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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ganeshts - Thursday, July 29, 2010 - link
Niall,Have you tried playing Blu-Ray backups in MKV or M2TS formats on the Amlogic chipset? I believe the Amlogic chipset uses IP from Chips & Media, and that IP is just not powerful enough to decode Blu-Ray spec encodes (high bitrates). Admittedly, the last time I did research on this was 6 months back.
That said, we will try to get hold of such devices for review here provided they have a presence in the US. One of the Realtek streamers is up next :)
Decaff - Friday, July 30, 2010 - link
Care to announce which Realtek streamer that is?ganeshts - Friday, July 30, 2010 - link
The only one supporting Netflix :) No guarantees when it is going to appear though :Ptech6 - Thursday, July 29, 2010 - link
Another great home theater review - keep them coming. AT is one of the very few sites that actually does any meaningful testing of HT devices beyond taking them out of the box and switching them on.EddyKilowatt - Monday, August 2, 2010 - link
Agree. The tech-blog scene needs more *reporters* and fewer *stenographers*.I've read several reviews of the WD Live family, and this is pretty much the first time I've seen the Video Quality issues mentioned, at least in any objective way.
I'll be picking up one of these gadgets in a few months, but sure hope they'll fix the networking bugs as I'll mostly be streaming from a Windows Home Server.
Mumrik - Thursday, July 29, 2010 - link
"For those who value low power consumption this device certainly fits the bill, consuming almost 8 times less power than an HTPC at idle and 5 times less power at load."That kind of expression really does make no sense at all when you talking about using LESS. One time less would be zero - are you talking about 1/8 and 1/5 of the power?
SlyNine - Monday, August 2, 2010 - link
And yet, our amazing human mind made perfect sense out of it. Also it didn't detract from the article at all.But I guess technically you are correct.
Ninjahedge - Thursday, July 29, 2010 - link
I have an older model. I primarily use it when going down to the shore.It is TINY and fits easily into a backpack. the only problem being file storage. Getting the external HD, power cord and other things can be a real PITA.
But that may also be a thing of the past as SD gets cheaper. Carrying a few 32's and an adapter may make bringing Anime and the like much easier.
The only problems I have with the older one was lack of network connectability. It is all USB. Having something that can be hooked up to a router and stream whatever you have (along with custom subs) is a godsend.
I am just pissed that most of these guys came along AFTER I made my $700 Shuttle box a year or two back!
I have not read the full atricle yet, but I am guessing the Pandora Playing is just their Pay service (like Slimline?)
Has Logitech jumped on this bandwagon? Can we get comparitive reviews soon? Can you mow my lawn?
;)
puckalicious - Thursday, July 29, 2010 - link
I noticed the test suite contains only 1 test for DVD playback, and only from an ISO file. What about DVD video_ts folders on a hard drive?ganeshts - Thursday, July 29, 2010 - link
puckalacious, We will add this in the next version of the test suite:1. DVD folder playback
2. Blu-Ray folder playback
Thanks for your suggestions.