WDTV Live Media Player Interface Review (WDTV2 - 2nd Generation WDTV)

[CyanidePrinceX]

I got this last week. My MKV files have been an issue. The video, subtitles work fine, but the audio lags to the point the video is completely unwatchable. I've tried to find a solution to this problem, but so far, none as come up other than to return the media player back.

If it says it supports MKV, it freakin' should! I should be able to watch MKV files with no issues at all. It's the only reason I brought the player, so I wouldn't have to relentlessly convert mkv to avi. :(

[acIdrain1983]

@CyanidePrinceX I have consitant issues with the way some MKV (*cough* usenet *cough*) files play on the WDTV. I fix it by running a program called PopCorn Audio Converter. I just remux the file with that converter and it fixes it. Something to do with the way someone muxes the file in the first place that makes it almost unusable on the WDTV. Just mux every movie you wanna play and it will fix it.

[CyanidePrinceX]

@acIdrain1983 I just did one episode, checked it and FUCK YEAH! It works like a charm! Thanks! :D

[acIdrain1983]

@CyanidePrinceX I'm glad it worked!

[PodeCoet]

You've sold me, I'm buying one now!

[yopepoy]

will it play 5.1 AAC audio(6ch) in mp4 container?

[acIdrain1983]

@yopepoy Yes it will.

[sonder5]

Can it play IMG or ISO files??

[acIdrain1983]

@sonder5 Yes, It can play DVD ISO's, it just skips to the main movie, no menu.

[sonder5]

@acIdrain1983 Nice. What about subtitles then? Will it work?

[acIdrain1983]

@sonder5 Yes, I've turned them on before ... It works as expected.

[portpower27]

I have tried Argosy H33VT, Seagate Theater+ and I have to admit WDTV is the best. Better response time, better UI and more customization via mods.

[acIdrain1983]

@portpower27 I've just recently heard of the Seagate, but I didn't really look into it. Thanks for letting me know, I wont waste my time ^-^

[PoopChanne1]

when you say you bought it from best buy, did you mean that you bought it online from there store or did you mean going to best buy and buying it in person. Just wondering

[acIdrain1983]

@PoopChanne1 I ordered it online for in-store pickup but I could have also ordered it online for delivery, it would have just cost more.

[felipezafani]

Can you add subs like SRT file into the movie. Like If I get a movie without subs, can I include more than one, like English and Portuguese So I can change any time?

[acIdrain1983]

@felipezafani Yes, It will also recognize the subs as long as its the same name as the video file, with the SRT extension.

[revco1974]

@felipezafani : As far as SRT files go, you should be about to use multiple languages as I require english and find more success then sub files. (just remember to rename both vid file and srt the same.)

[revco1974]

@felipezafani Yep as a far as SRT files go. if you have multiples for subtitles, rename them all to the same name works for me but I can't answer about more then one type of language.

[mahdogzbite]

Hey, I got the exact same black dvd player.

[camboy1132]

PlayOn is really good DLNA server tv. I tryed it and it is comparable with wdtv live. watch hulu and other videos. watch mejdam video. I got it to work. I need to find free free version of PLayon . because I dont want to pay for Playon Dlna server tv. some how the wd tv live can detect the server from computer. never new about DLNA technology

[DJMattMX]

Do you have any experience creating Video playlists? I can't get my video playlists to work - they appear as a folder on my WDTV instead of a file.

[camboy1132]

wdtv 2 generation o firmware 1.1.77 & sync sound issue H264 mkv , trying to downgrade the firmware to 1.1.75 is very hard .some have figured out how. I need some one to make a video & teach us how

[kornypony]

too bad, after the 01.24 firmware update, the WD TV Live can "NO LONGER stream HQ nor HD youtube videos". this is why I returned it because I bought it for the HD youtube experience which my PS3 does not provide. just something to consider for those of you looking to buy it

[timus1891]

@kornypony can you stream from podcast from apple

[RuslPrime]

Yeah, hi, I got a question. There's a rumor going about that WD TV Live is inferior to the original in terms of quality, or at least when it comes to upscaling (like simulating a 720p video as an 1080p or something) and PQ (whatever that means, probably non HD streatched across the TV screan). Since you got both could you check that out and reply please?

