| Media Player Hub Anyone here use a digital media player hub? I was looking at the WD TV Live Hub and just wanted to know what your thoughts are on this device.
What other similar devices are popular that support a large assortment of files and can be networked like the WD? |
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IanR
join:2001-03-22
Madison, NJ | Roku and Xbox. |
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| reply to FusionGuy
There are lots of them.
Asus O!Play
Popcorn Hour
Netgear NeoTV
Seagate GoFlex TV
Patriot Box Office
HornetTek Phantom/Showcase
Xtreamer
AC Ryan
just to name a few more common ones.
While researching I came across a website which lists a ton of them.
BTW, I suggest you get something that supports both DLNA and Samba. Many players support one but not the other. |
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 dvd536as Mr. Pink as they comePremium
join:2001-04-27
Phoenix, AZ
kudos:4 | reply to FusionGuy
We have two WD hubs and one hornetek. love them! |
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| reply to broccoli
The AC Ryan Playon!HD2 looks good too but I would have to order it online. The WD TV Live Hub I can just pick up ay BestBuy. I haven't really looked deep enough at the specs of both units yet. |
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 BF69Premium
join:2004-07-28
Camden, TN | reply to IanR
said by IanR:Roku and Xbox.
XBOX would be an expensive media player hub and it doesn't play all media. Roku is nice if you are mainly interested in using the apps. I am assuming the OP is asking for a media player hub so he can stream content he has on all his computers. Roku doesn't do that. |
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 darciliciousCyber LibrarianPremium
join:2001-01-02
Forest Grove, OR
kudos:1 | reply to FusionGuy
I'll add Boxee Box to the list if you want something that will do both local and Internet content. v1.5 of the firmware was just released for public beta and it appears to be a solid release. |
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 bryank
join:2000-03-23
Plainfield, IL | reply to FusionGuy
I have the AC Ryan Play on HD Mini and I love it. The only thing I wish I can find in any of these players is media cover art to populate for my media easily. The AC Ryan has a firmware the supports YAMJ but it's a pain in the ass to set up... |
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| reply to FusionGuy
I've played around with the newest version of the WD Live TV. For the price, it is probably the most robust playback option available. It played every format I threw at it, without a single hiccup. My only complaint with it is the presentation when you have a lot of media. But I've been spoiled by MediaBrowser running on Windows 7 Media Center. I passed it on to a friend who loves it, though he doesn't have multiple hard drives full of media like I do.
I think the "hub" version with a built in hard drive is twice the price, which is a little too close to what I could build a net-top WMC7 box for, so I'm not sure I could recommend it.
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Intel i7-2600k /ASRock P67 Extreme4 /4x 4Gb G.Skill /2x Intel 510 series 250Gb SSD /3x WD20EADS 2TB /2x PNY GTX 260 /Silverstone 850W /Custom water cooler /Antec Twelve-Hundred |
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 e_dubfranknbeansPremium,VIP
join:2001-08-12
kickin ass
kudos:2 | Get the WD TV Live Hub and a WD TV Live. The WD will play anything you throw at it.
Load all your media on to the WD TV Live Hub and you can stream from the WD TV Live Hub to the WD TV Live unit. |
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| said by e_dub  The WD will play anything you throw at it.[/BQUOTE :No, not anything.
I have the original WDTV Live (but the latest incarnation is largely similar), and I have things in my media library that it flat out would not handle, mainly RM and Hi10P encoded stuff. |
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 shollingPremium
join:2002-02-13
Hemet, CA
kudos:1
 ·Verizon FiOS
| reply to FusionGuy
The Western Digital Live series are the Swiss Army Knife of media players, they do a whole lot of things but there are specialized players that do fewer things better. For example the latest WDTV Live will play Internet services like Netflix (subscription required) but not as many services as a Roku - but the Roku sucks at network media playback. The latest WDTV Live will play DVD and Blu-Ray rips but not the DTS-HD MA lossless audio track. It also plays nearly every audio format including 16bit FLAC files. But there are better products than the WDTV Live for playing back content stored on your home network.
»www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/8···ing.html
What I use is a Roku 2 XS ($100) for internet media playback and a Netgear NeoTV 550 ($95 @ B&H Photo) for audio and video stored on my network. The NeoTV550 doesn't do internet media (thus the Roku) but it does a better job with playing back Blu-Ray rips than the WD and will playback 16bit and 24bit audio formats. The combination is pretty unbeatable, at least until the next big thing comes out.
»www.roku.com/
»www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/8···_HD.html
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"Government is the great fiction, through which everybody endeavors to live at the expense of everybody else."
--FREDERIC BASTIAT-- |
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IanR
join:2001-03-22
Madison, NJ | reply to FusionGuy
It would help if you let us know what media you want to access and what hardware you already have. |
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