WD TV Live (2012 Edition) Media Player In-depth Review

[@xargos]

One thing that you didn't mention in this video is that the WDTV Live properly supports 24p playback. For those like myself that own televisions capable of displaying 24p with 2:2, 5:5, or any other pulldown that preserves the original frame order this is a big feature that many if not most media players lack. This feature allows content to be played without the judder caused by using the old NTSC 3:2 pulldown.

[@DjNemes1s]

Thanks for the reply! I've ordered the WD TV Live as all the reviews I've read suggest, as you say, that it's the best for playing back all kinds of files which is the main thing for me really. The less hassles for network playback the better, even if it means there's fewer on demand channels available.

[@afcw1969]

My WD TV Player is used with KZbin videos that it plays very well. It never played DVDs from my computer's hard drive, only one VOB file repeated over and over. I use a USB keyboard plugged into the WD TV player for typing KZbin searches and adding folders to my KZbins.

[@Babblingboolean]

Currently the Sony BDP-S5100 Bluray media player, which has vastly far more apps, plays the same file types via USB, Bluray and DVD discs and has a web browser. It's a bit pricy but with the right sale it's price can match the WD TV Live price. Only downside is that it doesn't have as good network playback, I'll be making a review on it in a few weeks, after mid-terms.

[@slamscaper64]

A lot of these issues have been ironed out with later FW updates. When watching media off an external USB drive, you can fast forward at speeds up to 32x, which is plenty fast (you're limited to 16x when streaming over your network). You can also skip to any desired time manually by inputting the time. It also supports Miracast, which is really cool. That means you can use screen mirroring with any android 4.0+ phone. The only issues I'm having with mine is that the latest updates have screwed up the KZbin leanback app. It's buggy and crashes at times now, which apparently WD is working on.

[@Babblingboolean]

Not sure about the US but here in Ontario, Canada it is pretty popular it plays at a prime on our Canadian version of BBC, called CBC. I would think it's popular in the US if it's on Hulu I guess. Glad it helped.

[@Babblingboolean]

I'm confused, are you asking me to demo features like Zaap TV? If so, I can't. I don't have Zaap TV available, it's probably because it's not available in my country. I currently have Netflix and Hulu Plus service which are the only services I'm paying for that's why I only demoed them. As for TV channels, they can't be played on the WD TV Live unless you have something like "SlingPlayer" which I don't have.

[@billyjones5091]

I have an old Western Digital Media Player. I have tons of videos in it that I treasure and took me years to collect. The problem is that it’s old and ancient and I’m worried that one day it’s going to conk out and lose all my streamed videos forever. Is there anyway that I can transfer them to a more up to date and modern media player?

[@slamscaper64]

This media player is a great solution for people that have a large library of media stored locally in various formats. It can play just about any format you can think of, which most other media players cannot do.

[@DjNemes1s]

Thanks this was really helpful. You mentioned the response is pretty laggy sometimes. Are there any other products you'd recommend instead? I'm in the UK if that helps so looking for something with PC to TV as well as apps like iPlayers, 4oD, ITV etc. Thanks!

[@Babblingboolean]

I have tested those theories out, but as shown in the comparison video to the WD Play (video in my channel), the Play can playback the video fine with the same USB stick, same with my Sony BDP-S5100 Bluray media player and on PC it plays amazing. The end result most likely means that the WD Live is too slow.

[@nekomimi1587]

Some tips for noobs: For those that have issues accessing Windows Share, I've found that you have to reboot the devices every once and a while in order to guarantee that two devices will remain connected. As for the remote, expect the remote to die rather quickly. I've had 4 WD Media Players, 1 TV Live Hub, 1 TV Live+, and 2 TV Live and ALL but one of the Large Remotes have died and needed to be replaced. The little remote from my oldest device, the TV Live+, is the only one still working since purchase. There used to be a HUGE ISSUE connecting a WD TV Live to a Universal Remote and the only compatible devices were the LG SUPER High End, like, $80+ UM's but not anymore... I spent $6.00 on a Model: RCRN04GR RCA - 4-Device Universal Remote - Black from Best Buy (price matched from Amazon) and it works perfectly with my WD TV Live devices. I have it connected to my Toshiba LCD HD TV, my DirecTV cable box, and the WD TV Live. He mentions using the TV Live on a powerstrip. If you keep external media, be it a flash drive or hard drive, do NOT just shut off from the power strip. It's no different than pulling a hard drive or flash drive out of a computer without properly ejecting!! ALWAYS EJECT THE STORAGE BEFORE REMOVING OR CUTTING THE POWER TO THE DEVICE. Just powering it down still keeps the hardware connected and I've received the Scan For Errors when moving the external storage from TVLive to my Computer. At 6:36 he speaks of lag when typing via the remote... SO TRUE. If you want to search or input passwords, use the WD Remote App on your Android/iOS device because it has a keyboard. And again, it connects via the network so you must reboot the device once and awhile to keep it connected to your remote App. I keep two 2tb WD My Passport hard drives on my living room device and even when I reboot or plug a new HD, I don't experience the folder lag that he gets. When I want to watch something instantly, I choose folder view and have instant access to all the content on all my devices while the devices compiles the file list. I tried NetFlix on a 30 day trial and it is faster to download a whole episode via BT than it is to watch or navigate via the NetFlix App. It Fast Forwards (currently) at X2 - X32 and I've never had an issue with that. I've never experienced lag with large files. Of course, if I have a choice between a 1.64gb+ RIP or a 800mb RIP of a film that doesn't really NEED to be super high quality, I take the ability to put more on my HD over super high quality any day. Personally, DVD Quality is fine for my needs. I really don't understand the desire to have full 8gb BlueRay RIPS of content that has no real need for it. Do you REALLY need to see the texture on the brick in the background in a scene of a shitty film like R.I.P.D.? 1.64gb+ for Prometheus? A film that is only watchable for its effects? Sure! But Indiana Jones & the Crystal Skull? Do you REALLY need that crystal clarity so you can see just how poorly they rendered the Ground Squirrels? But I digress... As standards increase, the usefulness of this device will shrink but as it stands, with wanting to watch KZbin and the latest fan-sub episode of Code Lyoko off France 3? Worth it!