[acIdrain1983]

My TV in my room is a 720p and the receiver in my living room auto converts to 1080p, so I can't really check. Plus, I gave the old WDTV to my brother so I don't have it anymore. However, I didn't notice any loss in terms compared to the original.

[RuslPrime]

@acIdrain1983 Wow, that was quick, also not really as convincing as I was hoping. Thanks anyway

[acIdrain1983]

Sorry, Wish I could have helped more ...

[FTLOSM]

Man I want one of these! My question is about movie folders, I took my entire dvd collection and put on my storage drive via dvdfab, i ripped the entire dvd (lots of vob files in the video folders). Will this device work to play those video folders of vob files as a group or will I have to go in and play each vob file one after another individually to watch the movies?

I don't want to have to convert all those movies again into some special large vob or iso etc.

Thanks for any input!

[acIdrain1983]

I've pretty much answered this before but I'll answer it again. In order to play the "main movie" of a DVD you need it to be an ISO. The WDTV only plays one file at a time, and if you have subtitles they wont show if you play the VOB file by itself. This is due to the fact that the instructions for streams is located in separate files. Personally, I don't understand why people decide to not make them into ISOs when its so easy to mount them with magicdisk or comparable tools. =/

[uncle8426]

Will it play RMVB file?

[acIdrain1983]

This was previously discussed, no it does NOT play RMVB files. Please read previous comments.

[shadowheart43]

hello.. i have a qurstion... why is mine always lagging??

[acIdrain1983]

Depends on your setup, Where are you playing the videos from? Network (Wired/Wireless, USB (HDD/Flash Thumbdrive)?

[shadowheart43]

i'm playing it from the wd hd 1 tb... but it's not that.. the home page is slow!!!

[Nadzzz123]

Hey...at wired network speed does it stream like a 720p MKV perfectly??? Like in full honesty?

[acIdrain1983]

The video I used in the review was 720p, streaming off my wired network. I've streamed a full 1080 (40gb) file off my network and I didn't even notice any problems, It played like any other video.

[geebones]

problem is its low when u have lots of avi movies on it and browsing thme is long the cover art is good but only about 20 per page so its long to flick through

[aknalmada]

Excellent review. Love my WDTV.

[justaguy777]

I can rip a dvd into one large VOB file with DVD shrink. I assume the WDTV will play this. My question is, will it rewind, and fast forward a VOB file? I can't seem to find this info anywhere. BTW, no need to convert to ISO for one large VOB file. DVDShrink - Edit - Preferences - output files tab - uncheck "split vob files into 1gb size chunks". Then run DVDShrink, this will give you multiple files, and one large VOB file being the movie. (and only the movie)

[acIdrain1983]

You can yes, and it should ff/rr on them. However, Your best bet is to actually convert the files back into a .ISO. I don't really see a point in converting the entire DVD into one huge VOB when the main movie of a DVD will play fine. If its a TV series, this may be your only choice I guess.

[daspand]

lol are u french ? thrs a hint of french in ur accent lol..

interesting language english is lol eh ?

random i know.

Anyhow, just wanted to say im getting the Patriot box office, so if anyone's in the market for these players, u might wanna take a look at the Patriot Box Office.

[acIdrain1983]

No I'm not French.

I read some Patriot box office reviews and I've concluded that I like the WDTV Live better. The two things that put me off is the complains of a hum or noise from the fan, and the fact that it has network connectivity but no internet based applications such as Youtube, Flickr, or Pandora Radio. The differences in hardware is not enough for me to be impressed. Also there's also the question of subtitle support, what formats it supports, and how viewable they are on the box.

[daspand]

U aren't french ? lol really ? k nvm

I don't really care about the "hum" or slight noise the fan makes, considering that most if not all of the sound will be covered up by the content being played on the media player itself.

