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Asus O!Play vs WD HD Live - My Review (I have both)

post #1 of 184
10/9/09 at 5:02pm
Thread Starter 
Just to prove I have both, here is a pic I just snapped:

http://www.tconl.com/~jericko/asusWD.JPG


Let me start by saying I have a Popcornhour A110, so this is not my 1st Media Streamer.

I ordered the Asus O!play from Amazon, came UPS today. Was really excited to get it as I have been reading great reviews. Hooked it up no problem using a HDMI and network cable. Just like my PCH the plan is to stream everything from my Windows Home Server.

The Asus Menu is somewhat clunky, but not bad. Had no problems getting it to see my WHS share and was streaming movies in no time. Started off with the Dark Knight 720p rip. The video would lock up every 20 seconds or so for about a second or two. Tried Star Trek 720p rip, same issue, would freeze every 30 seconds or so. I noticed the Picture Quality was no where near as sharp as my PCH. Its was almost like it had too much color, I played with the menu picture quality setting with no luck.

So I ran up to best buy tonight after deciding the ASUS O!play was going back to Amazon and on the self was 2 WD HD Live. Whats funny is my wife asked the sales guy who said their WD Rep was just in the store and nothing was said and they had no plans to carry it. It rang up $139.

Got it home, much smaller then the O!play and the cool thing is it does support composite (red, white, yellow). It has a special cable for it which is nice as when I travel, I plan to take this with me so any hotel TV is now going to work!

The Menu on the WD HD is very nice, I did not have the 1st gen WD so I do not know if they changed it. Within seconds I was streaming the Dark Knight with NO issues. Tried a few more movies, no issues at all. Plus my wife thinks the WD Menu is easier to navigate.

I will post more info as I play with it tonight.

-Jericko
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post #2 of 184
10/9/09 at 5:18pm
Interesting. You are not the first to complain of asus picture quality. If noticeable, that is an absolute dealbreaker for me. I only care about quality over hdmi though.

How is the picture quality of the wdtv live compared to your pch?
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post #3 of 184
10/9/09 at 5:41pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by csgamer View Post

Interesting. You are not the first to complain of asus picture quality. If noticeable, that is an absolute dealbreaker for me. I only care about quality over hdmi though.

How is the picture quality of the wdtv live compared to your pch?

The picture is identical to my PCH A110, I am using the HDMI. Just watched the opening from Casino Royale 1080p rip streamed from my Windows Home Server, looked awesome, and not a freeze or lock up.
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post #4 of 184
10/9/09 at 6:02pm
Good to hear pic quality matches your PCH. I think i will get this over the asus after I see a full review.
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post #5 of 184
10/9/09 at 6:15pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by jericko76 View Post

I noticed the Picture Quality was no where near as sharp as my PCH. Its was almost like it had too much color...

I'm trying to understand how digital processing through a digital interface can result in such a different result. Are a scaler or deinterlacer involved in the test material you tried?

Also note that I had about 5 minutes of ghastly horrible pink with noise lines all over my Vizio when I first started up my O!Play. I was trying to set it to HDMI (auto), or to the nearest resolution of my Vizio which is 720p. Eventually it fixed itself and has remained fixed. But I am really skeptical of that HDMI (auto) setting. If yours is set to HDMI (auto), it might have negotiated down to 480i!
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post #6 of 184
10/9/09 at 6:20pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by TheKrell View Post

I'm trying to understand how digital processing through a digital interface can result in such a different result. Are a scaler or deinterlacer involved in the test material you tried?

Also note that I had about 5 minutes of ghastly horrible pink with noise lines all over my Vizio when I first started up my O!Play. I was trying to set it to HDMI (auto), or to the nearest resolution of my Vizio which is 720p. Eventually it fixed itself and has remained fixed. But I am really skeptical of that HDMI (auto) setting. If yours is set to HDMI (auto), it might have negotiated down to 480i!

I went into the menu and changed it to match my TV, 1080p 120hz. Dont get me wrong the picture was not bad or blurry, just not as sharp as my PCH A110. If I did not own a PCH I probably would not have know the difference.
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post #7 of 184
10/9/09 at 8:18pm
I too have both a WD TV and an Asus O!Play. Admittedly my WD TV is WD's original box, but I too saw a marked difference in the picture quality between the Assus and the WD TV. Sharpness was definately the issue with the Asus. However, I also felt that the color saturation was off with the Asus. Picture seemed washed outand all the tinkering with the onboard brightness and contrast did little to fix it.

