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855
join:2000-12-05
703

855

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Roku vs WD Western Digital TV Live

I would like to be able to stream mkv files from my pc via wireless. I don't do netflix or other streaming services. Which would you guys recommend. I'm thinking about the one below.

»www.ebay.com/itm/WD-West ··· d017c6a5

Camelot One
MVM
join:2001-11-21
Bloomington, IN

Camelot One

MVM

I put one of these in my sister's toy room for the kids:
»www.bestbuy.com/site/wd- ··· p=1&lp=1
It looks like the same thing, though that ebay listing shows several different model numbers.

Hard wired, it plays every file mkv, avi, and mpg I tried. But the wireless signal is too weak for 720p or 1080p. It constantly has to stop playback and buffer. The unit is sitting 1 floor up, and about 15' over from their Netgear N router. Obviously wireless signal strength is going to be different in each home.
I am not a fan of the interface, and the kids (5 and 7) have a hard time getting to the media they want.

I recently installed an Amazon Fire TV box on the same TV, loaded with XBMC, and it is able to play up to 1080p over wireless just fine. It takes about 25 seconds to start playing, compared to about 5 seconds on ethernet, but once it is going it doesn't stop to buffer.

The files are hosted on a hardwired HTPC. I'm not sure there would be enough bandwidth/signal to go wireless to wireless, but I haven't confirmed that.

I haven't tried a Roku.
mazilo
From Mazilo
Premium Member
join:2002-05-30
Lilburn, GA

mazilo to 855

Premium Member

to 855
said by 855:

I would like to be able to stream mkv files from my pc via wireless. I don't do netflix or other streaming services. Which would you guys recommend. I'm thinking about the one below.

»www.ebay.com/itm/WD-West ··· d017c6a5

If you live in UK, then you can get this inexpensive NowTV UKĀ£9.99 (supposedly a Roku LT version) and hack it to you as you wish.

SteelersFan
join:2001-02-12
Rockwall, TX

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I have two of these units and although the interface could use some work, the device is solid for streaming any format you throw at it. To me, this is what made it the one to purchase for me. You look at Roku and Amazon and they are all limited in what they can play. The WDTV, however, could play them all. It also has some built-in apps and I don't really encounter buffering issues especially when playing from my server.

The interface is no frills though and falls pretty short to that of Roku and Amazon.

Camelot One
MVM
join:2001-11-21
Bloomington, IN

Camelot One

MVM

The stock Amazon apps are what limit the playback formats. Once you load XBMC, it handles everything.

SteelersFan
join:2001-02-12
Rockwall, TX

SteelersFan

Member

Even network server files?

Camelot One
MVM
join:2001-11-21
Bloomington, IN

Camelot One

MVM

Yep. In fact I havent played anything off flash drive, its all hosted on a windows box in the basement. I even have it streaming and recording live tv from a hd homerun prime.
The new Harmony app says it has added native control for the fire tv, i plan to test that later this week. For now I either use the stock remote or a usb ir receiver.

Edit: I did have to manually add the network location in order to map it as a media location in XBMC. I couldn't just use the SMB browser like I do when XBMC is running on a windows machine. But once I added the host and share name (and password), I could use that to map the sub folders for each time of media.
Camelot One

Camelot One

MVM

Hardware wise, it is a very powerful little box. You just need the right software to take full advantage of it.

Jason
Stowage Class Traveler

join:2001-01-24
38.2967 Lat

Jason to 855

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I still use this as my NAS / uPnP backend

»www.amazon.com/D-Link-DN ··· 00GK8LVE

I use a (now discontinued) Boxee box as the front-end to the TV..

Still have yet to come across a movie it cant read or display.

That said, the Boxee box, and DNS-323 are hard wired together over gigabit, so completely unknown how they would behave over wireless.
855
join:2000-12-05
703

855

Member

Thanks all. I tried both and I went with WD Western Digital TV Live.

clarknova
join:2010-02-23
Grande Prairie, AB

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For the record, my Roku 2 XS doesn't play sound for most of my mkv collection, whether through the Roku media app (DLNA) or USB stick. I think it's DTS audio it's not supporting, but I haven't bothered to look into it.

I've had better luck streaming through PLEX to the Roku, or DLNA direct to a Samsung smart tv. XBMC has been another good option for streaming local network files.