[daspand]

WDtv live has a much better menu/GUI, but has poor performance compared to Asus O!play or Patriot Box Office. This dude made a reaview and he fast forwarded on his WDtv Live all the way up till 16x for 5-10min, after which upon playing there was some serious lag, the Patriot nor the Asus appear to show any of these sort of problems.

[acIdrain1983]

The fast forwarding is not an issue for me.

[daspand]

As in is it still there ? or it u just dont care about it ?

[acIdrain1983]

I never use it, and if I did it wouldn't bother me much.

[daspand]

no offence, but just cuz u dont use a major feature doesn't mean that it odesnt count as a con...

forwarding is really important and WDtv does a poor job at it.

[acIdrain1983]

It may seem like a con, but I don't use it because I don't need to. I use the feature they included to continue where you left off. Removes the need for any fast-forwarding.

[daspand]

The subtitle support is great on all three media players, format wise Asus O!play and Patriot Box Office support .rmvb, whereas WDtv Live does not.

It also supports DVD menus and playback (not sure if WDtv Live can play .TS/.vob-DVD files)

[acIdrain1983]

WDTV live can play .TS/.VOB/.ISO, only main movie, no menus. Which doesn't bother me at all, I try to get the HD versions.

[ULAZYCOOK]

I didn't recommending it to play games..-_- I am recommending it so that searching Youtube videos is faster than the on screen keyboard. Sorry to confuse you.

[ULAZYCOOK]

it needs a keypad remote like the xbox 360

.not necessary for a usb plug in keyboard.

[acIdrain1983]

A keyboard is the least of my worries .... If you want a game system, go buy a game system. If you want to use the internet, go buy a computer. It was made to play media, not browse the web or play games. -_-

[ULAZYCOOK]

hmm.

I was only referring to searching with the youtube built in the device. Without some sort of keyboard support searching is a pain.

If I have the WDTV standard version I wouldn't care about a keyboard. The WDTV live has youtube so some sort of keypad is very useful.

why didn't you just get the WD TV without youtube. Since you are reviewing the WD TV Live I thought I say something about a keyboard.

don't tell me you enjoy searching up character by character...

[acIdrain1983]

I have the WDTV standard already (It's hooked up to my living room 52" with a receiver). It works for what we use it for, to only play HD movies and nothing more.

[ULAZYCOOK]

so you like using the youtube with the on screen keyboard letter by letter?

[acIdrain1983]

I didn't buy the WDTV Live to use it for Youtube, I bought it for network connectivity and DTS decoding. Youtube is just a plus ... and I don't do searching using the Youtube feature, I just view the playlists and favorites. So a keyboard won't benefit me at all.

[portalitsbr]

may I ask you something?

is there anyw ay to choose the font for the subtitles?

[acIdrain1983]

I don't believe other fonts are available yet .. hopefully there are more coming.

[anime1202]

Hey I'm thinking of buying this but just to make sure, does it play mkv's with soft subtitles(i know you were playing kai in mkv). I have a bunch of raw blu-rays but encoding them takes way too long. Please answer asap, thanks :)

[acIdrain1983]

Yes, It does play soft-subs. Styles do not work, but the subs are much better looking in the WDTV Live then it was in the previous box. I would like some additional features added to it but as of right now their pretty good.

[anime1202]

ok, thanks for the quick reply :)

[lockoutpmp]

acIdrain1983: did you say in your video that you can get DTS to work on your TV without a receiver? Because i've been hearing you need a receiver for DTS so how did you set yours up to receive DTS because i'm planning on buying one later this week and i do not want to buy a receiver. Thanks in advance.

[acIdrain1983]

It comes with a DTS decoder built into the hardware. It will decode the DTS if you do not have a receiver ... The previous WDTV that I had did not have a DTS decoder and required a receiver.

[lockoutpmp]

acIdrain1983: I just bought the WDTV Live and when i play back a .MP4 file with AAC audio the audio kind of stutters like it drops for a second then comes back has this happened to you too? Also i noticed i can't play AC3 in digital only in stereo i don't have a receiver either are these happening to you too? Thanks in advance.