I have a WD TV Live on order from Amazon. Have had since the end of last month. Nothing from them. I am getting more than a little impatient with Amazon. Something hinky is going on there. I have never had problems like this from Amazon. If my loace BB gets their shipment of WD's in the first of the week, that's where I am buying.

Moral of the story is that you should buy local when it comes to this unit. Tell Amazon to take a flyin'.....
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post #8 of 184
10/9/09 at 9:04pm
I picked oplay for $89 from frys and bought and paid fr WD live from best buy, will pick tomorrow.
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post #9 of 184
10/9/09 at 9:07pm
You left out the part where the Asus wont stream bluray rips but will only play them on locally attached disks....

Oh, and you left out the part where the Asus wont do Upnp like the briteview does. And it doesn't have a torrent client or wireless dongle like the other media players based on the same motherboard....
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post #10 of 184
10/10/09 at 10:02pm
Jericko,
it seems that this point the WD Live is better than asus, do you think that it is a firmware glitch to solve the problem about the sharp quality and the freezes? I believe so, I don't think that it is hardware problems, lets wait and see. Have you seen any latest firmware for the asus?
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post #11 of 184
10/10/09 at 10:22pm
I sure hope you're right rayosx about the firmware glitch. I'm particularly suspicious of the HDMI (auto) setting not correctly negotiating with the HDTV.

As for firmware updates, I see only 1.07N (for NTSC) and 1.07P (for PAL) versions on the Asus website. 1.07N is what came on my Amazon O!Play.
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post #12 of 184
10/11/09 at 6:54am
Thread Starter 
So Saturday morning I decided to do a few more tests. Because I was wiring my TV for a new media streamer, I had my HD Dish DVR unplugged and missed Smallville, so I downloaded the 720p version. I watched it on my WD HD Live, looked perfect, tried to FF and during parts to see if I could get the voices off, it never did.

So my wife was going to box up the O!play to send back and I thought I will give it another go. Again, the menu is no where near as smooth as the WD, but I don't care about that. Fired up Smallville and the night scenes were very dark and looked like the colors had bleed through around the edges. My wife, who does not understand what HD is even noticed the difference. I went into the menu of the O!play and tried to adjust the contrast and brightness, it had zero effect. Watched about 20 minutes on the O!play and it did NOT lock up or freeze.

I really wanted to like the ASUS, love their Netbooks, and I want to get two of these, as I have a PCH in my basement for my HomeTheather, and want two cheaper media streamers for my front room and bedroom. I have never been a fan of WD, but I have to admit there WD HD Live is a kick ass little box that rivals my PCH A110.
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post #13 of 184
10/11/09 at 2:48pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by jericko76 View Post

Just to prove I have both, here is a pic I just snapped:

http://www.tconl.com/~jericko/asusWD.JPG


Let me start by saying I have a Popcornhour A110, so this is not my 1st Media Streamer.

I ordered the Asus O!play from Amazon, came UPS today. Was really excited to get it as I have been reading great reviews. Hooked it up no problem using a HDMI and network cable. Just like my PCH the plan is to stream everything from my Windows Home Server.

The Asus Menu is somewhat clunky, but not bad. Had no problems getting it to see my WHS share and was streaming movies in no time. Started off with the Dark Knight 720p rip. The video would lock up every 20 seconds or so for about a second or two. Tried Star Trek 720p rip, same issue, would freeze every 30 seconds or so. I noticed the Picture Quality was no where near as sharp as my PCH. Its was almost like it had too much color, I played with the menu picture quality setting with no luck.

So I ran up to best buy tonight after deciding the ASUS O!play was going back to Amazon and on the self was 2 WD HD Live. Whats funny is my wife asked the sales guy who said their WD Rep was just in the store and nothing was said and they had no plans to carry it. It rang up $139.

Got it home, much smaller then the O!play and the cool thing is it does support composite (red, white, yellow). It has a special cable for it which is nice as when I travel, I plan to take this with me so any hotel TV is now going to work!

The Menu on the WD HD is very nice, I did not have the 1st gen WD so I do not know if they changed it. Within seconds I was streaming the Dark Knight with NO issues. Tried a few more movies, no issues at all. Plus my wife thinks the WD Menu is easier to navigate.

