Western Digital WDTV Live Hub Review
by Ganesh T S on October 26, 2010 7:38 AM EST- Posted in
- Home Theater
- Media Streamer
- Gadgets
The WDTV Live Hub case had no screws on the outside, similar to the earlier WDTV units. However, once the notch at the rear end of the top panel was spotted, it was a simple job to pry it open and expose the internals. The fan inside the unit renders unnecesaary the heat sink found in the previous generation products.
The 1 TB internal hard disk is the WD Scorpio Blue. Unfortunately, the unit doesn't seem to be easily user serviceable.
The other main components on the board are as follows:
- Sigma Designs SMP 8654AD : Video decoder
- Realtek RTL8110SC(L) : Gigabit Ethernet controller
- 4 x 64 MB NANYA DRAM modules
- Samsung K9F2G080UB 2 GB NAND Flash
The Live Hub board is based upon the Vantage 8654 development platform provided by Sigma Designs. As a way of customization, the Realtek GbE controller is probably connected to the SMP 8654 using the PCI connector. The SATA port made available in the SMP 8654 is connected to the 1 TB hard disk. From the hardware viewpoint, other than the GbE controller, there is nothing much exciting or different from the reference design. Unfortunately, the GbE controller doesn't appear to deliver its full potential, and it doesn't look like WD is planning to fix it either. However, it does lend a nice marketing pitch, as this happens to be the first dedicated media streamer in the market with a GbE port.
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
53 Comments
View All Comments
fingaz - Tuesday, November 30, 2010 - link
Would love to know both of these things too. Also would be eternally grateful for a screenshot or two of a sample movie sheet!virtual_one - Saturday, November 6, 2010 - link
Hello!Does WD Live Hub really have remote control over HTTP or DLNA? I can not find any possibility to drive this media-center via those interfaces..
Thank you
ganeshts - Tuesday, November 9, 2010 - link
Yes, there is a remote control over HTTP. You can find details in the product user guide available on the WD website.Kitno - Tuesday, November 9, 2010 - link
Hi,In the LiveHub test the7th stream that did not succesfully played was the Panasonic 1080/60p stream.
Since you test for this, does that mean that there are players out there that play these streams?
tx
Kitno
ganeshts - Tuesday, November 9, 2010 - link
It plays back fine on most HTPCs. We will have to dig up our other streamer reviews to see if someone else was able to play it back properly. In any case, I think it is more of firmware issue with WD and the chip itself should be capable of playing it back without problems.Kitno - Wednesday, November 10, 2010 - link
I have the PCH A200 and it can't deal with the 1080/60p stream.I saw the Nixeus Fusion HD and in the specs it says 1080/60p.
But it seems only available in the US.
On a HTPC is is indeed no problem.
I am not sure it is just a firmware issue. 1080/60p is double the information.
tx
K
Markomaani - Tuesday, November 30, 2010 - link
Hi!I was thinking of buying this but now it doesn't sound that good anymore :/
If I don't get this what would be better choice in this price category?
I don't need to hard drive so it can be one without a hard drive.
The wifi would be plus but not all has that either.
Make
obxman69 - Sunday, December 5, 2010 - link
does this unit have any parental controls to keep kids off of Facebook for example?thanks
michsxx - Thursday, December 9, 2010 - link
HiI'm new and I want to just say Hello.
My nick is: http://www.25mbits.com">michsxx
I hope to write many of posts in this forum...
If it's wrong thread to say Hello, please move to correct one.
zickk - Thursday, January 13, 2011 - link
Hello, is there a way of opening the remote control?i have some buttons that are not working.