I chose the WD TV Live Streaming Media Player mainly because, other things being equal, the many reviews I read all gave it top ratings. My own experience, to date, has been consistent with that. Although I am still learning what it does (there is so much) it works perfectly. My main use is to stream videos over wifi from my computer to my main TV. It does so flawlessly with no buffering or other issues. I am enjoying the access to internet services, mainly YouTube. My only disappointment has been that there is no web browser available. I understand the complexities of adding that, but given that the device accesses many web sites already, it’s a shame not to have that.
Nonetheless, I am so delighted with this device that I felt I had to say so in a post. It’s my first WD device; it will not be my last. Well done, WD.
Indeed, i have my smp in my bedroom, i like watching a movie when i go to bed at night,
We are also going to add a second smp downstairs after xmas.
smp + mojo + thumbnails and movie sheets = awesome!
ALL my friends and family are very jelous of my media setup, it didnt come cheap though, £1100 for LCD 3d tv, 3Tb MBL and WDTV live streaming… every penny well worth it, i could not be happier.
I love mine too, it does everything I bought it to do plus so much more, and all for a bargain price.
Well done WD!!
Edit: We are going to buy another this weekend for the bedroom.
Btw there is a web browser, but it’s well hidden. Go to setup > then about > then click the search key on your remote. You’ll find using it much easier with a keyboard and mouse.
Press the blue homescreen key to exit when you’ve finished
Thanks for the suggestion re the browser, finguz. I found it - perfect. But you are right, you need a keyboard and a mouse. This may be a question best posted separately, but is there anything I need to know about using a wireless keyboard with WD TV Live? Are all wireless keyboards compatible? Do I need a dongle or will the media set see the keyboard without one? This is new to me so may be ridiculously simple but not for a first timer on wifi. I have an iPad 2. Is there an app which lets me use it as a remote keyboard?
I like it. Starting out, it was very frustrating, and probably made myself look like a total jerk complaining in the forums due to crashing and firmware issues, but now it’s everything I wanted it to be. Could have a better Youtube app, and Amazon Prime, but other than that, couldn’t be happier.
I looked at Netflix, saw the tiny range of titles and decided to keep my money, so I can’t comment I’m afraid. I use mine to stream local media and it does just what it says on the tin.
I took out the free trial, ends next week and so far I’ve not had a problem with it. It does what it says on the box !
Would I pay for this service ? NO, but only due to the content being somewhat dated ! …and we have watched all we really wanted to watch during this free trial ! I’ll notify them this week of cancelation !!!
My WD TV Live Smp works just fine with my NetFlix.
I also have a Roku and my WD unit works great. Once in a while, when I try to play the next episode, the audio drops out and I get a RF Crackle noise instead of the audio. That does not happen with my Roku. However, except for that minor exception, I really love my WD unit.
The netflicks is looking to be a area issue rather then wd issue.
No box is perfect but i used a boxee box which is a total mess thanks to bad firmware and this box is a dream to use with no freezing/crashing or slowdowns.
Could it be better …yup its could have a option to store thumbs and moviesheets on a thumb drive to aviod ui slowdowns but this is hardly a biggy.
Some complaints i seen have nothing to do with the box but everything to do with the setup inbetween (routers,nas,pc) and some just reading the documentation.
I also am quite happy with the SMP, and bought a second unit for bedroom. We use Netflix extensively (many hours per week) and have had virtually zero problems with it. The Netflix app on the SMP works *much* better than on either of our two (different) Samsung blu-ray players. As for whether Netflix streaming is worthwhile (for the “vast” sum of $7.99/mo) depends on what you want to use it to watch. I am currently working my way through the many hundreds of episodes of all the Star Trek series among things.
I definitely agree with Magnus33 that many problems blamed on the SMP are actually the result of crappy network, PC, etc. hardware or setup. The same was certainly the case for the Logitech Revue I also have experience with. Many supposed 80211.n compliant devices do not work reliably together. E.g…, with our previous “n” router, various laptops would experience unpredictable periodic loss of network connections. This occurred though the laptops all had different network cards and used various OSs (Linux, Mac, and Win). Dropped connections simply do not ever happen with our recent vintage Dlink DIR-655. I can even stream blu-ray files to the SMP upstairs over “n” Wifi if I get the signal strong enough (this requires a directional antenna on the downstairs access point).
I’ll agree with “some complaints”, but If you don’t know a bit about networking this box can be real bear to get working on a perfectly good network. It most certainly is not plug and play and a novice who has something that WD does not like on their network really doesn’t stand a chance.
I agree that networks can be a real problem for a novice. As a new networker, I was baffled setting up my d-link dual band router, then baffled again when I added my WD TV Live. However, with perseverance, reading and experimentation, you can overcome and get it going. Every new device is a learning opportunity, but a real plug and play system would be preferable any day.
Having to support non-IT people setting up networks is not something I would want to deal with. I have Logitech Squeezeboxes and a Logitech Revue in addition to two SMPs, and I can tell you that a significant fraction (and likely the majority) of the problems people post about on the Logitech forums are network related. Look at the reviews of virtually any piece of consumer-level networking gear on Newegg and you will find people saying the equipment works perfectly, has the highest signal level they have ever seen, etc., but then also people saying they couldn’t get it to work at all, has terrible signal level, and so forth. I know quality control isn’t what it used to be, but if equipment works great for most people, I am certain that many of the people having trouble simply don’t know what they are doing (and why should they?). On the other hand, some networking gear is simply broken. The first time I set up Wifi in our house, I had lots of trouble. I finally was able to determine that the Dlink access point we were using was failing to forward broadcast packets from a wireless client to the other wireless clients. I was able to figure this out only because I had access to multiple computers and knew how to use packet sniffers and the like (since I have computer science degrees). I had to leave our last Wifi router limited to g-mode for most of the last few years because otherwise we had annoying connection issues with various Wifi devices (while others worked fine via “n”).
All true…but this product has networking issues that have nothing to do with wifi.
I did have big network troubles for a while, eventualy found out this player did not like an old Netgear Switch I had it plugged into, everything else (TV, Blu-ray, Xbox 360, PS3, laptop and WD Live gen2) worked with the switch just fine.
Since changing the switch I have not had one network problem again.
I had to leave our last Wifi router limited to g-mode for most of the last few years because otherwise we had annoying connection issues with various Wifi devices (while others worked fine via “n”).
You sound like the kind of guy who, if you don’t know about the free program called inSSIDer, you would want to. It shows you all the wireless signals around you and their signal strength, etc… It helped me set up my new hot-shot dual-band ASUS router, and fine tune the antenna directions. InSSIDer also helped me select the best channels for the router to broadcast on for both bands – and they were not the default ones.
I first thought I, too, would still need to keep a wirleess-g access point going for the problem areas, but the quality of the new n-band router and inSSIDer enabled me to get enough n-signal (on 2.4 and 5 GHz bands) to the problem areas, so we do not have a separate-G on anymore. All iThings can now connect anywhere in the house with no problems on either band.
My main WD is wired to the network, but recently I set up a second WD that needs to be wireless, and it also works fine.
