WD TV Live Review

[bdlee420]

Here is my review of the new WD TV Live Streaming Device in relation to Beyond TV.

My Setup:
downstairs
HTPC
Beyond TV
3 HDTV tuners 1 SD tuner
HDMI connection HDTV

upstairs
HDTV
WD TV Live

My house is wired with Cat 5e+ ethernet.

My goal is to stream my recordings to my upstairs TV. I decided to purchase the WD TV Live Media Player from Western Digital. I have tested this streamer using File Shares and a TVersity Media Server.

PROS:
1. Hardware: HDMI, network connectivity, size (very small)
2. Easy to setup and connect to a file share or media server
3. Plays a ton of files. For Beyond TV, it plays .TP files and DIVX files
4. Easy interface to use
5. Good quality picture and sound streaming
6. No network performance issues. I am streaming the original .TP files from BTV (not compressed). These are HD shows that run about 18-24 Mb/s.
7. Remote is IR, so it can be added to a IR Learning All in One Remote.
8. 10 min skip function is nice for FF through large time frames.
9. Folder navigation works well.
10. YouTube integration works if you care about that.

CONS:
1. User interface performance going in and out of watching movies is slow. There seems to be a 2 sec delay when click BACK for anything to actually happen.

2. Unreliable playing of .MPG files for SD recorded shows from BTV. I changed BTV to start recording in .WMV format and it will play those using TVersity but not using the File Share connection. ( I don't understand that). You can play the WMV in TVersity but you can't FF. Some MPG files will play using a File Share but some will not. I don't understand why it works sometimes and not others. It always mentions NO AUDIO STREAM when it doesn't play. This could be related to the fact that when ever I record a SD tv show in .MPG format, when I play it, most of the time the audio doesn't play right away. You have to FF and then RW and then it will play. So it makes me think that it might be an issue related to that, so more of a BTV issue than a WD issue.

3. No 30 second skip. If you are in FF mode, you can click NEXT and it will jump 10 min ahead, so that is good for getting through an hour. Getting through commercials takes a little while. It goes up to 16x FF but a 30 sec skip would be nicer.
4. The remote is small and doesn't have very many buttons (30 sec skip), and it seems kind of cramped.
5. Can't delete a file from the play section, you have to go to a separate section for file management. (just annoying)

ADDITIONAL NOTES: (stuff that is not a pro or con)
1. It CAN play .TP files from Beyond TV while they are still being recorded. The problem is the length time stamp is set, so once the player reaches that time, it will stop playing. If you click BACK while it is playing and then go back in, you are prompted if you want to continue from where you left off. If you click yes, it will take you back to the spot you where at when you left, plus it will reset the length to the new length. It is basically a little workaround to watching TV as it is being recorded, but it is not ideal. You have to make sure and click BACK before it gets to the end, because if you don't it won't work. Eventually the video will stop playing and make you go back to the beginning.

OVERALL:
I like it and it meets a lot of needs but it is far from a perfect fit for BTV. I paid $120 +tax for it. Really the next step up is a BTV Link machine which I have priced for $260. The question is, is the BTV Link machine worth an extra $140. It will give me the ability to schedule recordings, watch live recorded tv and easily play all my files. The WD TV Live is great at playing existing .TP files that are completly done recording. For me, that is about 80-90% of what I will use it for. It is just the other 10-20% that I will be missing out on.

Any comments or question are welcome. I would like some feedback on the .MPG audio issue as well if anyone has some input. I will continue to report anything else I find out.

P.S. They already have some firmware upgrades coming, so hopefully some of this stuff will be addressed.