There has been a lot of discussion about this, but I’ve tried some replacement options and I’m still not convinced. So is there a product that matches this New/Improved WDTVLIVEHUB Checklist?
- I don’t want to run a Plex/Kodi/XMBC server. I don’t have to now; my WD box just finds what’s out there on my local Ethernet network.
- Local storage is important (I take my WD box traveling with a 5TB portable drive, and have 1000 good, commercial free, movies to watch on the hotel flat screen TV). Android boxes that top out at 2TB are so 20th Century!
- Gigabit Ethernet and a couple of USB 3.0 or better ports would be nice.
- Resume/Restart functionality. I’ve bought two Android media players and could not believe they forced me to Restart ALWAYS! I can come back to a Movie, TV episode, etc. weeks later and pick up where we left off. You have to write a data record; WD does; nobody else seems to be able to figure it out.
- No streaming is NOT the WD replacement for the 21st Century. I have 5000+ good movies (and a few stinkers), 2000+ TV episodes, 300+ documentaries, 120 Teaching Company courses. More movies than Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime. (And they have a lot of stinkers. Just sayin’.)
Have you searched ALL WDTV forums for key words?
I have a large capacity My Passport Wireless drive from which I can stream mp4 moves on drive to iPad or Kindle tablet. Kindle even has an HDMI OUT I can plug in to TV. iPad has same with pricey apple adapter.
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Thanx in advance for any suggestions. Let me add two additional criteria that are implied but not directly stated:
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Large local is required, but not sufficient. My Movies, etc. come from 6 networked drives (3TB to 8TB; currently 38TB total). So it has to see a local network of DLNA-capable drives.
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Easy Navigation. My WD box ain’t perfect, but all 6 Networked drives plus 2TB WDTVLIVEHUB with a local 5TB USB drive are all named on one screen. Then I’m a couple of clicks away from 1000’s of movies. I’ve used some Smart TVs that can see networked DLNA-capable drives, but the User Interface is atrociously awkward.
Can’t help myself, 
Two more must haves:
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No hacking, cobbling together, download and compile this magic solution. All of that stuff is fine (I’m experimenting with a Raspberry PI solution now.). But I want something I can recommend to friends and relatives. Off the Shelf. Plug n’ Play.
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RELIABLE!! I’ve been using MAKEMKV and WDTVLIVEHUB for 9-10 years and have uploaded 1000’s of Movies. Yes, I’ve had trouble with bad DVDs, tightly encrypted DVDs, even a couple of Hard Drive failures (I have 2 copies of every file.). But the WD boxes always play video/audio from DVDs/Blu-Rays flawlessly. The Android forums are FULL of “audio only plays on Wednesday’s” stories (I exaggerate slightly).
Thanx Mike. Yes, I do use MCPLAYER PRO on my IPAD to access my networked movie files. But, for example, I can’t pause a movie and return to it tomorrow. Is there a better App than I’m using? A few months ago I was traveling and watched CASABLANCA one evening on the room’s 55” TV. Easy to do with 4”x4” WDTVLIVE box rubber-banded to a 5TB portable drive and a HDMI cable. (I have 2 WDTVLIVEHUB ‘s at home, but travel with a 5TB home brew.). I guess I could have put that movie on IPAD and driven the 55” TV with a special cable. But that evening I had 800+ other movies to pick from. Once you have more movies (almost free) than Netflix can stream you, you get spoiled.
