[jaseandwave]

I'm thinking of splashing out on a WD TV Live Hub WDBACA0010BBK-UESN 1.4v HDMI 1080p MKV Gigabit Network Media Streamer.

Has anyone any experience with these things? I've used the PS3 as media server but HD playback has never seemed quite right to me, also the PS3 is noisy.

Is streamed 1080p playback as bood as bluray?

Any comments or alternative products would be appreciated.

[toddy28]

Mines in the post mate so I will post when it arrives through the snow

It looks good with the hdmi 1.4 for 3d via update later

Only 152 from ebuyer

[planthead]

As the guts of it are very similar, if not the same chipset as the wd tv live, streamed blu ray will be fine, and be of similar performance,, good to see the price drop to 150.00,

[Burlybolsh]

I received mine yesterday, looks to be a polished bit of kit and plays avi and mkv files seamlessly. I transferred some over via USB stick.

However for the life of me I can't get my laptop to recognise it as a mapped drive.

The WDTV unit is wired into my Netgear wifi router and my Laptop connects wirelessly to the router.

I know the WDTV unit is accessing the internet fine through the router but I cannot map it as a network drive via my laptop. It just doesn't recognise it at all even though it appears in my network as 'WDTVLiveHub' media player.

The WD discovery software won't map it either.

It's driving me crazy. Any tips? Help!!

[toddy28]

Have you updated the firmware ? I read in a review it needs doing to fix issues with drive access

[jaseandwave]

I think I might take the plunge. Anyone comment on quality of 1080p streaming, any glitches, freezing etc?

[low-def.]

i've just gone and ordered this too - can't wait!. anyone know if it does do the movie info scraping?

[gbcasual]

Any of those above that ordered got any first impressions of the unit for us?

[low-def.]

Not received it yet. Should get it tomorrow :-)

[chewystuey]

I wonder if any of you happen to have a Sonos system and have/could try reading music off the Live Hub HDD to play through the Sonos?

I am presuming the Live Hub is seen as a network share, and so the Sonos should be able to see it, but it would be nice to check before I splash out!

[lbstyling]

A friend at work has just purchased one of these today, as Im looking for a media player myself at the mo, Ill be keeping up with his experiences and will let you lot know what its like as soon as ive had a play.

[nacmacfeegle]

Originally Posted by chewystuey

I wonder if any of you happen to have a Sonos system and have/could try reading music off the Live Hub HDD to play through the Sonos?

I am presuming the Live Hub is seen as a network share, and so the Sonos should be able to see it, but it would be nice to check before I splash out!

I'd ask on the music streaming forum.
Forum regular Roseben is pretty much a Sonos guru over there. So he should be able to advise. I'd be surprised if the Sonos couldn't see the Wdtv, as it's a flexible and tolerant system.
http://www.avforums.com/forums/strea...music-players/

[toddy28]

I have had mine for 2 days now and love it

I was playing mkvs on a 8000 series samsung 3dtv and they looked good
But there so much better on the wd the movement is smother and the gui works really well

The reason I got the hub was to play mkv's on my projector as well as my tv

The cover flow / film thumbs/ info is really good it found all of my 40 films I have so far but you have to do them one at a time , it doesn't take to long

The only bad thing is how slow it copy's from USB to it's internal hard drive
16mbs using a wd passport on my pc it transfers at 30mbs

All in all it's a brilliant little box that does what it should well worth £150

Also the remote is a bit slow my harmony flips through the menus at twice the speed

[speek1984]

Anyone knows if subtitles also play from AVCHD/MKV files? Or maybe when added externally? (i.e. when putting an .srt with the same filename next to an .m2ts).
In other words, are there formats that don't work with subtitles (being either external or from the file itself).

[jaseandwave]

You're having more luck than me!

I received mine today but am having no joy setting up network shares. It cant find the films and music on my external hard drive attached to my PC. I've set them as shared folders but it doesn't see them. Any tips?

