Digital media device (WD TV, Boxee, etc)

[rocks911]

I have wired my home with CAT cable and use my PC as a server sending content to a WD TV Live HD. The results are for the most part satisfactory. The WD is kind of frustrating/glitchy/hard to use and I'm looking for the input of other users. The content I view on this device is for the most part H264 video in an MKV container as well as AVI's. These files play flawlessly on the WD (after finally getting the WD to communicate with my W7 64 bit PC) but dont play reliably at all through the USB port.

I recommended the WD TV Live HD to a friend to play his digital content directly from an external HDD. He purchased the unit, updated the firmware, plugged in his 1Tb external HDD and started watching. Unfortunately the video would freeze and the only way to get it started again was to shut the unit down and start it again, only to have it mess up again. My friend said that he gets about 10 minutes into a video and it freezes, AVI's and MKV's both do this. I have the exact files he is trying to play and while they play fine through my WD TV Live HD through the CAT cable, they freeze when played through his USB on the WD TV Live HD. My friend says that the unit gets extermely hot very quickly and maybe thats part of the problem (mine doesnt get hot at all) and maybe what causes it to freeze

So a couple of questions come to mind:
Has anybody else experienced this?
Is there something that needs "tweaking" in settings to get this to work as it is supposed to?
Is there a more reliable unit/manufacturer that sells a unit that can play back a broad range of content through a USB?

I have a Boxee Box also that plays nicely and as it has an Intel chip it's an all around better experience than the WD but clearly it's more expensive.

Any thoughts would be appreciated, I'm embarrased for recommending this unit.

[jagabo]

What kind of USB drive is he using? If it's a 5.25 inch drive the USB port may not be supplying enough power to it. The drive will need an external power supply. Of if he's using and old USB thumb drive the flash memory may not be fast enough.

[Moontrash]

I personally don't have any experience with hd media players but I do know others who do and have listened to all that they have said and the consensus is that the WD product works...and doesn't work. It's a mixed bag. I remember listening to all the frustrations of dealing with the WD and "it plays" this good but won't play this so I updated the myriad of FW options to this FW and now it plays but the other file wont play. Look online and you'll see the frustration with that model. I did some research and looked around online for the perfect medium of "minimal complaints" and ease of use and playability...and what I found was the there's a model called the Micca ep350. It's biggest complaint is that the remote isn't too great. There aren't many reviews online about it except at Amazon but go and read em. It plays everything and the users seem to love it. Has room for a huge hdd or you can use a thumb drive to play from. Plug an external dvd player into the USB..it plays fine.

IMO I think the media players all suffer from one main thing...they came out too fast before proper testing could be done to determine reliability. ...i.e...the consumers out there are actually beta testers lol. I think eventually they'll get it right not to far down the road but as it is now...all of em have their playback quirks. You just have to look around and read which one has less quirks than the other

[_Al_]

WDTV Live HD model which one ? Labeling WDTV is nightmare , all models have similar names.
Hopefully those are latest models. The thing is to get it from Best Buy to return it if something is not right . Difficult to scale word "hot", my units get warm definitively but not hot (WDTV Live Plus models).
After you get unit, first thing is to update its firmware. I know latest firmware are not perfect, but better than those first releases.

[louv68]

I have a 'WD TV Live Streaming' which came out in the fall of 2011. It has its' quirks, but for the most part, has been relatively satisfactory. I haven't experienced problems streaming h264 MKV's wireless thru a WIN XP 32bit machine or thru a USB 2.0 flash drive. I'm two firmwares back, as I've read of other problems arising. My biggest gripe with this unit is that is chokes on VIDEO_TS folders thru wireless, but plays ISO's just fine. Forums link: http://community.wdc.com/t5/WD-TV-Live-Streaming-Media/ct-p/wdtvlive_streaming

[_Al_]

I do not have that model. Not sure how to fix freezing by just playing some media, I know the cases of 60p videos that were playing for a while and then started to stutter etc. (some previous models and particular fw), but to freeze after 10min, not sure, hardly some buffer problems, or some problems that would choke player, 10 min is too long. Is bitrate increased in those scenes ...?

If it was me I'd simply change the unit. Try it again, and if the problem persisted I'd say "OK this box is not for me" or something worse , embarrassing or not, maybe I'd do it for him , but before I got rid of it I'd tested latest fw anyway ...