I will post more info as I play with it tonight.

-Jericko

I had the same issues with the O!play after playing with it for a few days. Back to Amazon it went. I picked up the WD TV Live at Best Buy and have been very happy with it so far. 1080P BD ISO plays great over network.
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post #14 of 184
10/11/09 at 6:31pm
Guys,
as you know that I don't any receiver to decode DTS downmix , does WD LIVe tv plays the DTS downmix with no need of receiver to decode it?
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post #15 of 184
10/11/09 at 9:06pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by rayosx View Post

Guys,
as you know that I don't any receiver to decode DTS downmix , does WD LIVe tv plays the DTS downmix with no need of receiver to decode it?

Yes, I have it down converting AC3 and DTS to stereo (2 speakers in my bedroom) and it works awesome.
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post #16 of 184
10/12/09 at 1:36am
Jericko,
I will buy tomorrow at best buy,
thanks
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post #17 of 184
10/12/09 at 8:02am
jericko76, as an XTreamer owner myself (very similar to the Asus), are you able to comment on the following questions?
- Remote/GUI responsiveness? Is the WDTV Live as quick/responsive as the Asus? ie: If you're moving around files on a local/networked folder, can you quickly and easily move around files basically as fast as you click on the remote? I've heard the WDTV Live is a touch slow?
- Photos? Is the WDTV Live as quick as the Asus to view photos? Also, is it friendlier/better? The Realtek's don't seem to offer thumbnail views (yet)?
- Audio? Can it down convert audio to stereo (down say the HDMI) and pass through to optical at the same time? With my XTreamer you can only do one or the other, not both at the same time.

So are you generally more impressed with the WDTV Live than the Asus? Any downside to the WDTV compared to the Asus?
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post #18 of 184
10/12/09 at 8:04am
I am going to go pick up a WD TV live at best buy too....
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post #19 of 184
10/12/09 at 9:33am
Quote:
Originally Posted by blackssr View Post

I had the same issues with the O!play after playing with it for a few days. Back to Amazon it went. I picked up the WD TV Live at Best Buy and have been very happy with it so far. 1080P BD ISO plays great over network.

Wow so this thing plays BD ISO's? menus and all? jave engine?

does it correctly bitstream TrueHD and DTS-MA

The original WDTV did not do DVD ISO with menu's. Does this one?

Sean
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post #20 of 184
10/12/09 at 9:37am
Quote:
Originally Posted by sean_w_smith View Post

Wow so this thing plays BD ISO's? menus and all? jave engine?

does it correctly bitstream TrueHD and DTS-MA

The original WDTV did not do DVD ISO with menu's. Does this one?

Sean

It still doesn't do DVD menus or BR menus. It will play the main movie though. I've read that DVD menus will be included in a future firmware update (hopefully soon, WD has taken much too long for this heavily requested feature).

It bitstreams TrueHD but only plays DTS core from the DTS-MA. Hopefully DTS-MA will also be fixed in a future update.
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post #21 of 184
10/12/09 at 11:24am
Ok, just got the WD TV live and I really like it.

The menus are pretty good, with a little usability tweaking they could go from good to great.
I played bluray rips, all kinds of mkv files, music and wmv. It played everything I threw at it with a couple exceptions as noted below.

It displayed the mp3 tag info correctly as well as the album art for icons.

my complaints
It had trouble with "big trouble in little china" bluray rip, but not 20 some odd others.

It would not play an AVC1 .avi file.

The wma hd audio in wmv files was mute

The remote control is for tiny people with the hands of a 2 year old. Its not cute. Western Digital, please put in a bigger remote ASAP.
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post #22 of 184
10/12/09 at 11:33am
A couple questions:

Does it play vc1 m2ts files?
Can it use time capsule as NAS drive?

Is apple wireless adapter usable for wireless function?
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post #23 of 184
10/12/09 at 11:39am
I can tell you it plays vc1 m2ts files. I dont know about the other 2 questions.
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post #24 of 184
10/12/09 at 11:42am
Quote:
Originally Posted by doctor media View Post

The remote control is for tiny people with the hands of a 2 year old. Its not cute. Western Digital, please put in a bigger remote ASAP.

