worked fine.

Did anyone else run into the same issue posted earlier in this thread when using .jpg files named the same as the .iso/.mkv/etc file, the .jpg shows up twice (once for the image, once for the movie)? I can't seem to find anywhere to stop that behavior and have the .jpg just show up as the image for the movie. Wondering if that might need to be fixed in a firmware update?

By any chance do the "problem" files have apostrophes in their names?

[mbohupa]

The WDTV Live is available for pre-order on Amazon US!!!

[christoofar]

Originally Posted by dmeader

Well, I'm afraid that non-answer was the last straw.

I'm not willing to drop more money on a product with the risk that it might SOMEDAY meet my needs, nor wait around for updates on an existing product that may or may not come. I'm also not going to be a beta tester anymore since none of my feedback upstream is met by anything other than "I cannot comment" coming back down.

So long WD. My existing player goes to the kids room, and I've just ordered another product that has the functionality I want.

Just curious. Does the competing products' company you're buying from predict the future for you also?

[BobSalita]

Originally Posted by GuyWD

I'm sorry, but this is a mistake. That drive does require an AC adapter, as do all other 3.5" external drives. It should be corrected soon.

Not all:
http://www.amazon.com/Passport-Essen...5463234&sr=1-1

[csgamer]

Originally Posted by wagabond

I don't understand why people are hostile to the WD guys who happen to be in these forums and work within the limited mandate they might have been given.

If WD does not want to reveal the cards right now , you just wait and watch.

+1

The fact that they are even in these forums puts them above others in customer service. You guys work for seagate or something.

[csgamer]

Originally Posted by christoofar

If it meets the spec of the other USB powered drives in WD lineup, I don't see why it wouldn't work.
Suggestion: Plug your WD TVLive wall wart directly into a wall socket, versus an AC strip for maximum AC power feed. Sometimes the filters in those strip do strange things to low power adapters. You should be fine.

GuyWD said the specs on that 3.5" WD element was wrong.

Originally Posted by BobSalita

Not all:
http://www.amazon.com/Passport-Essen...5463234&sr=1-1

I believe this is a 2.5" drive.

[christoofar]

Originally Posted by tkpbrowns

The only problem for me is all of my videos are my bluray movies rippped to MKV with MAKEMKV and are 20-30GB each. My router is on the other side of the house and streaming over wireless is unwatchable (at least with my PS3 and WDTV HD 1). I have even tried powerline adapters and it still had lots of hesitation. I have two 2TB external drives and three 1TB external drives. I would to be able to hook up more than 2 at once although not a deal breaker. I have considered one of the new Netgear multimedia over coax but I haven't been able to justify another $200 to do so.

I would suggest having an external hdd attached directly to the WD Live, and transfer your big files to it somehow & play them from it. I don't think you are going to be able to stream 30GB movie files over any protocol very effectively.
Is your router a G-Max or an N protocol version? You pretty much need N to get anything fast enough to stream high rez video.

[crimpshrine]

Originally Posted by daphatty

I've read through every page in this thread (although I've skipped over the pissing and moaning) and haven't seen anyone mention Jumbo Frames. Has anyone tried enabling this functionality on their NAS/Server device? Is this something that can be enabled on the WDTV? Might be something to look into for those trying to stream uncompressed HD content.

The WDTV live does not support Jumbo frames at least from a configuration capability that I could see.

The max I have seen it request is 1.5 K packets on an interface that will support up to 4K before fragmenting.

And just to note, the MAX I have seen this thing request is close to 20Mbit, Are you suggesting that Jumbo Frames would make it more effecient then allowing it to decode the data more effecitently? If that was the case, then the thing was designed way to close to the edge of what it's capable of. (If the little gained by enabling jumbo frames allows it to then decode video more smoothly)

[TentacleNo1]

Ok, I just got it. Now I'm setting up the network connection via wifi. Everything worked well the first time (downstairs) So I took it to the room where it is supposed to be and connected it again. Now it can't connect anymore. It does have a signal and receives the data (ip, gateway, dns) But when I check the connection it sais that the DNS is incorrect. What should I do?

I have A sitecom router with a sitecom dongle. The router is connected to a Zyxel modem.

[Wrocky]

Originally Posted by cross2010

I have my HTPC next to my TV. Any way I can hook the WDTV Live directly to my HTPC to get content? It will be a pain to stream via my router which is wayyy upstairs and the home theatre is in the basement. Appreciate any help.

You'll need to buy a cheap 4 port switch and a couple of cables. Get a hub that matches the speed of your current network or faster. example. Plug your HTPC into one port, your WDTV into the other, then the uplink port on the hub gets gets plugged into your wire coming from your router.

[Civuck]

Originally Posted by dmeader

Well, I'm afraid that non-answer was the last straw.

