What player will you buy next?

Legacy Products WD TV
21

This is all interesting but I will not be going with TonyPh’s 3-device solution because my wife would leave me! I will stick with my WDTV SMP until I find the next SINGLE device that can handle all my streaming and media needs.

Before anyone says it - yes, I know that the market may be moving toward diversification as consumer devices adopt IoT (look it up.) But I am pretty sure that a solution with a centralized and uniform UI will always present itself, even if it means going the HTPC route eventually.

By the way, I watched some videos on Popcorn Hour. This is a high end set top box with a lot going for it in terms of file type support (including FLAC for audiophiles) and the ability to install multiple HDD’s onboard. One fatal flaw - no Netflix (yet).

22

This is an FYI for anyone interested. I still have network connection issues with my WDTV, but the quick fix seems to reboot my server from time to time. I narrowed the problem to when another computer comes on my network, the master browser settings get confused and WDTV SMP can’t find it, where just ten minutes ago, it found it fine. 

Anyway, besides this I use Serviio too, but funny thing I just realised is if you set it to refresh your index library automatically every 10 minutes, 10 hours, ect. You may find your hard drive dead sooner than later.

I have my medium size server computer tell my hard drive to sleep after 20 minutes, to reduce power usage and save them from being dead sooner. I have two 4 Tb drives for my home pics, home movies, and movies. I have a 500 Gb SSD for the main C drive. My computer doesn’t have any extra video card to consume more power, so it is a quiet machine, especially with the SSD. This computer is also hardwired into my network, where my WDTV SMP is also hardwired.

I’m using the WDLXTV 2.0.2.23 with a 64Gb flash drive and have the WDTV 2.01.86 loaded as my root firmware, but I’m not sure that matters. I use WDLXTV 2.0.2.23 for my custom movie and folder sheets and also to play my blu ray .ts files with Dolby TrueHD and/or DTS HD Master Audio. 

When watching a movie from start to finish in 1080p w/Dolby TrueHD and/or DTS HD Master Audio - - the WDTV SMP plays fine, but when I fast forward, rewind, and/or pause - sometime the movie stops or freezes, but I can live with it.

All in all, I wish I had a more powerful cpu chip to navigate and load my moviesheets and foldersheets faster, but it all works now. It just works a bit too slow for navigating now. 

I have faith that something will replace my unit. The WDTV SMP has key things that still make is a KILLER device compared to anything competing against it. Its low power usage, low profile, and thanks to third party people, I have awesome moviesheets and foldersheets that I custom themed to show the contents of the movie from 10 to 12 feet away without squinting at small riduculous text like I’ve seen with most of the Moviesheet theme templates use.

23

Lots of good reasons why we all stuck with the WDTV for as long as we have, mz. I hope WD listens and that the devices will get more powerful and functional, not stripped of all that is good.

24

I also have the Asus O’Play.  I would say it’s comparable to the SMP, except the SMP has a slight edge for me, for what I want it to do, which is only playback of videos over the network.

I’ve lately been reading a bit about Medi8ter.  Anyone have any experience with this one?

25

fred9999 wrote:

I also have the Asus O’Play.  I would say it’s comparable to the SMP, except the SMP has a slight edge for me, for what I want it to do, which is only playback of videos over the network.

 

I’ve lately been reading a bit about Medi8ter.  Anyone have any experience with this one?

Checked out the English version of the mede8er website. Seems like Popcorn Hour. Funny, maybe it was a translation thing, but they have something called YouTube Fallback. I am sure they mean Leanback. I don’t see a list of “apps” but suspect because they are based in the Netherlands that Netflix isn’t included.

26

I read this thread with interest hoping the perfect solution would pop up here!

We have 3 WDTVs around the house - various models, but the newest is the WDTV Live SMP. We have one ChromeCast that I actually love - I’m so glad I don’t have to rely on WDTV for Youtube anymore! - and it is the perfect supplement for Netflix and Youtube and a little browser support to cast from my local PC. But we are about to sign up for Amazon Prime and nothing we have supports it.

I can’t believe none of the WDTVs and the ChromeCast both do not support Amazon video! I guess I can cast from a browser tab but am not sure how the performance will work out. I thought about the Fire TV Box, but no local support is a deal breaker for us.

27

Hi @robinm, what do you mean by “no local support”? Do you mean the ability to play local files (which it can, DLNA or Plex - Multiple Apps available, but I use Kodi (XBMC)) or do you mean it’s not available to buy where you are? I’ve replaced all my SMP’s with Fire TV’s (I’m in UK, so no Fire TV sticks as yet :() and so far they are great, and the ability to launch all of the Android apps (Netflix, Prime, iPlayer etc) from within Kodi means it’s almost a one stop shop now, and the family love them.