Originally Posted by toddy28

I have had mine for 2 days now and love it

I was playing mkvs on a 8000 series samsung 3dtv and they looked good
But there so much better on the wd the movement is smother and the gui works really well

The reason I got the hub was to play mkv's on my projector as well as my tv

The cover flow / film thumbs/ info is really good it found all of my 40 films I have so far but you have to do them one at a time , it doesn't take to long

The only bad thing is how slow it copy's from USB to it's internal hard drive
16mbs using a wd passport on my pc it transfers at 30mbs

All in all it's a brilliant little box that does what it should well worth £150

Also the remote is a bit slow my harmony flips through the menus at twice the speed

[toddy28]

not yet mate still finding my feet with it

im having trouble getting wd discovery to let me access my hub as its asks
for a password !!!!!! what password i havent given it one

[planthead]

Look for networking a wd tv live on here,, the are the same..

clear any log on passwords,, log on automatically,,, make sure its workgroup,, and un-install windows live sign in assistant,, update firmware,, try and use wd discover.. there are tutorials and you tube guides,, to set the permissions,, if needed,,, all by memory,, but look for the guides that i and others posted ages ago...

[jaseandwave]

I've got the WD to see my files now and network shares working. I hadn't set the network workgroup properly (my pc network was 'mshome' changed it to 'WORKGROUP' and bob's your uncle.

[planthead]

This was a guide for win 7 and wd tv live ,, it may help with the hub,,,

YouTube - Enable Network Shares on WD TV Live & Windows 7 Ultimate x64

[low-def.]

cheers ill check that out later.

just had my first experience with jerky video playback with an mp4. Mediainfo is:


Format : MPEG-4
Format profile : Base Media
Codec ID : isom
File size : 2.00 GiB
Duration : 2h 37mn
Overall bit rate : 1 810 Kbps
Writing application : Lavf52.34.0

Video
ID : 1
Format : AVC
Format/Info : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile : Main@L4.0
Format settings, CABAC : No
Format settings, ReFrames : 2 frames
Codec ID : avc1
Codec ID/Info : Advanced Video Coding
Duration : 2h 37mn
Bit rate mode : Variable
Bit rate : 1 486 Kbps
Width : 1 280 pixels
Height : 536 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 2.35:1
Frame rate mode : Constant
Frame rate : 23.976 fps
Color space : YUV
Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0
Bit depth : 8 bits
Scan type : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.090
Stream size : 1.64 GiB (82%)

Audio
ID : 2
Format : AAC
Format/Info : Advanced Audio Codec
Format version : Version 4
Format profile : LC
Codec ID : 40
Duration : 2h 37mn
Bit rate mode : Variable
Bit rate : 320 Kbps
Channel(s) : 6 channels
Channel positions : Front: L C R, Side: L R, LFE
Sampling rate : 48.0 KHz
Compression mode : Lossy
Stream size : 361 MiB (18%)

any ideas anyone?

[planthead]

The wd tv live, is fussy over MP4, as well,, is this self ripped or a download??

I avoid them if poss,,

[low-def.]

download.

Most brrips seem to be in 720p mp4

What other format would be better?

[skinnymalinky]

Originally Posted by low-def.

download.

Most brrips seem to be in 720p mp4

what other format would be better?

x264

[low-def.]

can you convert mp4 to x264 of mkv?

[planthead]

720 mkv all the way,, you will see the difference

[low-def.]

What's the easiest way to convert mp4 to mkv for a newbie?

[planthead]

mkvmerge.?

[low-def.]

I think I tried that and it kept failing

[planthead]

Originally Posted by low-def.

I think I tried that and it kept failing

Then the mp4 are not standard.. tbh,, if you just wanted br rips,, then an xbox1 would play them...

btw.. discussions of rips you do not own,, are not allowed,,

[NX3]

Gone one today, having used a Asus O!play, WDTV Live HD, I've very impressed so far. Silly test really but it players killa fine, so its pretty powerful. The data scraper hasn't returned a single result unless I manually search. Its slick when it works but its a bit fussy about names and can't cope with things like Top.Gear.S01E01.

Mine came with a european plug, no UK adapter which is a tiny bit annoying. The box its very small, it has a small fan on the underneath so make sure you give it room to breath. The remote is nice, much better than previous WDTV remotes.

The GUI is just slick....its not XMBC but its the best I've seen so far. The online services are good, shame Pandora is USA only and no iPlayer, ITV, 4OD etc..