Could this be the next WDTV?

[kianwee]

Any idea what is this?

[utexas_delirium]

Probably the WDTV2. With DTS support.

[kennypb]

It's just like WDTV (first gen) plus LAN and DTS Downmixing,!!!

[pork-epik]

Hopefully WD will use an evolution of the current wdtv chip, like the sigma 8655.

This would result in much quicker boot time, UI browsing, picture loading time, etc.. Also it would give network performance a big boost and we wouldn't have to worry anymore about stuff like using NFS for high bitrate files (m2ts, 1080p mkv...)

[Afrsa]

At least them seem more procupied with new devices than releasing a proper fimrware for their first HD Player...

For sure, they will not "catch" me twice!

[WD TV]

Where did you find this on the net ?

[dbone1026]

Hard to tell from the pic, the only connection to get video is HDMI?

[Apoc@]

Pffff please, hope the release the source code for the first player now.

[whiteboy714]

Looks cool where are these pics from. I'll buy it. They better not double the price or something lame like that though.

[koraldon]

Very disappointing -
I would expect WD to support the first product, and fix it - before coming out with a new one.
I will definitly not buy WD products until they fix their device, and will recommend to others to keep a distance from WD.

[Apoc@]

Looks like DTS 2.0 but no DD TrueHD logo on the case. That could mean they still use the same Sigma chip, that would be great for the firmware. So you can use it also on the WD TV revision 1 but that are speculations of course.

[toolman2k10]

Originally Posted by koraldon

Very disappointing -
I would expect WD to support the first product, and fix it - before coming out with a new one.
I will definitly not buy WD products until they fix their device, and will recommend to others to keep a distance from WD.

amen to that. why even consider another wd device if they dont even support their current device. im sure many will buy it anyway, since it looks sexy and has new features...but eventually they will regret it when they find out support is virtually non-existent.

it makes me sick to read twitterposts from WD about some party where they launch a new player, while they have forgotten about the current userbase by not releasing new FWs, not listening to users...(uservoice anyone? what a major fail that is....launching it, taking all good ideas and put them in a new device)

[toolman2k10]

Originally Posted by Apoc@

Looks like DTS 2.0 but no DD TrueHD logo on the case. That could mean they still use the same Sigma chip, that would be great for the firmware. So you can use it also on the WD TV revision 1 but that are speculations of course.

im afraid it will aways be speculation....they will probably never release it for the current device. they rather receive money for a new device with "new and unique features" (that they got from us through the uservoice site) than giving us something back in return.....i hope im wrong. but the world works like that. it a shame really, WD could turn us all into WD evangelists if they finally pick up their act and indeed release fast and improved FWs.....but realistically....i dont bet on it if they were serious about supporting the current userbase they would have announced new FWs and features already. i guess only the new suckers who buy the new products will benefit from that.

[i dont think they will get their stuff corrected...just look at what theyve releases until now....they cant even get the playback working ok, why even bother about new features?]

[Apoc@]

Originally Posted by toolman2k10

they rather receive money for a new device with "new and unique features" (that they got from us through the uservoice site) than giving us something back in return.....i hope im wrong. But the world works like that.

+1

[Darknyt]

Originally Posted by dbone1026

Hard to tell from the pic, the only connection to get video is HDMI?

Whatever it is it looks like a big "Screw You" for us component guys again. No surprise, I suppose.

[joshjoshlol]

the main reasons that i would buy a WDTV2 would be if they upped the acceptable reference frame limit on 1080p video. dolby stuff and networking features don't interest me in the slightest; the former because i don't have a noteworthy audio set-up, and the latter because networking is unreliable and leads to unnecessary headaches that hard drives tend to avoid.

[akademiks]

I would never buy a Western Digital product again if true..

They lack the support for their first one, yet I should buy another one?

Go to hell, WD.

[candre23]

Originally Posted by Darknyt

Whatever it is it looks like a big "Screw You" for us component guys again. No surprise, I suppose.

Not only are they still omitting component, but they've dropped composite. Composite isn't great quality-wise, but it's universally compatible. With HDMI only, you can't just grab your WDTV and bring it with you anywhere and know it will work.

[whiteboy714]

Originally Posted by candre23

Not only are they still omitting component, but they've dropped composite. Composite isn't great quality-wise, but it's universally compatible. With HDMI only, you can't just grab your WDTV and bring it with you anywhere and know it will work.

Yha I agree with that but who knows this is just a prototype I assume.

[Koadic]

Not only are they still omitting component, but they've dropped composite.

Actually, if you look closely at the back of the unit, you will see two mini jacks, and you can just barely make out the words 'Audio' and 'Video', most likely for adapters in order to save space on the back of the box because of the addition of the network jack.

[whiteboy714]

Originally Posted by Koadic

Actually, if you look closely at the back of the unit, you will see two mini jacks, and you can just barely make out the words 'Audio' and 'Video', most likely for adapters in order to save space on the back of the box because of the addition of the network jack.

Good eye.

[cold_fusion]

Originally Posted by akademiks

I would never buy a Western Digital product again if true..

They lack the support for their first one, yet I should buy another one?

Go to hell, WD.

You guys aren't making me feel very good about my soon to arrive from Amzn old model of the WDTV...crap...I'm always late to the party...I just wanted a device to play some hi def stuff besides the HD channels over my new Panny 50G10 Plasma...

This sucker better play some hi-def MKV's and make my mp3's sound good over my AVP with easy to play functionality or I'm gonna be PO'd too and this suckers going back!

[whiteboy714]

Originally Posted by cold_fusion

You guys aren't making me feel very good about my soon to arrive from Amzn old model of the WDTV...crap...I'm always late to the party...I just wanted a device to play some hi def stuff besides the HD channels over my new Panny 50G10 Plasma...

