WD TV Live vs. WD TV Live Plus--upgrade?

#1

i purchased the WD TV Live unit back in Sep 09. when i heard we would now have access to Netflix and some other goodies, i immediately did an upgrade firmware and tried to access Netflix.

of course, after realizing i could not, i read a little deeper and found that WD TV Live Plus has access to Netflix, not WD TV Live.

or am i not doing something correctly?

assuming i am correct, is there an upgrade being offered to us WD TV Live users, even in terms of a software upgrade that would give us access to some of the new goodies? or do i have to buy a whole new WD TV Live Plus unit to access the newer stuff?

#2

Hi mpmp0, welcome to the forum.  :)

There should be a new firmware coming in the next couple of weeks that gives the WD TV Live a number of features currently only available on the WD TV Live Plus.

These include MediaFly internet streaming and DVD menu support.  There was a beta firmware floating around that allowed users a sneak preview of these features.  If you do a forum search, you may find a link to it.  I would just wait for the official release though.

Unfortunately, Netflix will never be supported on the WD TV Live due to a lack of certain hardware that is present in the new Plus unit.

But all the other features on the Plus will be coming to the Live in the next firmware update.

Hope that helps!

#3

thanks for the fast reply.

guess i’ll just have to hold on for the new firmware.

i was hoping the Netflix feature would be added to Live so i could save some of my electronics landscape and pass my Roku unit on to someone else. as things stand, i’ll just have to hold on to both units or maybe wait until the Live Plus is at a more reasonable (in terms of me already owning a Live) price so that i can justify the purchase.

ah, the plight of the early adopter strikes again…

thanks again!

#4

Well you arent missing anything right now as Netflix has all kinds of problems on the new Live Plus, lots of issues of Netflix rebooting peoples boxes, mine has just stopped connecting to Netflix all together now, cant even get a code to try and authorize the unit on Netflix’s site, lots of kinks to work out it seems with Netflix, just glad I have other devices to stream Netflix to my TV :slight_smile:

#5

sorry to hear that.

after i posted, i started reading other posts with Netflix/Plus issues.

i’m thinking now that maybe i’m better off keeping two devices rather than “putting all my eggs in one basket.”

hope things clear up for you soon.

#6

so do you know if I buy a WDTV live plus box, can I stream netflix to my other 2 WDTV live (not plus) boxes?  I need a 3rd box and am interested in Netflix.  just wondering if using playon for all 3 boxes would be better than buying 3 plus boxes (assuming they fix the issues).  1 new plus box plus playon = $160… 3 new plus boxes = $360 (might be able to sell 2 old boxes for $100 or so)… 1 plus box streaming to 2 WDTV live boxes = $120

#7

No.  You cannot stream from the Plus to any other devices.

#8

My best suggestion for WD live TV users is to purchase a playon server subscription. This will allow current WD live TV users to access Netflix Hulu and many other web streams on their older WD live TV. This Server also offers expanded access for WD Live TV Plus users. I have been using playon for some time and it is well worth the investment.

#9

Really?   What advantage does PlayOn have on the PLUS versus the LIVE?

#10

thanks for the suggestion! since WD won’t support us in this regard, this may be a viable alternative.