Western Digital HD MEdia Player alternatives?

[peggypwr1]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136325&Tpk=WDAVN00


This product from WD seems pretty neat. It can play any file HD and non HD, my question is, are there other products like you folks know about?

[yoda313]

I've heard people mention something called POPCORN HOUR - My understanding is it has more than the WD player like an internal harddrive.

There are also things like tvix and movix and the like.

I recently bought the western digital media player myself and definitely like it. It has two usb ports and can read ntfs harddrives so no file size limitations. It has a fiber optic output which is important since I don't have a hdmi receiver (but I do have hdmi on my hdtv so that is nice for the video output).

[peggypwr1]

yoda313 can any HDD be used. I have an ol WD 80 gig internal HDD, can I hook it up to this media player?

[festmaster]

can any HDD be used. I have an ol WD 80 gig internal HDD, can I hook it up to this media player?

It will read any usb hard drive and flash drive. Since you can get 8GB flash drives for under $20, that is a nice feature.

To answer your original question, Seagate has announced and is about to introduce a device with almost the same features as the Western Digital and at the same price point. Their big selling point is that the device has a slot for their sleek external drives. However, they use component output rather than HDMI which I think is a mistake.

[yoda313]

However, they use component output rather than HDMI which I think is a mistake.
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Actually I wish the WD also included a component port in addition to the hdmi. I still know some people who only have component inputs on their hdtvs so if I were to take it over to their place they could only use the analog rca ports and lose out on the potential full res.

[KBeee]

can any HDD be used. I have an ol WD 80 gig internal HDD, can I hook it up to this media player?

It will read any usb hard drive and flash drive. Since you can get 8GB flash drives for under $20, that is a nice feature.

To answer your original question, Seagate has announced and is about to introduce a device with almost the same features as the Western Digital and at the same price point. Their big selling point is that the device has a slot for their sleek external drives. However, they use component output rather than HDMI which I think is a mistake.

I looked at the Seagate a while ago (Seagate Free Agent I think it was called), but I was put off because it can't handle h264, or 1080p. Maybe their new machine due out later this year will have component + HDMI and be able to display 264 and 1080p, but I won't hold my breath.

[Valnar]

Popcorn Hour and Sage HD200.

[jagabo]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136325&Tpk=WDAVN00

This product from WD seems pretty neat. It can play any file HD and non HD

It can play very many files, not all.

[Delta2]

in terms of value for money WD is the best

but in terms of features, then popcorn (PCH) is your choice

PCH allows you to add an hard drive internally, it has Network capabilities such as a torrent client built-in, etc...

PCH also have DTS Downmix license for DTS Standard, and pass through for the remain DTS formats

WD is just a small and portable device that allows you to play almost any format.

WD uses the same chip as PCH, the Sigma SMP8635

WD have a third-part community working to provide an alternative firmware besides WD

WD doesn't have DTS downmix license, but it's just a question of time, however it makes pass-through to a external amplifier

this is just my opinion

best regards

[Seeker47]

If the WD product proves to be a big success, you will likely see more competitors appear than just the one from Seagate. But that is far from a slam dunk, in this shaky economy.

WD is just a small and portable device that allows you to play almost any format.

That could be quite useful. My Oppo 980 has a USB port, and on its own can play some but far from all files of certain types, be they on a DVD data disk or a thumb drive. Being able to take a much wider array of file formats with you, and play them on a lot of the TVs that are out there now, would be quite an advantage. Otherwise, your only recourse would be to run the files through something like ConverX, to wind up with a DVD-compliant version. (And you may well take a quality hit in the process.)

However, they use component output rather than HDMI which I think is a mistake.

Maybe, maybe not. Doesn't the HDMI automatically bring the DRM baggage along with it ? I don't know what WD is doing with the Compnent output of this device, but with the earlier Oppo model 970, the Component connection could free you from such limitations. The Compnent PQ might not be quite as good as the HDMI (?), but it looked quite good to me.

[MOVIEGEEK]

I was at Frys the other day and they had a whole section devoted to media players ranging in price from $99-299USD.I think the WD media player or the Popcorn Hour 100 offer the most bang-for-the-buck and they have remotes.
The Philips players with a USB port will play DivX and audio files from a HDD or flash drive.

[jagabo]

Doesn't the HDMI automatically bring the DRM baggage along with it ?

No. That is probably why the WD TV HD can't play DVDs (via a USB DVD drive).

[yoda313]

Doesn't the HDMI automatically bring the DRM baggage along with it ?

No. That is probably why the WD TV HD can't play DVDs (via a USB DVD drive).

Exactly. HDMI is just a connection type. It has the capacity for drm but is not forced to use it.

As for playing actual dvds through a usb drive perhaps wd just didn't want to work on extra drivers and add to the complexity of it? Also its main goal is mostly to sell more harddrives with the media player. Of course any drive can work with it but I'm sure they will get quite a few people buying western digital drives thinking "well it says its a western digital media player so I must have to use western digital drives".

Yes i know that is not the case but I'm sure there are a lot of people that would make that connection and be somewhat suckered into it (mind you I have two western digital usb drives and like them - I'm just saying it might be a featured marketing windfall their hoping for).

[jagabo]

As for playing actual dvds through a usb drive perhaps wd just didn't want to work on extra drivers and add to the complexity of it?

It would also require CSS and DVD licenses.