I'm not willing to drop more money on a product with the risk that it might SOMEDAY meet my needs, nor wait around for updates on an existing product that may or may not come.

I think you should buy a product based on what it can do in the here-and-now anyway. Purchasing products on speculation around potential future new features is inherently dangerous and often just leads to disappointment.

It's really a general commentary on society - wanting more for nothing. It's one thing to buy something and it plain doesn't work as advertised. But to get angry with something not doing an unadvertised feature?

[msmlynarc]

Here are some of my observations after having some time to play with the WDTV live and how it compares to the original.

1. The GUI and navigation is is MUCH snappier compared to the first one. The remote feels much more responsive, and you can go through the menu much speedier than before. (I know alot of people including myself were annoyed with the laggy interface)

2. In addition, loading times are much quicker as thumbnail art comes up almost instantly whereas before it would take a few seconds for each thumbnail to one by one show up. Fast forwarding, skipping, going back also happen much faster. Also scanning drives for media is A LOT faster as well. I have two 2TB drives hooked up at the sametime both full, and the original wdtv took about 15 minutes to scan everything which was really annoying. Now it takes about a minute tops, very impressive indeed.

3. Some large (20-25gb) bluray MKV files that used to playback very pixelated on wdtv1 playback flawlessy on the wdtv2, which was one of my biggest concerns.

4. Mac Formatted drives work seamlessly, finally. My drives are mac journaled, and although the wdtv1 could recognize and play them. It would always come up with a "storage cannot aggregate" error message, and I wouldnt be able to access sorting features like date, most recent, and playlists. Now it finally has full support.

5. DTS down mixing does indeed work. I know that was one of the biggest gripes with the last one, and because i have two tv's one with surround sound and one without, not being able to play the movies with digital audio was annoying. With the wdtvlive however, i have been able to play each mkv dts file perfectly with audio in sync.

6. Drives now automatically shut off when you turn off the player. This is an awesome new feature, because before the drives would just go into sleep mode, and you would have to physically unplug the USB chord from the player to get them to power down.

7. One negative thing i have noticed though is the overall picture quality of every video file i have tested looks worse compared to when it is played on the wdtv1. It is much granier, less vibrant, less sharp. It almost looks like a DVD which is pretty scary, considering they are 12gb 1080p MKV's. I have tried everything (8bit and 12 bit settings, my tv brightness/sharpness/contrast settings) and for some reason the picture quality is just plain sh**ier. The difference is noticeable enough to where i might just keep using my wdtv1. Im not sure if the upscaling is different, or if it has to do with the missing display output settings (1080p 60hz, 720p 50hz, 480p etc the old one had) but it is really starting to become aggrevating, because picture quality is always the most important feature in my opinion. I have tried it on two HDTVs a 42in 1080p LCD and a 42in 720p Plasma both hooked up via HDMI. I am very confused why the quality is worse.

Other than that i havent messed around with any of the networking features yet, unfortunatley.

[bigjsouth]

http://www.amazon.com/The-Future-Of-..._byauthor_full

Heres a list I made on Amazon.com with the WDTV Live back on that list now also.
Any luck with your preorders??

[seymouru]

Originally Posted by mbohupa

The WDTV Live is available for pre-order on Amazon US!!!

"This product has not yet been released." To Amazon, that is.

Direct product link: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B002KKFP9Y/

[kjgross]

Originally Posted by christoofar

By any chance do the "problem" files have apostrophes in their names?

Thanks for the response.

Some do, some don't, but ALL .jpgs are showing up once for the image and again as the image for the .iso/.mkv. It's like it doesn't matter whether you browse to a share by going through Video or Photos, it will show you any of either type of media in all shares.

I just realized one thing I didn't check was whether the same thing happens on my USB connected drive. It's definitely happening for all files on my network shares. I'll check the USB drives when I get home.

[Goba]

Originally Posted by msmlynarc

5. One negative thing i have noticed though is the overall picture quality of every video file i have tested looks worse compared to when it is played on the wdtv1. I have tried everything (8bit and 12 bit settings, my tv brightness/sharpness/contrast settings) and for some reason the picture quality is just plain sh**ier. The difference is noticeable enough to where i might just keep using my wdtv1. Im not sure if the upscaling is different, or if it has to do with the missing display output settings (1080p 60hz, 720p 50hz, 480p etc the old one had) but it is really starting to become aggrevating, because picture quality is always the most important feature in my opinion.

Other than that i havent messed around with any of the networking features yet, unfortunatley.

You are the second person to say that PQ is worse in WD TV Live than in WD TV1!

So the diference is that obvious in the PQ?

[Syntax Error]

Originally Posted by Goba

You are the second person to say that PQ is worse in WD TV Live than in WD TV1!