[@Waxxiii]

Is it popular there? I would never have guessed that you guys in the US had even heard of it! Great review btw. I'm wondering whether to get one for my daughter. I've bought her a basic media player for now so she can watch movies stored on a USB/external hard drive but since she LOVES KZbin and Netflix I thought maybe this is a good idea. I still haven't decided but your review has helped. :)

[@MonGraffito]

thanks for the video. but looks like u hurry so much in your life, a few seconds waiting seems like ages for you. what do u, gasp for air or split the atom?

[@rustymixer2886]

😆

[@Babblingboolean]

If your TV and PC both have an HDMI port then you could simply connect it via an HDMI wire. If you mean for network connectivity then unfortunately the WD Live is the best for network playback as it supports pretty much any media file over network streaming. As for the apps you mentioned I've never heard of any of them, sorry.

[@Babblingboolean]

In terms of speed the Play is vastly better. In terms of usability I would say the Live, it plays everything the Play can and more but with better network playback. The only file I could never play was my 1080p 60fps videos (26mpbs bitrate). 1080p mkv's have always worked fantastic on the Live, and respectively on my home network.

[@biddude]

Thank you for the great to the point review I liked that you actually tried to show the real life performance of the device and didn't just try and show all of the features and try to sell the damn thing In conclusion it seems that this is just another in a very long list of devices that does not live up to the hype nor does it perform as advertised More frustration and taking of peoples money Not even going to go into how laggy and frustrating it was just to try and watch this review video itself and I am on a PC I don't think that streaming devices will ever be perfected because there is just too many other variables in play that have nothing to do with the devices themselves such as buffering and ISPs throttling the actual bandwidth not to mention the battles with ISPs not willing to push the actual videos to the end user Oh well Until the big companies can figure out a way to monopolize all of the content floating around and be able to profit from it there looks to be no end in sight and the frustration and products that don't deliver what they advertise for whatever reason will continue Thanks again

[@TWO515TY]

Ah, I see, I'll be sure to check that video out. I want to get the Live for playing 1080p mkv's over the network, so I think it'll be okay for that purpose. Do you feel that the Play is better than the Live in terms of speed and usability? I would have gone for the Play already, but it doesn't support DTS, which is kind of important for me.

[@krozareq]

While this is laggy, it's the only one I've seen from reviews that is the best for streaming networked media.

[@eduardobarboza7629]

Nice review, thanks man!

[@Alif1089]

At 5:26 there is black border bottom and top on the screen, there is option to override the aspect ratio?

[@Babblingboolean]

Unfortunately the only two options I can find is widescreen (16:9) and normal (4:3).

[@hdtrejo]

Great review! I have a WDTV Live and other than the device operating slow, it works great for playing for media files that I have stored on a NAS. Have you come across anything better? Something that can play media files from a network share that are on a NAS. I'm looking at Android based media players but I'm noticing that the interface is not the best to navigate with a remote. Keep up the good work.

[@Babblingboolean]

Unfortunately for network playback the WD Live media player is the best. Don't have much experience with Android media players but I'll be reviewing the Nexus Player when it's released in November and I'll be reviewing Chromecast shortly after.

[@hdtrejo]

I think you're right. For a sub $100 device, I haven't come across anything similar to what the WDTV can do when it comes to playing media files on a network. I have the Chromecast and when it comes to streaming online content like KZbin, NetFlix, Vudu, etc., it works great. I have had some success playing local media stored on my NAS with the Chromecast. I had to use the Android app BubbleUPnP to stream it. Thanks for replying to my question. I'm looking forward to your review of the Chromecast and the Nexus Player when it comes out.

[@seroweassociatesllc]

How do you connect up your nas.

[@rustymixer2886]

@@Babblingboolean does it still work (the apps) in 2022?

[@neosmith166]

Brilliant Review. Just Brilliant.

[@thesilenthero422]

Good review, made me reconsider buying.

