After 48hrs with MybookLive Duo

WD Legacy Products My Book Live Duo
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Everything works as advertised.  I owned a MBL for about a week, before realizing on Thursday that DUO was released.  Amazon got me the DUO to my door overnight, and MBL was returned.  $370.  B&H has it for $350, but I get free next day shipping from Amazon.

  Compared to the MBL, everything seems identical, except for RAID(1) , USB(2.0) port in the back, and the fact that this one is VERY user serviceable.  Just pop the top, turn a hand screw, pull out the failed drive, slide the good one back in and it does the rest.  It is wisper quiet, did not hold my ear next to it, but I have not idea it is in the room.  In bookcase, hiding among my books.  It is linked to a Linksys E4200.  No compatibility issues there.  I have not tested it’s USB port yet, so I cannot comment on that feature.

  All the utilities and settings seem identical to MBL.  It uses Twonky, just like MBL, and that works just fine with all of my devices.

  Drive comes preconfigured for maximum capacity.  Converting to RAID takes a LONG time, but the drive is usable during RAID(1) converstion.  I use Genie TImeline Backup software for continuous backup.  WDs application was too slow on MBL, and I never gave it a chance on the DUO.  Windows Backup does not give me the flexibility I need, and after some research I tried the Genie Timeline Trial, and bought it for $29 within 24 hours.  it was THAT good.  WD should look into packaging this software with their device.  It makes it 10x more appealing to the consumer.  I use Timeline to create a backup(compressed) that updates weekly, and setup another backup utilizing Timeline’s continuous backup to copy my media files in real time to DUO’s public share for quick access by all my other devices (wireless laptop, Xbox 360, Galaxy S II utlizing WD2GO)  It looks for block changes and updates just the changed blocks.  It updates certain files more frequently than others utilizing some propriatery technology.

  Overall, I am extremely happy with the performance, features and real world experience of the DUO.  Hopefuly the drives will last the long haul.

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Good info!  Thanks for the post.   Only one thing:

  It uses Twonky, just like MBL, 

I don’t think so…   I’m not sure what “Brand” of DLNA server it’s using, but it’s definitely not Twonky…

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Can you post a screenshot of where it’s showing Twonky?

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Will do tonight.  I am almost 100% positive that the Twonky server checkbox is still there, right above the itunes box.  And Twonky appears on my Xbox360 as a file source.

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My Book Live Duo is no longer using Twonky. My Book Live (single drive) still is.  If you got the DUo from Amazon, then it is definitely not Twonky.  The firmware for Duo cannot be loaded on a My Book Live unit and vice versa.

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You are correct.  Just checked.  It does NOT use Twonky.  It just has the DLNA logo and DLNA title.

  Under Status, the media server version is listed as 2.2.2.6492C

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cheytac01 wrote:

… If you got the DUo from Amazon, then it is definitely not Twonky.  

That’s an interesting statement…   Where can I buy one that DOES use Twonky?   :slight_smile:

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TonyPh12345 wrote:

cheytac01 wrote:

… If you got the DUo from Amazon, then it is definitely not Twonky.  

That’s an interesting statement…   Where can I buy one that DOES use Twonky?   :slight_smile:

I think he meant if he got the duo (as opposed to the regular MBL) from amazon (or anywhere else for that matter) it does not have twonky…

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TonyPh12345 wrote:

cheytac01 wrote:

… If you got the DUo from Amazon, then it is definitely not Twonky.  

That’s an interesting statement…   Where can I buy one that DOES use Twonky?   :slight_smile:

It is not available with Twonky anywhere.

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