WD TV Live Plus: Western Digital's Latest Media Player Reviewed
by Cameron Butterfield on July 29, 2010 1:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Home Theater
- Media Streamer
- WD
- WD TV Live Plus
Within its class of devices, the WD TV Live Plus offers a wide array of features and compatibility. People who deal primarily with file types supported by this device will be quite happy with the value that it provides them at this price range. The online content available on this device (Netflix, YouTube, Pandora and others) provide a deeper incentive to buy the unit on top of the local media playback features. All the online content applications perform as advertised and are easily accessible to the average consumer. These additional features allow the media players to creep one step closer to crowding out the HTPC. However, in terms of versatility (WDTV Live Plus media compatibility score is just 57.74% compared to the ASRock Core 100 HT-BD's 97.62%) and picture quality (WDTV Live Plus HQV 2.0 score is just 43 on 210, compared to the ASRock HTPC's 133 on 210), it can be said that HTPCs still have a long reign ahead.
Pros
- Slim design
- Easy setup
- Has one of the widest feature sets of any device in its class
- Relatively inexpensive
- Low power consumption
- Silent Operation
- Expanded online content includes site(s) using DRM
- Great user manual (even though it is only a digital copy)
Cons
- Poor Video Post processing (deinterlacing and noise reduction)
- Some compatibility issues (WMAPro)
- Subtitle Issues (Stylized Subs, RtoL languages, PGS)
- Some users may need coaxial S/PDIF connectivity
- Lack of custom firmware mods (as of July 28th, 2010)
Western Digital has done a good job of adding value and features to their line of WD TV devices with the WD TV Live Plus. This unit feels mature and caters to the modern consumers' unique online content cravings. However, the introduction of Netflix has brought with it a locked down Linux box. Custom firmware developers have been finding it difficult to hack into the firmware to enable features which could be had on the WDTV Live. That said, the features, compatibility and value place the WD TV Live Plus around the top of the list for consideration by anyone looking for a media player device.
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EarthwormJim - Thursday, July 29, 2010 - link
The size is nice, but I don't see how this can really compare to the ~$200 ion systems you can get/build. Sure it's cheap, but it's so much more limited than a full computer.kmmatney - Thursday, July 29, 2010 - link
It's much easier to use than a full computer, and has a remote control. My wife can use this as easily as a DVD player. I looked into getting an ION system, but was going to be $250 for the cheapest system (book size), whereas the WD Live was $109 when I bought mine. It works great - has played everything I've tried. It also has excellent zooming features.Phynaz - Thursday, July 29, 2010 - link
This.An easy to use appliance that doesn't require any effort on the users part as far as education.
greenguy - Sunday, August 29, 2010 - link
Exactly. I have a WD TV live, and it has been awesome. It uses next to no power, and plays pretty much everything (other than Thomas the Tank Engine) we have thrown at it. Very impressed, very easy to use.wdtvblogger - Saturday, August 7, 2010 - link
It has a great iPhone application that acts a remote control (http://www.wdtvremote.com) - much easier than the hardware remote control. It also allows extra features on your WDTV such as playing SHOUTcast radio...EarthwormJim - Thursday, July 29, 2010 - link
I forgot to add, I do thoroughly enjoy reviews like this though. Even if the product is crummy, bring on more!!beginner99 - Thursday, July 29, 2010 - link
So this thing is like identical to the non-plus version which I own. The wmapro thing is a non-issue. It's almost never used and there is a converter available online to mkv which is pretty sweet (=works and is fast).The issue I have is mainly the network problems. If you intend to use it in a network, well prepare for issues. I use it wireless. Bandwith is no problem but connection just drops now and then. see wd forum. it's a common issue. supposedly also happens in wired mode. It' s not really reproducable. Sometimes ti just works, sometimes it drops several times during a movie.
The limited youtube content can also be an issue because what often is blocked are offical music videos and trailers. Eg. the things you would actually want to watch on the tv. Fun stuff, normally in crappy quality, I usually get to by links when browsing on my pc. For me this is not a killer, I bought it for streaming but after a short look at the youtube feature I never used it again.
kmmatney - Thursday, July 29, 2010 - link
This website lets you create thumbnails for movies to make browsing through the folders more interesting. It creates a file with the same name as your movie, which the WD Live knows to use as a thumbnail for the moviehttp://www.wdtvc.com/2009/04/04/wd-tv-movie-thumbn...
This is good for doing a few movies at a time. There is also a thumbnail generator for auto-generating thumbnails for a whole movie collection:
http://www.softpedia.com/get/Multimedia/Video/Othe...
nubie - Thursday, July 29, 2010 - link
I notice you did image quality tests on 1080 output, what if you are using a native 720p screen, such as a projector?Do these caveats still apply? I would assume less so because the down-conversion should happen after the de-interlacing.
Excellent review, this thing is on the short list of simple gadgets for HD video that the Luddites in the family can operate (and not break doing so.)
probedb - Thursday, July 29, 2010 - link
I'd be interested in a review of the Play!ON as it appears to be a much better player.I'm also surprised so little attention is paid to deinterlacing in these devices. I rip my DVDs to MKV without compression meaning the streamer must deinterlace so surely it wouldn't hurt for a manufacturer to a good quality one with maybe some ABT chipsets in there?