My personal view (admittedly, nothing to back this up ;)) is the SMP is a dead product now - it doesn’t exist on the UK WDC.com web site, and the lack of firmware release when the newer Live unit was upgraded makes me think the product line has been dumped.

I appreciate the Fire TV may not tick everyone’s boxes but if you want something which (with apps) plays most media and just works, then I would recommend them.

28

Does the Fire TV play media from a HDD like the SMP? …I mean, can you hook up a HDD and have it play back local content? If it does, how is the user interface? I love the WD interface and I just hate that the device doesn’t work well. Lastly, can Fire TV be attached to each tv with all of them accessing one HDD (or more) attached to only one of them?

I’m desperate to have something that does what the SMP does - but actually works well and hassle free! I have lots of questions like how many drives can be attached to it and how large. All of the ads I’ve looked at seem like sales ads and don’t address my specific need to play my own local content. Please provide more info.

Thanks!

29

local file playback via USB & HDD ?    No, not supported

https://gigaom.com/2014/04/11/five-things-still-missing-from-amazons-fire-tv/

http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/forums?ie=UTF8&cdForum=Fx2NFGOONPZEXIP&cdThread=Tx1PRPRAIRWW9SW

30

Hi. By default, the AFTV does not allow access to USB storage. However, the AFTV can be rooted, and this does allow access to USB storage, at least via Kodi ( http://kodi.wiki/view/Amazon_Fire_TV)..) Good instructions around this can be found on http://aftvnews.com. I’ve not done this, as all my media is on NAS but there seem to be lots of reports that this works. I can’t comment on if USB hubs etc are supported.

Re multiple device access to source media, I have 3 AFTV and they can all access the NAS / DLNA / Plex sources simultaneously - so far, no problems seen ;). The AFTV does not act as a NAS or DLNA server, as far as I am aware.

31

just to quote ibantu : I’m desperate to have something that does what the SMP does - but actually works well and hassle free! I

Now, Rooting a Fire TV based on it’s serial number viability (or vulnerability) and blocking (circumventing) mandatory updates …   Is hardly a definition of  " hassle free" in my opinion  :wink:

32

All fair points ;), but I’ll refer back to something I wrote in my first response - the AFTV will not tick everyone’s boxes and I was sharing my experiences so far. Loading a theme onto a SMP sometimes can be a pain in the a$$ :D. The original q was about local support, which the AFTV has, and the 2nd was about USB access and whilst your response was correct (not supported by default), there are ways around it. I was simply highlighting an option.

It comes down to how much playing someone wants to do. For what it’s worth, and this is personal conjecture, but I would be very surprised if local USB support was not added soon - this is something very heavily requested and say what you will about Amazon but they know how to respond to customer demand ;).

33

Well, i agree,  they may add USB local support “officially” … it’s just a matter of …  if / or when …

Chromecast i bought this year (after it was released nearly 12 months ago in other countries)

Did’nt at 1st support “casting local media” … and now of course it does  :smiley:

I’m not arguing about the AFTV …

If they added USB Local Media Support  (officially)  … then i would be interested too

34

Thanks for the spirited (and respectful) debate. I will keep following these discussions.  It seems strange to me that with so many people supporting the WDTV Live SMP and asking for the device to work well - that WD won’t just make a better device? After all, they are one of the big boys in computing technology…but that’s another debate.

I’m planning to build a NAS/DLNA system of some sort but my concern is for hassle free ease of use for the entire family.  That’s why set-top boxes like the SMP’s seemed to be such a good solution. I was basically looking for something that had the simplicity of a blu-ray player (as are most consumers).  I’m hoping that the situation stabilizes at some point as the technology improves.

Maybe you could explain how your Fire TV set-up works and others like me (that are not computer geniouses) could copy it?

Thanks!

35

Happy to share - it’s not anything spectacular :slight_smile: - anyone is welcome to copy, but as with the AFTV’s, it may not work for all people - all I can say is it works for us.

First of all, it’s a predominantly wired network (tp-link based 100/1000 switched), with media stored on 2x NAS (D-Link ShareCentre, each with 3TB RAID1 - one NAS holds movies, the other TV series etc). I use standard file shares (CIFS/SMB) - no need for NFS in my setup. The media on the drives is mostly ripped DVD/Blu-Ray (Handbrake, MkvMerge etc) in MP4 format. Each NAS also has an external 3TB USB drive attached, which stores direct ripped ISO’s (long story but the wife sometimes prefers DVD Films / box sets with all extras etc ;)).