This sucker better play some hi-def MKV's and make my mp3's sound good over my AVP with easy to play functionality or I'm gonna be PO'd too and this suckers going back!

Tons of people love it. Most people that don't have an issue aren't gonna come here just to say it works. People are more likely to come here when they have issues. I'm sure you'll love it.

[cold_fusion]

Originally Posted by whiteboy714

Tons of people love it. Most people that don't have an issue aren't gonna come here just to say it works. People are more likely to come here when they have issues. I'm sure you'll love it.

I sure hope so...I have a passport loaded with stuff just ready and waiting....and I'm sick of burning stacks of DVD's and categorizing them and feeding them into my player....

[kianwee]

Originally Posted by Koadic

Actually, if you look closely at the back of the unit, you will see two mini jacks, and you can just barely make out the words 'Audio' and 'Video', most likely for adapters in order to save space on the back of the box because of the addition of the network jack.

A bigger image....

[Monkeyface66]

Looks like it has both, COMPONENT and COMPOSITE now!
But still no ON/OFF switch


kianwee, don't you want to tell where you saw that thing?

[dangerdoc1]

Originally Posted by cold_fusion

I sure hope so...I have a passport loaded with stuff just ready and waiting....and I'm sick of burning stacks of DVD's and categorizing them and feeding them into my player....

I have had one since it came out. I don't download movies so the DTS thing never bothered me. I have about 800 megs of recorded TV shows, some saved as hidef MKVs, most standard divx files. Never had a problem, in fact never felt the need to update the original FW.

Anything my DVD player plays, my WDTV plays better.

[IrishBrewer]

Has anyone looked at the Argosy HV359T?

I got one a couple of weeks ago and it is really impressive.

The Argosy has an internal SATA hard drive but I got one without a drive and added my own. You can get them with a pre-installed drive anywhere from 750GB to 1.5TB. Also it has a USB port so you can also attach an external USB drive.

It has network capability so you can play files from any shared folder on your network and you can connect the Argosy to your network using either a wired or wireless connection. The device also acts as a network drive in that you can access its hard drive from another computer on your network.

The HV359T model also has recording capability although the inputs are just composite. This is one of my only complaints. I wish it had component or HDMI input.

For outputs it has HDMI, component and composite with video upscaling to 1080i.

I've been backing up my DVDs to the device using DVDShrink in the DVD folder format because it does a quick conversion with good quality and I can have good control over the file size depending on the quality I want. However the HV359T supports a bunch of other file formats.

It also has photo slideshow (with music) and MP3 capability although I don't think I'll use that much. The one nice thing about the photo shows is that they display in high def.

I've seen standalone network hard drives that cost more than this device and the HV359T does what a network drive does plus you get all of the video I/O capabilities.

I know this probably sounds like a commercial but I really like this unit and I haven't seen much in the form of reviews online as of yet. Argosy has some other media players but the HV359T has the most functionality. My dream unit would be one with HDMI input and a better cooling fan to keep the temps down.

[dbone1026]

Originally Posted by IrishBrewer

Has anyone looked at the Argosy HV359T?

I got one a couple of weeks ago and it is really impressive.

The Argosy has an internal SATA hard drive but I got one without a drive and added my own. You can get them with a pre-installed drive anywhere from 750GB to 1.5TB. Also it has a USB port so you can also attach an external USB drive.

It has network capability so you can play files from any shared folder on your network and you can connect the Argosy to your network using either a wired or wireless connection. The device also acts as a network drive in that you can access its hard drive from another computer on your network.

The HV359T model also has recording capability although the inputs are just composite. This is one of my only complaints. I wish it had component or HDMI input.

For outputs it has HDMI, component and composite with video upscaling to 1080i.

I've been backing up my DVDs to the device using DVDShrink in the DVD folder format because it does a quick conversion with good quality and I can have good control over the file size depending on the quality I want. However the HV359T supports a bunch of other file formats.

It also has photo slideshow (with music) and MP3 capability although I don't think I'll use that much. The one nice thing about the photo shows is that they display in high def.

I've seen standalone network hard drives that cost more than this device and the HV359T does what a network drive does plus you get all of the video I/O capabilities.

I know this probably sounds like a commercial but I really like this unit and I haven't seen much in the form of reviews online as of yet. Argosy has some other media players but the HV359T has the most functionality. My dream unit would be one with HDMI input and a better cooling fan to keep the temps down.

Only 1080i, no support for h.264, mkvs, etc... pretty weak compared to the current crop of players on the market.

[IrishBrewer]

I haven't tried any MKV's but the manual does say that it does play these if they are encoded with the DivX codec.

Also there is some h.264 support - it can play h.264 files stored on shared network drives. I haven't tried this yet, however.

I'm hoping that future versions support 1080p I/O. That would be nice.

Here are some specs from the manual:

MEDIA SUPPORT
Audio Support MP3, AC3 (Dolby Digital Encoding), WAV, OGG, WMA
Video Support MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4 (AVI/ DivX 3.11, 4.x, 5.x, 6.x, HD/ Xvid/
MP4/ MOV) DVD Folder, DVD ISO

Photo Support JPEG (baseline), BMP
DVD Folder DVD Menu/Audio/Subtitle/Angle Selection
DivX Subtitle Format IDX/SUB, SRT, SSA, SMI
Music Slideshow Music playback during photo slideshow
Max. Content Resolution
Video 1920 x 1080 pixels
JPEG 5120 x 3840 pixels (baseline)

VIDEO OUTPUT
TV System NTSC / PAL
Screen Ratio 4:3 / 16:9
Component/ HDMI NTSC(480i)/480p/PAL(576i)/576p/720p(50/60Hz)/1080i(50/60Hz)