I’m ready to buy the WD Live Streaming Media Player but need to know if it supports DVD/BLURAY ISOs with full menu navigation? I’ve heard on several posts that it was a problem but those were old posts and didn’t know if WD got them fixed.
Can you search netflix videos from the screen or do you have to add movies to your queue from a computer?
Lastly, has anyone given a date for an Amazon Video On Demand app if it isn’t already available?
If all these questions have favorable answers, I can mothball my rokus.
blu-rays need to be converted to MKV, and since the way their meues are set up, they are non existent., although the chanpters can be accessed. Also, a DVD ISO takes up around 8GB, whereas the blu-ray MKV can be over 20GB.
Not sure about the Netflix search as I prefer to watch Netflix on our Roku! Don’t mothball the Roku just yet as they both are unique enough to have both set up to use.
Not sure what you mean by “since the way their menues are set up, they are non existent”. Can you explain?
Are MKVs “lossy” in that is it a compressed format? What do you use to convert to MKV? There’s no way I can mothball my roku’s until “something else” does Amazon VOD.
The Roku uses a Broadcom chip the WDTV Live SMP uses a Sigma chip. They are two different technologies designed for different applications. You should Google for the datasheet for both chips and evaluate a direct functionality comparison.
The WDTV Live will never support bluray menus due to licensing issues. Instead of asking for an opinion which may or may not suit your application, Google for an MKV guide, rip and convert a virgin bluray to MKV. That way you will have first hand experience whether to proceed farther.
As pointed out you are posting in the wrong forum. If you wish to pursue the discussion, ask the moderators to move this post to the correct forum.
Not sure what you mean by “since the way their menues are set up, they are non existent”. Can you explain?
Are MKVs “lossy” in that is it a compressed format? What do you use to convert to MKV? There’s no way I can mothball my roku’s until “something else” does Amazon VOD.
Blu-ray rips (ISO files and MKVs) have no disc menu when viewed on a WD Live, because the menus are in Java, which is unlike the menus in a regular DVD, therefore the menus do not not show up in a ripped ISO file unless they are played on a computer running a blu-ray software; MKVs played on a PC or WD have no menu at all.
Here’s what to know about blu-rays that are ripped: they do not play correctly on a WD Live unless they are in MKV format, and you can only access the chapters, not a menu. Blu-ray files of any form take up a LOT of HD disk space. So, it is best to watch blu-rays from their disc. Regular DVDs take up much less space, so I put the DVD version of the blu-ray on if I have one onto the HD, and very few MKV files on the HD; only some favorite music concerts are converted to MKV for frequent watching/listening. Really, how often to you want to watch the same movie, so choose wisely which movies you want to take up HD space!
MKVs are lossy if you make the file that way. Bottom line: the MKVs and the blu-ray discs they come from look the same to me. I use the Pavtube Bytecopy program to make the MKV files. It was a program I saw recommended here, tried it, and it works great. It even is designed to work with the WD Live products; there are presets for the WD players…
Old Rokus: a great place for them is in the kids rooms or grandkids room. That’s where our old one went recently after we got the new XS model. Although I didn’t think that I could, I have become addicted to the Angry Birds game that is included with the new Roku model. Ah, Hinga!
PS, just go buy your WD Live player and be done with it. You get more bang for your buck if you get the model without the HD and supply your own HD, and add more when needed.
