WD TV Live - Spectacular device!

[bzb]

For $120, this thing is an absolute steal. It has played every video I've thrown at it, from... ahem... downloaded mkv files, to ripped BluRay m2ts files, HD*mp4s from iTunes, to HD .mov files I created in iMovie/Final Cut.

It plays... ahem... downloaded HD WMV files, divx, mpgs, everything so far. I haven't found a video it doesn't play. The media library needs a little work when it comes to all the damn music and photos I have, but from what I've read this gets modified often with firmware updates.

It's TINY. I mean, fits in the palm of your hand tiny. Power draw is less than a half amp according to my Kill-a-Watt. Heat is a minor issue, but apparently there's a low rate of failure due to heat. Runs over HDMI, has wired network built in. Can stream Youtube and Pandora out of the box. If Hulu comes, I'm set for the next few years.

I read some negatives about choppy audio and stuff, but I think that's probably people downloading torrents and other poorly encoded stuff. I haven't found any issues with it so far.

Ripped Avatar to m2ts (25gb, christ) and it looks as good as the BluRay, but loads in 5 seconds as opposed to 5 minutes.

There's only two downsides I've found. First, the thumbnails are terrible - they show up twice, once as the .jpg and once on the actual movie file. Second, fast forwarding is slooooooooooooow - 16x is the max, and it's only jumping maybe 20 seconds every second.

Other than that, this thing is awesome for someone who wants a video jukebox. Great when you have kiddos and you need to supplement onDemand

[TejasRider]

I picked up one of those about 2 weeks ago and agree with you completely. I just wish I could stream stuff from NetFlix with the thing. I've started to check out MythTV to increase my video collection. Ever looked at that?

[bzb]

LOL, that's what my buddy at work just said: "Netflix?!?"

I just want Hulu, and I'm golden!

I've used Myth, TVersity, Boxee, and a handful of others. I'm particular about my shows/movies, so I like this solution. Things that I have in the new jukebox:

DVD rips:
- Star Wars (the originals, not the crappy ones)
- Army of Darkness
- Bunch of WWII stuff
- P90X


Bluray/HD rips:
- Every Disney movie that's out on Bluray (and a couple that aren't
- Hangover
- Drag Me To Hell (I don't know why I ripped this)
- Lord of the Rings
- Avatar
- Astroboy (kid loves it)
- Ponyo
- Clone Wars
- Dark Knight

TV shows:
- Clone Wars in HD
- Yo Gabba Gabba
- South Park, all 13 Seasons
- Muppet Show
- Rick Steves in HD
- a bunch of New Yankee Workshop
- Shaun the Sheep

Music:
- all albums I've ripped to mp3
- debating on whether to add my DJ collection... probably not though.

Photos:
- everything in my iPhoto collection, which is kinda messy

The animation rips are pretty small, around 5-8gb. The LOTR stuff is HUGE @ 30 gigs each. Avatar is 25gb. That fills up my terabyte drive pretty damn quick.

I've got a few other blurays I'd like to rip that get played often, but for the most part this is it until more Disney stuff, Star Wars, Indiana Jones, or the Raimi flicks come out.

My son has started getting into Harry Potter, though, so I might be ripping those next. I can't wait until he's tall enough to get on the rides at Universal!

[TejasRider]

What I'd really like to find is a usb tv tuner with hardware encoding to use on my laptop from the road.. Hauppauge had one but that model is now discontinued.

[R6JUNKIE]

I may have to check on that. I am getting ready to get a slingbox. I can watch my tv/dvr from the holtel when out of town or can watch it from my iphone. great when you out to dinner and my 2 year old can watch her max and ruby cartoons.

[bzb]

Er, why not just put some Max & Ruby episodes on your iPhone directly?

[R6JUNKIE]

Originally Posted by bzb

Er, why not just put some Max & Ruby episodes on your iPhone directly?

I already have them on there. but it would be nice to be able to pick from anything on my dvr or tv and be able to watch on my phone from a distant location. I think thats cool. yeah I'm kind of a nerd at heart.

[UberGoober]

I would love to have streaming TV from the states but most sites don't allow their content to be watched overseas. HULU, for example, pisses me off because a lot of times sites will embed their content and when I click it, I just get the "Sorry you are outside of the USA" message.

I know there has been a lot of talk online about HULU changing to a pay model and I would be the first one to subscribe if I could see their stuff wherever I go. Oh well - at least for the mean time I have one channel of AFN that I can see.

[R6JUNKIE]

Originally Posted by TejasRider

I've started to check out MythTV to increase my video collection. Ever looked at that?

my old capture card isn't supported by vista. I was looking around ebay do you think this would work for a cheap alternative with Mythtv? ebay link

[bzb]

Gotcha. I have a lot of stuff on my Mac, I just stream it to my iPhone using AirVideo. I stopped recording stuff onto the DVR - I just rip episodes off DVDs or download them and store em on the Mac.

We're still in the process of working on the three screen thing at work. It won't be much longer and U-Verse will be able to be watched on TV, computer, or your phone.