As a side note, I also have an old laptop configured as a Plex server, with drives mapped to the NAS - this is primarily to serve media to various tablets in the house (Apple and Android) as well as remote access to Media etc (I could use DLNA from the NAS but Plex is better for different devices, and no remote access with DLNA). These tablets etc are served by a couple of AP’s (802.11n).

The Fire TV’s are all wired, none are rooted, and two of the three have Kodi side-loaded (the 3rd is in my daughters room, and is used for mostly Netflix and Amazon Prime - access to local media is through a Plex client, although of course there are other DLNA apps available, all from the AFTV App Store). In Kodi, the NAS shares are accessed via SMB, and media imported into the local Kodi media library (I don’t have any shared external Kodi library etc). Kodi also maps to the USB drives (which are shared as separate SMB volumes by the NAS) so the ISO files are available. I have also mapped the Android apps for Netflix, Prime etc into Kodi so they can be launched without having to exit Kodi.

I don’t have any need for 3D support, just basic SD/HD feedback. Hope this all makes sense, and happy to answer any q’s but as I said at the start, it’s fairly simple :D.

Edited: Just re-read and wanted to clarify what I meant re import into Kodi - what I meant was let Kodi discover the files, build the library and collect metadata etc - the files were not copied to the AFTV ;).

36

Great. I will study your explanation and see if it’s a system that will work for me. I need to determine the equipment needed to make the changes. It’s difficulat for me to utilize a wired system due to my home’s construction method, but I will examine to see if I can do this.

Thanks for the instructions!

37

Ptb2012 wrote:
However, the AFTV can be rooted.

From what I’ve read that’s not possible anymore (I know my German model wasn’t). Amazon even did this.

38

@ibantu: happy to be of help :). Re wired house, one option is power line (Ethernet over mains cables) - I’ve heard cases where these can help, if wifi is not good enough. Before I put in the wiring (and before the AFTV’s, and I had the WD Hub and SMP’s) I used them and they were fine.

@Techflaws: thanks for the update - I’m not rooted, so whilst I was aware that it had been made more difficult, I wasn’t aware it had been killed off. I guess someone brighter than me is looking at this and will come up with a new root. Looking just now, if you have access to the Fire tv before you buy it I.e. In shop, then the serial no is printed on the outside of the box, and you can check online if that unit can be rooted. Not perfect, I accept.

Edit: as a side note (and I’ve never tried this) but for those who don’t have any NAS and currently used their SMP with local USB one cheap option (Scrooge McDuck had nothing on me ;)) would be to enable the File Share option of the SMP which would then share the USB over the network, to be accessed by an external player. Dunno how well this works, or if it works with USB hubs etc but it is a quick way of turning USB into NAS. Just a thought… (I will now sit back and wait for the abuse :D).

39

Hi Ptb2012,

I just saw your post which describes your setup.  Thanks for taking the time to spell it all out.

I do have a question or two, if you wouldn’t mind.

You seem to be saying you need a Plex client if you want to view local media.  By local media, do you mean media which is stored on the NAS, or on a USB drive?

Also I’m not clear on the use of Kodi.  Is Kodi used to access the NAS media?  Is it difficult to install?

Thanks again.

40

I too tried the same experiment with the Roku 3 (buying it, testing it, then taking it back), first I’ll describe my set up and then I will tell you what I found. I am simply running a custom FreeNas 9.3 system with 4 TB storage with Plex running in a jail. I have hundreds of media files being served including DVDs and blu-rays that I have ripped, hi-res music files and family photos. I have been pretty pleased with the way that setting up plex automatically sets up a DLNA server so that it can really serve up those files to almost any device, even if you don’t have the plex client.

My experience with the Roku was this: it is super fast compared to the WD boxes that I have. To me that was the only upside. It played all of the media files fine through Plex, but so does everything else (ipads, iphones, computers, etc). One area where the WD TV Streaming was superior is multi tasking. For example listening to a playlist on Spotify while simultaneously viewing a photo slideshow. Roku simply cannot do this because of its “app” architecture. I suspect this is why its UI is so fast.

Anyway, I’m hoping that the media player is still a priority with WD because the one that they have built offers things to users that the competitors don’t, but I’m worried with the lasted firmware debacle and news that newer boxes won’t have Netflix.