Is it possible to run plex on this?
I think the only way to get plex to run on this would be for the plex team to work with WD to make a service. The WD Live players don’t have an open platform for developers to make their own apps for the devices, which is a pity. I did post that as an idea here: http://community.wdc.com/t5/WD-TV-Live-Streaming-Ideas/An-open-App-platform/idi-p/396875 if you fancy voting for it.
You can use the beta plex server which has dlna functionality to serve stuff to the wdtv smp - it’s nowhere near as good as having a client installed though.
Thats too bad, your idea for open platform for apps is good (voted)
There’s even a separate idea for plexapp: http://community.wdc.com/t5/WD-TV-Live-Streaming-Ideas/Enable-support-for-PlexApp/idi-p/278680
I am running the Plex Media Server now, and I love it. I would love to see the App working on this unit.
The server is just amazing, and so much faster . The only problem is that the metadata is not showing. I would like to see the movie info just like the stock firmware. I do see the Thumbnail image…
Is this a limitation with the Plex Server or the WD Tv Live SMP?
It’s a limitation of the protocol. (DLNA); WD “could” probably add the required extensions and fix it, but doubtful they would…
There are 2 different modes.
The first is a native plex application. That would be the most interesting as you could use all the features from plex. But that would mean plex and WD need to work together so plex devs should be allowed to create a plex service. The chances of this to happen are pretty slim I fear 
The second option is using the dlna function of plex. This can never be as powerfull as the native plex app would be. Currently this works partially. Eg the metadata is not working. It’s an incompatiblitity between plex and WD. Not sure if it can be fixed…
Thanks to all who contribute - the info is invaluable. Just so I’m clear on the Plex and WDTV device compatibility question (I use Plex extensively, and I “need” another device capable of functioning with Plex), in its current iteration, the WDTV device will not act as a Plex Client?
It sounds like the WDTV is quite capable of streaming videos over a network (or locally attached HD), but that the WDTV wouldn’t display metadata like a true Plex Client would – do I have that right?
I’m looking for another streaming device, and I love the idea of the WDTV device due to its portability (nothing better than a WDTV player, and a portable HD loaded with kids’ movies for a rainy vacation day…), but the vast majority of the time I’ll be using it to stream videos over my home network, and I’m deciding between a WDTV streaming device versus a device capable of functioning as a Plex client (another Mac, a Roku, etc), albeit without the portability of the WDTV. any help appreciated - cheers!
bmedic, to summarize:
* The WDTV is a very good network player
* It can access plex using the DLNA functionality
* it’s however not a “native” plex client.
Hence it will lack some features native plex clients have, eg
* no subtitle support (yet) with plex over dlna
* only limited metadata (not sure which exactly is available)
* no remote controlling with plex
A Mac Mini would be your best option of the choices you listed. Mine works wonderfully with my NAS drive. I take it you are running the Plex server from a PC, then load the client on the Mini and you won’t find a better streaming configuration.
