There are some angry people out there. When you bought the WD TV LIve did WD say it had Netflix? Was it in the sales brochure? Was it in the specs? Was there a mention of it? The answer is no. Everyone bought it knowing full well it didnt offer Netflix. Everyone got what they paid for. When I bought my iPod it had no camera…the following week they come out with the same model with a camera. I was irked but that’s the way it is. I bought the iPod knowing it had no camera so I was still happy with my iPod. I am stil happy with my WD HD Live. To me the extra $50 just to have Netflix isnt worth. There are few decent movies on Netflix streaming and the quality is pitiful and it stutters a lot. [deleted for legality]
I just got my player a few months ago. I felt confident netflix was coming with a firmware release. Although I have only myself to blame for making that assumption I will certainly never be buying another media player from WD. There are many competitors to choose from. I will obviously choose a different brand next time now that I learned my lesson.
also there were other devices out there when I bought my WD HD Live that HAD Netflix and I still choose the WD HD Live. How can I get mad about a product that didnt advertise it had Netflix when I could have bought one that did and now expect it to have Netflix?
I think the anger stems from feeling that they were misled by the feature request thread. First it was being looked at as possible then deemed not possible. Then a few weeeks later a new unit is released with that very feature. I understand how people feel slighted in this case. I’ve moved on. The new firmware has cleard up 99.99% of my issues with this unit and Netflix was never one of them. I was pissed but calmed down when they said we’d get a firmware fix. I’m happy again!. This will become my secondary unit perhaps in the bathroom or something. I’ll get the Plus also.
Attikai wrote:
I just got my player a few months ago. I felt confident netflix was coming with a firmware release. Although I have only myself to blame for making that assumption I will certainly never be buying another media player from WD. There are many competitors to choose from. I will obviously choose a different brand next time now that I learned my lesson.
Your lesson is that you didn’t adequately research the product and made a baseless assumption. ;)
Mikencinc wrote:
I think the anger stems from feeling that they were misled by the feature request thread. First it was being looked at as possible then deemed not possible. Then a few weeeks later a new unit is released with that very feature. I understand how people feel slighted in this case. I’ve moved on. The new firmware has cleard up 99.99% of my issues with this unit and Netflix was never one of them. I was pissed but calmed down when they said we’d get a firmware fix. I’m happy again!. This will become my secondary unit perhaps in the bathroom or something. I’ll get the Plus also.
There was such demand for Netflix support that, upon getting shot down by Netflix for not having sufficient DRM support in hardware, they created a new product to meet the very obvious demand for one.
I’d have less respect for WD if they hadn’t released a Netflix capable device to market ASAP.
That’s what’s so absurd about this situation; the customers demanded 2 things more than anything else: Netflix Support and DVD Menu support.
WD have provided both the only way they could, yet people are still hurling abuse and threatening to never buy from WD again.
No wonder the staff don’t post here more often.
PixelPower wrote:
Attikai wrote:
I just got my player a few months ago. I felt confident netflix was coming with a firmware release. Although I have only myself to blame for making that assumption I will certainly never be buying another media player from WD. There are many competitors to choose from. I will obviously choose a different brand next time now that I learned my lesson.
Your lesson is that you didn’t adequately research the product and made a baseless assumption. ;)
Mikencinc wrote:
I think the anger stems from feeling that they were misled by the feature request thread. First it was being looked at as possible then deemed not possible. Then a few weeeks later a new unit is released with that very feature. I understand how people feel slighted in this case. I’ve moved on. The new firmware has cleard up 99.99% of my issues with this unit and Netflix was never one of them. I was pissed but calmed down when they said we’d get a firmware fix. I’m happy again!. This will become my secondary unit perhaps in the bathroom or something. I’ll get the Plus also.
There was such demand for Netflix support that, upon getting shot down by Netflix for not having sufficient DRM support in hardware, they created a new product to meet the very obvious demand for one.
I’d have less respect for WD if they hadn’t released a Netflix capable device to market ASAP.
That’s what’s so absurd about this situation; the customers demanded 2 things more than anything else: Netflix Support and DVD Menu support.
WD have provided both the only way they could, yet people are still hurling abuse and threatening to never buy from WD again.
No wonder the staff don’t post here more often.
At what point did the defender’s suddenly get the idea that everyone whom is upset suddenly assumed Netflix support was promised? I certainly never assumed it.
I’ve stated this more than once already, but here goes again. The way this played out is the problem. People have been asking for features, bug fixes, etc. for months. The standard answer was usually something along the lines of “We’ll look into that”. In reality, they were developing a new device instead. When people ask about things like Netflix, a simple answer of “it won’t work because it lacks certain hardware, but we’re looking to add it into a future device” would have at least given people an honest answer.