[acIdrain1983]

I've yet to test ether of them, sorry. When I happen to be able to I'll try it out. I only use the WDTV to play mkv/h264 videos.

[martin20xx]

i just got a WD TV HD media player

i would like to know IF any 1 knows what is the Difference between the 1first and 2nd generation.?

Thanks

[acIdrain1983]

The difference as far as I can tell is different hardware (hdmi 1.3, Ethernet, and component added), better user interface, and hardware decoding for DTS and other codecs. That are a few off the top of my head.

[saltek1a]

Ethernet port.

[ULAZYCOOK]

youtube's experience isn't up to par

[ULAZYCOOK]

they need to update on a couple of things or improvement.

1) have a mini key pad to type and search

2) have a keyboard support via usb

3) play my playlist on youtube...straight on... It does not skip to the next video! what the hell is a playlist then. I have to return and manually select my next video.

4) there should be more thumbnails than just a film strip design in youtube.

5) allow us to remove youtube's favorite , top rated, blah blah.. channels. Because I don't watch those

[dimaprok]

Ok, how hard was it to put a camera on tripod?

[acIdrain1983]

It wasn't my camera ...

[daspand]

Damnit, it's so hard to decide,

WDTV Live vs Asus O!play..

None play FLV ..which kinda sucks..

Asus plays rmvb... WDTV live has a much better looking/organized menu.

Asus O!play has esata port, WDTV Live doesn't.

This is so hard !!!

[acIdrain1983]

First of all, Why would one WANT to play rmvb/flv? I don't understand why anyone would choose to get low quality videos. The only thing O!play has over WDTV Live is the esata port that I would like but I've never had a time where I needed that much in transfer speeds ... USB has enough bandwidth.

[daspand]

USB is crap compared to eSata.

Anyhow, why would you wanna play rmvb/flv files ? well that's because MOST ppl buy this media player not just for playing HD/mkv files ,but for an All-in-one player (ie most audio/video/picture formats) Rmvb and flv are one of the most popular formats for many tv series and many times even animations like cartoons and anime even. Nobody has the time to convert hundreds of episodes into other formats. B

[daspand]

cont.

Besides, converting would be against the whole point of buying a media player.

[acIdrain1983]

Sorry, but I have to disagree with you. I don't know ANYONE that downloads rmvb files still. It's pointless to play a rmvb file on a 52" HDTV. I download all my anime in full quality hd/mkv files. I agree USB is crap compared to eSata, but you have to realize that USB has enough capacity to play anything you throw at the media player. Just because eSata is better doesn't mean USB can't do the job, its not a valid point in this case.

[acIdrain1983]

cont.

The only people who will be downloading those types of files would be people who has limited/slow internet capacity connections or their isp's limit them in some way. I agree that it would be better to download rmvb/flv, but I think its a waste to complain that it doesn't have rmvb support. That's taking a step back as a HD media player when rmvb is NOT HD. It's pointless to support a old format (in my opinion).

[daspand]

god, don't u understand... read:

"Nobody has the time to convert hundreds of episodes into other formats."

I didn't buy the freakin player to be converting the videos and then watching it, that's besides the whole point of the device.. srsly ppl think for once...

[acIdrain1983]

Did I say anything about converting the videos?! No I did not. Download a different format instead.

[daspand]

Uh... what if it's not available in a different format ? some shows i've come across are pretty rare and are only available in rmvb..

The point is, why not add the format, O!play does, and it's cheaper. It also has an esata port. So it's more worth it.

[acIdrain1983]

I've found pretty much every series in divx or better format. I've never encountered a series that was purposely encoded in rmvb only. I don't have one file in rmvb and I've got over 300 anime series/movies in divx/xivd, dvd, bluray, or mkv formats. You just need to know where to look ... irc, usenet, bittorrent, ddl, etc.

If its more worth it for you, go ahead and buy the box ... no one is stopping you. What ever is better for the buyer. I'm not trying to convince you otherwise.

