WD TV Live Media Player with Wi-Fi

I’ve had one for a couple of years and have been fairly pleased. I have this and a couple of Rokus hooked up around the house and IMO the main advantage with WD Player has been that there is a specific SlingPlayer app so you’re streaming directly from the SlingBox rather having to do it via a phone or tablet like the Roku SlingPlayer requires.

Just wanted to let you folks know that I have no idea what most of you are saying. Have a nice day.

This is a Gen 3 device, and is currently unsupported by WDLXTV (but is being worked on). For a list of supported WDLXTV devices, see: http://wiki.wdlxtv.com/Main_Page

I’ve had one of these little guys for about 2 years and it was AWESOME. I use it almost entirely to stream movies/tv shows off my computer (works on mac, Windows, linux). It really does work with any media format. 100% reliable, works every time (though you need to use NFS if you have a Mac as SMB doesn’t work).

HOWEVER: in December they released a firmware update which destroyed it entirely–it wouldn’t connect to wifi, wouldn’t play a show for more than a few minutes, etc. There was a huge thread on their support forums talking about it and how to downgrade the firmware but I can’t seem to find it anymore (…).

I downgraded the firmware and it hasn’t really run the same since. It’s slow to buffer and features that used to work flawlessly (such as advancing a movie/tv show to a specific time–say 1 hour ahead) just wont work. It still works for netflix and still streams off my computer, just not as reliably as before.

I do not know if my model was an old revision using a new (broken) firmware or what, but WD dropped a **** bomb on its users and to my knowledge never fixed it. I’ve been afraid to check for further firmware updates since them. I’ve googled a bunch and I can’t seem to find clarification on these issues.

This will stream ripped dvd’s in VOB format and retain menus. Plex won’t do that.

I’ve had this device along with a couple WDTV Live Hubs for a few years now combined with a Synology NAS for streaming media. They play every media thrown at them, however, the interface is clunky and slow and it doesn’t not support Amazon Prime streaming or HBOGO or really anything beyond Netlfix and Hulu for video services. I recently picked up a Roku3 and am considering ditching these devices in favor of the Roku’s faster interface and better channel selection.

Agreed.

It will also be a “Play to” endpoint for you on your network were Roku is only a streaming services endpoint.

I already have a smart tv that I can play media on, but I’m limited in the video formats it will play. I’ve got a 2TB external that’s nearly full of TV and movies in an assortment of formats - would this be a good way of accessing them? How’s the navigation when browsing through so many files? Any better options?

Thanks :).

We’ve had one of these for a few years now. In all I would buy again, but it’s not a perfect device by any means. A good one for people with some tech savvy, some patience, and a lot of media files.

Pros:

Plays darn near any format. We have yet to find one that it won’t play actually. It plays .isos and you can use the DVD menu if it’s included. Also plays pictures and music.

Plays files off an attached hard drive or USB easily. We keep a hard drive plugged in and the WDTV connected to our home network. Just transfer files over the network and it’s ready to go.

We also use the built-in Netflix, YouTube, and Pandora channels. No problems other than (IMO) some YT clunkiness.

You can use the hardware remote or a browser remote via PC connection.

You can change the background and use a few available custom UIs. I’ve read there’s custom firmware but we haven’t tried it yet.

Easy to plug in, small, doesn’t get really hot, quiet. Even stacked with the hard drive this is by far the smallest thing on our media shelf.

Cons:

VERY quirky to get it set up and working properly. We had to turn off media library to stop the sometimes never-ending content retrieval. We have a lot of tricks to get it working properly, like having to play something briefly off the hard drive before starting Netflix or you won’t get sound. (You should just bookmark the WD forums now if you’re buying.)

Without media library, our files just show as labeled on the drive. (I prefer this but we’re pretty organized.) No covers although I might be able to add them manually if I had the patience.

Workaround to playing video folder on shuffle: Enter “r” on the browser remote.

The kids lost our hardware remote. The Android app does not work!!! There was a user-made remote app but that no longer works since the last update. We use the browser remote in a browser app. Our phones and tablets can run this, but the buttons are pretty small.

No way to tell when you last played a file on the hard drive, i.e., which episode you’re on if you didn’t make a note of it.

Support is basically nonexistent. Yes there are updates now and then, but don’t expect miracles.

No Google Music channel. :frowning:

I got one the last time they were offered, and it came with ZERO documentation… No owners manual, no warrantee card, Nothing. Here is a link for anyone who needs one… Support | Western Digital

Many, Many thanks for the instructions link to Mikecoe71. Mine arrived today - (WOW! - along with the rice steamer I ordered way back on the 12th).

Zero instructions of any kind - not even a set of unknown-name batteries for the remote…but the player & remote & cables all look perfectly pristine, as in appears factory new (unlike my refurbished Chromebook).