WD put out a press release a month ago touting Windows 7 compatibility that was added back in March. That makes no sense whatsoever to put out press releases about a device that has been available for 6 months already and has a feature that was added 2 months prior, unless they were trying to quietly clear inventory. A price drop fire sale would have clued people in that perhaps a new device was on the way, but instead they chose to put out BS press releases to spur some sales.
1 month later they sneak this device onto store shelves without *ANY* prior announcement, obviously for the reason that they didn’t want to cannibalize sales of the 1st device. I realize this is fairly standard practice, but not on a 6 month old device. Furthermore, the device shows up on shelves with firmware installed that has previously requested features such as DVD menus. The devices would have to had that firmware installed at least a week or two ago, meaning that this firmware has existed for a short while, at least.
Yet, current WDTV live owners are quietly left for 3 months with no new firmware or communication from Western Digital. Suddenly today, after it hits the fan with a number of enthusiasts of the device, they suddenly have ‘beta’ firmware available.
There’s been discussion on how different the hardware is. It started with comments from WD that the current device didnt have some sort of special DRM chips. Yet, numerous other devices have added Netflix support in the last few months with a firmware update. Then, suddenly there’s discusssion of a whole new Sigma chipset in the device. If this is true, this is even worse. This means that there are major differences between the firmware on the two devices. It also means that new features added down the road are not necessarily going to be easily added on both devices. And in the end, they will support the device on the shelf before they will support the device that was abandoned.
The lack of Netflix for whatever reason is disappointing, but those who are defending this need to look a little further into the future. Western Digital did not develop and release a new device simply because of Netflix support. I absolutely guarantee you that more features will be added to this device that may or may not be added to the previous device. To suddenly throw an entirely new device out there when your current device is barely 6 months old is not how you work with customers.
The bottom line is not the lack of Netflix in the current device. It’s the shady way that things have happened leading up to a sudden mystery device being introduced that addresses features and concerns people had with a current device. You can sit and defend WD. You can call me a nut case. You can say that this is how business works. In the end I know when I’m being screwed, and so do plenty of others that have led up to a 10+ page thread being created in a single day. If people thought this was such a great deal, their would threads on the board talking about the excitement over the new device.
FWIW, the WD TV Live is now 8 months old (Amazon have been selling it since Oct 13 2009, and perhaps Best Buy were selling them a few weeks sooner?).
What you blame on sinister corporate greed, I blame on corporate ineptitude and miscommunication. There’s little point arguing further, our positions are well established.
Most of this thread was made prior to the release of the new firmware. If Best Buy hadn’t screwed up the release schedule, we’d probably all be sitting around chuffed with the new beta firmware instead of arguing. Does it not add great new features? Given how glacially slow the firmware team usually are in releasing firmwares, is it not obvious that this was ready to go and not some last minute slap-together?
I’m going to get a Live Plus, simply because I like how the Live performs and would love to have Netflix too.
People, you need to understand something. If it were possible to add NETFLIX support to the W/D Live, you would have gotten that through a firmware update. The WD Live PLUS is not a 100% identical unit - It may have many similar components, but there are a few hardware requirements needed to support NETFLIX including content protection, etc, that is NOT supported by the WD Live hardware and cannot be made available with a simple firmware update. Same goes for FULL BluRay menu support. It has nothing to dow ith WD “boning” anybody.
Let’s be fair abou this !
WD Live Plus supports DVD Menus out of the box. WD could have just made this ONLY a “PLUS” feature and said the hell with it, instead they are offering this feature to Live owners as well, sine it does not require any special hardware support.
backlund wrote:
When people ask about things like Netflix, a simple answer of “it won’t work because it lacks certain hardware, but we’re looking to add it into a future device” would have at least given people an honest answer.
Which is EXACTLY what they did say (don’t take my word for it – look at the ideas lab where the whole Netflix thing came up).
I’d be paraphrasing, but it was something like “We realize folks want Netflix, but the current hardware won’t support it and we’ll look into it for the future”. WD did what you wanted them to do, and actually followed through on their promise and you just come off sounding very ignorant.
I have followed this thread for several hours, and while I understand that WD does not OWE us anything (not even firmware updates, people…), I also fully understand why people might be upset.
A person would have to be a complete ■■■■■ not to think that there could be a software solution incorporated to add Netflix functionality to the WD Live. Something as easy as a cert grabbed from WD and verified on Netflix’s end to allow DRM unlock … or even a cheap HASP that could be purchased from WD and popped into a USB slot. There are several ways it COULD have been done, but for whatever reason WD chose to move forward with a new device.
Personally, I am fine with this. I bought my WD Live less than a week ago, was I upset that a new, shiny box was released with Netflix support? HELL YES. I bought a Roku box a long while back, and would have like to have an all-in-one solution and move the Roku box to another room. I even considered taking my new WD Live back to Fry’s.
But then I remember my previous media box, a Brite-View, and what a complete pile of ■■■■ it was. You guys honestly don’t know how great the WD Live is until you have come from something that just doesn’t work at all, haha!