So the diference is that obvious in the PQ?

Can't say I noticed on my WD TV live compared to my WD TV 1, but I'm not playing uncompressed BluRay, either.

[Goba]

@msmlynarc

I think if you click in the HDMI option in the player, you can change resolution!

Can you try that?

[Carlos Martinez]

Originally Posted by Goba

You are the second person to say that PQ is worse in WD TV Live than in WD TV1!

So the diference is that obvious in the PQ?

This is worrying. I am looking for a network based media center and doing a short trip next month to the USA.

So I was considering getting a WDTV Live to bring back to Brazil, where I live and where the WDTV 1 is very popular.

So I wonder:

1) Will it be better to get a WDTV1 and get an alternative firmware to use it in network? Does that work fine with no bugs?

2) Will this WD TV 2 PQ quality problem be solved with firmware? Should I bet on this new unit?

3) Should I get another network based media center?

[Lt. Dang]

Originally Posted by Goba

You are the second person to say that PQ is worse in WD TV Live than in WD TV1!

So the diference is that obvious in the PQ?

No msmlynarc has just posted that comment about PQ twice so far.

Regards,

Lt. Dang

[Goba]

Never the less... he is saying that a 12gb 1080p MKV's looked almost looks like a DVD... and he tested in 2 TVs...

Can someone that had WD TV 1 compare the PQ in WD TV Live?

[Chadillac]

Originally Posted by kjgross

Thanks for the response.

Some do, some don't, but ALL .jpgs are showing up once for the image and again as the image for the .iso/.mkv. It's like it doesn't matter whether you browse to a share by going through Video or Photos, it will show you any of either type of media in all shares.

I just realized one thing I didn't check was whether the same thing happens on my USB connected drive. It's definitely happening for all files on my network shares. I'll check the USB drives when I get home.

I noticed the same thing regarding the thumbnail pics. Some of the names have spaces, others don't. It occurs for every movie file and folder.jpg. I tried the WDTV Live directly on USB and the thumbnails work properly. I looked through the WDTV Live settings and couldn't see anything obvious. I'm connected to my Windows XP machine with the external USB drives shared.

Seems to me to be a WDTV Live firmware issue. I guess I could either bitch and moan about it or wait for an upgrade. Think I'll just do the latter

Other than that, the WDTV Live excels. Well worth $120!

[daphatty]

Originally Posted by hijack

If you connect a 2TB My Book Essential Desktop Hard Drive threw usb to the wdtv2 does it work as a NAS? I mean, can you place content on the drive remotely and play it on the wdtv2? This would be better than streaming.

Originally Posted by crimpshrine

The WDTV live does not support Jumbo frames at least from a configuration capability that I could see.

The max I have seen it request is 1.5 K packets on an interface that will support up to 4K before fragmenting.

And just to note, the MAX I have seen this thing request is close to 20Mbit, Are you suggesting that Jumbo Frames would make it more effecient then allowing it to decode the data more effecitently? If that was the case, then the thing was designed way to close to the edge of what it's capable of. (If the little gained by enabling jumbo frames allows it to then decode video more smoothly)

It is possible that the WDTV will decode the information more efficiently since Jumbo Frames sends larger data packets across the wire. But that is just an assumption. I haven't picked up a WDTV Live yet (not available in my area) so I can't test this out myself.

[daphatty]

Originally Posted by Goba

Never the less... he is saying that a 12gb 1080p MKV's looked almost looks like a DVD... and he tested in 2 TVs...

Can someone that had WD TV 1 compare the PQ in WD TV Live?

If anyone performs this "test" please do so with a local drive attached to the WDTV-L and not across the network. Otherwise it is not a fair comparison.

[Goba]

Originally Posted by daphatty

If anyone performs this "test" please do so with a local drive attached to the WDTV-L and not across the network. Otherwise it is not a fair comparison.

The test was made with a local drive attached! He wrote this in the end:

"Other than that i havent messed around with any of the networking features yet, unfortunatley."

[crimpshrine]

Originally Posted by daphatty

It is possible that the WDTV will decode the information more efficiently since Jumbo Frames sends larger data packets across the wire. But that is just an assumption. I haven't picked up a WDTV Live yet (not available in my area) so I can't test this out myself.

I don't think it would make a difference even if you could change it. (MTU level configuration in not available through the configuration they give you)

I don't think Jumbo frames are supported at sub Gig speed anyhow.

[zoro]

Originally Posted by hdtvforme

So far I have found that anything PlayOn can stream the WD TV Live can stream and that includes Hulu.

did some one test it with tversity pro?

[marzoqi]

what is missing is RM/RMVB and I believe WDtvLive would support it as the other competitors support RM/RMVB , and I really wish there to be some themes , I've got bored of the dark blue theme