[daspand]

You're right, it is my choice, however, i can't seem to come to a conclusion to which player is the better buy.

The reason i was talking about rmvb being important, is cuz it's a format- this makes the basis of these network media players.. an addition of any format regardless of popularity (in this case, rmvb, not the most popular, but quite common format, available in Asus O!play)is a strong benefiical point in favor of that particular player.

[daspand]

Anyhow, i personally also don't use that format much, rmvb, but like i mentioned b4 every format is important.

Most of my video files are in avi, mp4, mkv and mpg format..

However, thrs other points to consider, like the thumbnail problem u mentioned, the lag noticed in another review when u fastforward @16x i think for a significant time ~5-10 min and then play again it lags/hangs quite a bit...

and takes a while to play back normally again.

O!play(not many flws), but its menu sucks..

[ULAZYCOOK]

wdtv live's navigation is easy. youtube 's experience is bad. ...because you search by letter by letter..

and the youtube playlist is gay. does not play the next clip! have to manually return and select the next one

[sevn777]

do yo think it will be possible to include other video or radio services such as shoutcast. maybe with a custom firmware?

It is possible to create a youtube playlist, sign in at the wd tv and play it on the tv ?

[acIdrain1983]

Um, I have no idea. It has a automatic firmware updater, I don't know if the manual updating still works.

[strika71]

Nice review!

Do you know why FLV (Flash Video) format is not listed as a supported file format? I find this most unusual as the WD TV LIve has YouTube support which is based on FLV.

Reason I ask is I have heaps of FLV video files on my hard drive and would be nice to play them without re-encoding.

Really wana get this thing - just the FLV support is holding me back. I hear the Xtreamer has support for FLV but doesn't have a nice menu system.

[acIdrain1983]

I have not tested FLV yet ... when I get a chance to I will.

[strika71]

Ended up buying one yesterday, this thing rocks!

Unfortunately it doesn't support FLV - I did however drop an email to WD TV Live support as a future firmware consideration.

So far tested it with videos, MP3s, images, youtube, flickr via the Ethernet (wired) and works great. There is a bug however with the BMP decoder - on very large images (over 20MB) they end up looking slanted and split in the middle - definitely a bug but one I can live with.

Very happy with the unit (so far).

[donlon77]

Does the remote suck?? I know the old one did.

[acIdrain1983]

It's the same remote.

[mullahisgood]

Over the network from my PC, can I copy/paste/delete video from the external HDD that is connected to the WDTV2?

[acIdrain1983]

By default, The WDTV shares the external drive on the network to access by anyone. You can copy/paste/delete from and to it like it was another computer on the network.

[murc111]

A lot of people ask the same questions. lol

Good review BTW.  Mine arrives tomorrow. :)

[krypton12345]

when watching MKV, can you turn the subtitles OFF?

[acIdrain1983]

Yes, In the option menu there's a way to change the audio, and subtitles in addition to turning off subtitles. There's also a chapters menu if the MKV has chapters.

[Sheltem77]

Hello!

Please tell me I can play WMV HD videos(1080p) with this new wdtv even if i have WMV with DTS sound? Tell me how WMV HD playing works please. Thank you

[Pelonetillo]

i tried following the windows 7 guide in description but it didnt work for me. keeps telling me no "there is no media in the current folder"

[acIdrain1983]

Try renaming your shared folder, I've had issues with folders that had with underscores. You would get a something that says that it can't connect o the media server. It's looking for the media so the windows 7 guide worked perfectly. Try renaming the media folders, and make sure their is media inside them. It wont find any shares if media doesn't exist.

[Pelonetillo]

alright, im not exactly sure how i got it working finally, but i got it. wow. windows 7 media share is extremely frustrating. lol. thanks, man. bought this thing again today and i am loving it.

[blueshy47]

great vid, i have the older model. Do you know if there a universal remote that i can use for the wd hd tv media player if i choose?

[acIdrain1983]

I have not tried universal remotes on it, I do know the new remote works on the old model ... I'll let you know if I come across anyone that knows or if I try it myself.