And you know what else? EVERY forum has it’s little Cheerleaders like PixelPower and the other Glee Teamers. Game forums, news forums, every forum has a small but vocal group of these type of people that will support and defend their little companies to the end. No argument you put forward will penetrate the shield of Butt-Kissery they maintain to justify their purchase. It’s just how the Internet impoweres some people, ha ha!
Sorry for the rambling … the TLDR version would be this: The WD Live is one of the top rated media players in it’s class. While feeling cheated because you are missing a feature ■■■■■ (and yes, I agree, it does) is WD really that bad? Really? I decided to go ahead and get a new WD Live Plus to replace my HTPC in the living room, the price is cheap, the firmware is pretty mature now, and there is a pretty good community to hang out with if I need help.
Everyone elses opinion may vary, though, and I am totally cool with that. Just my two cents!!
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heavenlydmeonic wrote:
[SNIP]
…And you know what else? EVERY forum has it’s little Cheerleaders like PixelPower and the other Glee Teamers.
…No argument you put forward will penetrate the shield of Butt-Kissery…
[SNIP]
Rah rah rah!!! Weeeeeeeeee! :smileyvery-happy: Wait. I feel the urge to kiss WD.
HD: Ya know, you’re right. Your post just tickled my funnybone.
We all get excited one way or the other.
Pretty sad how many insults have swung my way simply for stating a different opinion to “OMg WD ■■■■■!!!111”.
So far I’ve got: “■■■■■”, “cheerleader”, “butt kisser”, “glee teamer”… Did I miss any?
Don’t forget that when you get into trouble with your product and ask for help, it’s “idiots” like me who are first to respond and welcome you to the forum.
Have a nice day.
Awwwwww … well it could possibly be that half of every page are posts by you (or The Team), poo-pooing everyone’s concerns about their purchase … in a smarmy, condencending way?
Why you mad, bro?
Human nature is that “The Company” will always be up to something sneaky, underhanded, and shifty to steal from the Working Joe. That’s just how the human race sees it. 99% of the people posting here are pissed because they want the most bang for their buck, and on my planet, it’s called “venting”. Harmless.
The last thing they want is someone nitpicking their post apart telling them they are idiotic (and while you don’t SAY that, it really is how your Internet Tone comes across) for feeling that way, which you and the other guys who post like you, do.
If you don’t like it the feedback, you can stop reading the thread, grow a thicker skin, not post, or just let it roll off you back :P You and I both know (as well as pretty much everyone in this thread) that the WD Live is a fantastic peice of work for $100 or less. I love mine. LOVE it. I would make sweet love to it, if it had ears for me to hang on to … but it is also a dirty, cheating **bleep** for not having Netflix support, while it’s hot sister who just moved to town does.
Such is life. =/
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I am not upset about Netflix. As a new owner of a WD TV Live unit (I just bought it today) I am stunned to see that there is no DVD menu support. However, when I look at the feature list fot he Live Plus, it clearly states DVD navigation. I guess I need to return my unit (which I just finished hooking up) before my trial time is over.
If WD has implemented DVD navigation in the Plus series but not the normal “Live” product line, then that is a definite statement that they have no intention of ever supporting DVD navigation in the Live boxes with firmware updates, so I’d better throw in the towel now.
Still, this is a pretty bizarre policy by WD. They support DVD navigation in low-end (non networkable models) and in the Plus model, they just don’t support it in the Live model.
Heck, maybe I should just replace my Live unit with an older non-networking model. That way I will get what I really want (i.e. DVD navigation).
Hey Sniglet,
No need to return your unit or get an older model! There’s a PreRelease firmware out that adds virtually every feature of the Plus model to the WD TV Live (excluding Netflix but you do get DVD Menus and it works well).
Check out this page:
http://www.wdc.com/wdtvlive_prerelease/
There’s a thread for comments / feedback here:
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Yay!!! This is the best news I’ve heard all week (i.e. that DVD navigation will be introduced in next firmware release).
So now it’s clear why the WD Live does not support Netflix.
The WD Live Plus has a SMP8654 chip that supports Macrovision whereas the Live has a SMP8655 which is the non-Macrovision version of the very same chip.
What this means Instantly streams Netflix and other premium content (US only)
is Netflix only for US?
That’s a Netflix requirement (U.S. only). Nothing that WD can do about that, either (just like they had to include copy protection in their box in order to do Netflix).
That’s the reason the Live Plus will only be sold in the U.S.
heavenlydmeonic wrote:
Awwwwww … well it could possibly be that half of every page are posts by you (or The Team),
Hey – I LIKE that. I think Tony, Grant, Rich and I should all be part of THE TEAM (and, yes, you know which team I’m thinking about. Let’s see, Rich is probably Hannibal, Tony is Faceman, Grant is Baracus and, yes, I’m obviously Murdock – the one who was declared insane).
All right, let’s roll!!!