People still use OEM remotes? Keep an eye out for a refurbished Harmony remote, the best $30 you will ever spend.
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post #25 of 184
10/12/09 at 12:57pm
With the WD live, I just get the blue circle thing when I try to play various files from my network shares. If I try to use my media server (PS3 media Server), I get lock ups and more blue circles.

So far not impressed.
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post #26 of 184
10/12/09 at 3:21pm
Just a few questions please...

1-Does the WDTV Live support idx+sub subtitles?
2- Can you control the volume from the remote?
3- What chip is it using?

It seems very nice.

philip
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post #27 of 184
10/13/09 at 12:14am
2 of your problems was solved in the original WDTV.

1) WM pro audio/multi chanel audio can be convert to Dolby Digital relatively fast-as fast as your system can read and write to the hard drive. Use Super to demux the video then use Xdivx4Psp to convert audio to DD avoiding transcode is the key. Mux back as TS in Xdivx4Psp.

2) Original WDTV can be program to response to different remote-anything that you have and like (there may be some limitation-not hardware but encrypted software kernel from WD) and macro can be program to your liking. Since Live is new and not hack yet your best bet will as other here suggest : Logictech Harmony.


Quote:
Originally Posted by doctor media View Post

Ok, just got the WD TV live and I really like it.

The menus are pretty good, with a little usability tweaking they could go from good to great.
I played bluray rips, all kinds of mkv files, music and wmv. It played everything I threw at it with a couple exceptions as noted below.

It displayed the mp3 tag info correctly as well as the album art for icons.

my complaints
It had trouble with "big trouble in little china" bluray rip, but not 20 some odd others.

It would not play an AVC1 .avi file.

The wma hd audio in wmv files was mute

The remote control is for tiny people with the hands of a 2 year old. Its not cute. Western Digital, please put in a bigger remote ASAP.
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post #28 of 184
10/13/09 at 5:37am
This was said perfectly...the WD is close but not perfect. However price comparison of $120 vs $220 (popcorn A110) you can't really expect the same features. If WD gets around to adding bitstream for DTS-MA and add menu support for DVD this may replace my A110 in the theater room...but really folks the WD is probably the best player for the $$$...

Also this thing is has the beast Sigma 8655 which will run circles around any Realtek based player, its not just a matter of WD implementing it in the best way possible.

Quote:
Originally Posted by jericko76 View Post

So Saturday morning I decided to do a few more tests. Because I was wiring my TV for a new media streamer, I had my HD Dish DVR unplugged and missed Smallville, so I downloaded the 720p version. I watched it on my WD HD Live, looked perfect, tried to FF and during parts to see if I could get the voices off, it never did.

So my wife was going to box up the O!play to send back and I thought I will give it another go. Again, the menu is no where near as smooth as the WD, but I don't care about that. Fired up Smallville and the night scenes were very dark and looked like the colors had bleed through around the edges. My wife, who does not understand what HD is even noticed the difference. I went into the menu of the O!play and tried to adjust the contrast and brightness, it had zero effect. Watched about 20 minutes on the O!play and it did NOT lock up or freeze.

I really wanted to like the ASUS, love their Netbooks, and I want to get two of these, as I have a PCH in my basement for my HomeTheather, and want two cheaper media streamers for my front room and bedroom. I have never been a fan of WD, but I have to admit there WD HD Live is a kick ass little box that rivals my PCH A110.
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post #29 of 184
10/13/09 at 6:02am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Everdog View Post

With the WD live, I just get the blue circle thing when I try to play various files from my network shares. If I try to use my media server (PS3 media Server), I get lock ups and more blue circles.

So far not impressed.

Can't say anything about the SMB share lockups but for PS3 Media Server, since it is originally intended to work only on the PS3 you should expect compatibility issues. You got to work with the software developer.
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post #30 of 184
10/13/09 at 6:17am
Quote:
Originally Posted by saiga6360 View Post

Can't say anything about the SMB share lockups but for PS3 Media Server, since it is originally intended to work only on the PS3 you should expect compatibility issues. You got to work with the software developer.

Any good suggestions for an alternative server (instead of PS3 media server)?

I do like using the SMB shares more because FF and RW seem to work a lot better, but for some reason, only 3 of my 5 network shares show up...as opposed to the Asus where every share, ever drive letter (C$, E$, etc), and hidden system share appear.

With a DLNA server I have a little more control on what appears in the menu which makes it easier for my wife and kids to use.
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