[kurtblah]

Does the new WDTV Live support video playlists?

[acIdrain1983]

No, It doesn't seem it does. You can press play on the directory and it'll play them all ... but not playlists in the usual sense of creating and saving them.

[stlai11]

lol i have a student who has the same speech impediment as you! good review though!

[acIdrain1983]

I would have thought a teacher would not laugh at someone else's problems ... tsk tsk tsk

[noformstyle]

How about dvd vob files? that is how I ripped my dvd and bd.

thx

[acIdrain1983]

I believe it has to be in a ISO file in order for you to be able to play it; But you can also go into the VIDEO_TS directory and play the .VOB files but then there may not be subtitles.

[acIdrain1983]

Also, It doesn't take long to convert them into an ISO file also, ImgBurn can do it within minutes. It's a pain but that's a easy way.

[noformstyle]

Also, will it auto turn off 3.5" external hdd which require ac power?

[acIdrain1983]

The old one did, so I assume the new one does too. However, Only the ones that don't have a switch to turn on/off, Like the Seagate Freeagent Pro.

[noformstyle]

Hello 1. Youtube can you sign in to playlist? 2 No dvd and bd menu support? 3. It play bd rip,but is it bd vob or iso files or both?

[acIdrain1983]

1. Yes, Playlist is under the account feature. 2. No dvd/bd menu support. 3. will play DVD ISO files but only main movie, I've not tried a full BD ISO yet, If I get a hold of one in the future I'll let you know.

[noformstyle]

Hi Acldrain,

Thx for replies, also when play dvd iso main movie, can you get different language audio and sub ?

[acIdrain1983]

Yes. You can, You press the option button and you can change the audio and subtitles.

[koldfish]

Twonky & MyiHome both DLNA servers support MKV.

[acIdrain1983]

Thanks, I've changed the annotation to give this information.

[mxlu]

Since your hard drive has to be formatted at FAT32, have you tried copying files over 4GB over a networked computer that is connected with the player?

[acIdrain1983]

Incorrect, The drive I use is formatted in NTFS ... I have no problems copying files over 4gb to the drive.

[acIdrain1983]

External Drive Formats Supported

FAT32, NTFS, HFS+ (no journaling) [Source: WDC Site] I believe EXT2 is supported but I've never tested it.

[mxlu]

thanks for clearing that up. now I can go ahead and make my purchase. guess i have a new toy to play with this weekend.

[MrMonkeyface66]

Are Youtube videos in SD or HQ or HD when viewed? Can you change the quality?

----

About the video resolution setting: You can change it on this unit, too! You just have to select HDMI first and then you are asked which output resolution you want to use.

[acIdrain1983]

Youtube videos are automatically selected on the highest quality unless you disable HD video feeds under the account menu.

---

Oh! I didn't notice that! Thanks!

[Clancymm1]

what's your accent

[acIdrain1983]

I live in California but my parents are from New York so you can hear some NY accent in my voice I guess.

[pxl7]

Wat für eine Müllbude

[CEDrickp32]

Hi, can you tell me if video thumbnails are fast to load on a local drive? The first one was kind of slow, and you didn't show it on this video.

[acIdrain1983]

I've only tested the thumbnails over the network at this point, and they load decently fast. (Little delay at times while scrolling down a list of over 300 files). This time thumbnails are generated from the files themselves instead of files you provide it so its easier to have thumbnails on everything.

Has this answered your question?

[MrMonkeyface66]

I think he wanted to know, if the "Cover" thumbnails which you put yourself inside the folder of a video file (folder.jpg) are loaded fast or slow like on the old WDTV.

[acIdrain1983]

I've never used the folder.jpg feature of the WDTV so I can't say for sure unless I go test it out. Which I may do later tonight.

[acIdrain1983]

It seems it will work with any jpg now, I'm looking at a directory with 1.jpg and it comes up as the folder icon.

[acIdrain1983]

Seems that this isn't what happens all the time, its random. Not sure why one directory cover shows up fine but another doesn't...