WD TV Live Plus: Western Digital's Latest Media Player Reviewed

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

1. Slim design
2. Easy setup
3. Has one of the widest feature sets of any device in its class 
4. Relatively inexpensive
5. Low power consumption
6. Silent Operation
7. Expanded online content includes site(s) using DRM
8. Great user manual (even though it is only a digital copy)

Cons

1. Poor Video Post processing (deinterlacing and noise reduction)
2. Some compatibility issues (WMAPro)
3. Subtitle Issues (Stylized Subs, RtoL languages, PGS)
4. Some users may need coaxial S/PDIF connectivity
5. 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.