[@petermg22]

I bought a Roku and I already had a WDTV Live Plus, former version. The WDTV plays everything over the network and plays it well, however the Roku, NO! So I returned the Roku and ordered one of these, which is newer than the WDTV Live Plus I have already. Hopefully it will perform just as well as the one I currently have. Local network play is a MUST for me and the Roku could NOT do nearly as good a job, basically all the Roku can play is mp4 files and mp3 audio files over the network.

[@tipsyming]

hi, does it have AB repeat options?

[@JohnTheMutt]

good review, thanks!

[@TWO515TY]

You said that the quality of the video from your Sony camera was too high (26 Megabytes a second?) for the WDTV to keep up. I think it's more likely that your USB flash drive wasn't able to keep up. If the video was too much, the WDTV probably wouldn't play it smoothly for any amount of time to begin with. I bet if you play it off a hard drive, it will probably play properly. Try playing the same video off your flash drive in your PC and see if you get the same audio cut out or glitching.

[@Shade_91]

the new ones get pretty hot are the old ones the same way?

[@AdventuristoSupremo]

It can play your MTS videos fine, at least my old 1st gen could, but I'm guessing you're hooking up to your network over Wi-Fi? That's probably the reason it becomes choppy. Even N networks aren't always enough to stream full-size MTS files.

[@Babblingboolean]

I mentioned in the video I was on a wired connection. However, the video being played back was via a USB stick. The WD TV Live 3rd gen can't play it for some reason, but I got a couple of Sony media players that are far superior that play everything fine (their reviews will be done in the coming weeks).

[@IanConcidine]

I think so. I have a ReadyNas Pro 4 with four 3TB hard drives and it streams wirelessly. I actually got rid of my Roku because it didnt stream as well as the TV Live. I dont have 4TB drives but have had no issues with 3TB.

[@petermg22]

I got my new one and it doesn't seem to get any warmer than my old one as far as I can tell.

[@ValmisFilm]

Thanks. This is a olf video but - I tried inserting a memorycard reader with a memory card - it does not read anything from there. But it did wirte all its folders there. Why might this be? and i have heard, that only mkv is the videofile it playes?

[@cristinabethencourt4978]

Thanks! where can I dowload updates for the device to see if they have included the HBO app?

[@hashirkhawaja]

No update available

[@alputtaugust5432]

I want to see the live tv option does it have lots of live tv channels

[@luckyxturtle7491]

i dont quite understand what it does, it streams movies over wifi? or uses a hard drive to view movies, pictures, and media?

[@Babblingboolean]

Both. It plays music, pictures and videos over hard drives/usb sticks connected in one of its USB ports, over Wifi from a computer server or over a wired Ethernet connection from a computer server. It also has built-in internet streaming apps like KZbin, Netflix etc.

[@NeLoUYA]

My dad just bought this device and asked me to set it up, so I'm trying to get up to speed. We already have a Smart TV that can play media, has apps, web browsing and the sort. So I'm trying to determine whether or not to return this. At this point I just want to know about the live TV feature. I see that the device has two live TV apps on it. 1. WinTV's Happauge (requires Happauge TV Tuner) 2. Slingplayer (requires Slingbox) So my question is can this device play live TV without the addition of any other purchase?

[@Babblingboolean]

The apps available in the media player is dependent on the region you live in. For me no, to get live TV I would need an additional purchase like one of the two devices you mentioned.

[@NeLoUYA]

Babbling Boolean Thank you for your reply. :)

[@guitarpant]

Babbling Boolean how'd you get around the remote keyboard not working for netflix? besides using an actual keyboard

[@Babblingboolean]

Lincia Walters Used the left, right, up and down buttons on the remote since Netflix displays a list of letters on the screen. Used the middle button to enter whatever letter was being highlighted.

[@guitarpant]

Babbling Boolean thanks so much for responding man :)

[@PlagaXTifi]

Has WD released any performance improving firmwares since you did this review?? I really want it just to play my local media mkv/avi movies. I have a Roku 3 and it's terrible at playing MKVs and it doesn't even play AVI or DTS playback so that is why I really want this.

[@Babblingboolean]

There has been a software update since then but no improvement in performance. Performs exactly like explained in the video.

[@beerman081]

i have the 2nd gen and it works great with MKV. Just install Plex on ur desktop and point to all your media. That Easy!

[@Troy_z]

does the device it self have a battery inside ? And if it does , does it still work after the battery dies ?

[@robertneilly4349]

Troy zakey there is a 2032 battery inside, change it and you will be amazed how fast your box becomes.

[@PeatyR]

really? There is a battery in the main box? I does not say that anywhere that I've ever seen how do you access it?

[@Troy_z]

Robert Neilly thanks for your help two more questions if you don't mind how do you change the battery do you pop up the top or is there screws under the little rubber feet? 2nd do I have to connect to the Wi-Fi to do some kind of settings after I change the battery ?

[@robertneilly4349]

There is a torx 0 screw under the label on the bottom. Remove the screw and the top plate on the box can be popped off with a small blade. U will see the 2032 battery, push it too the gold prongs and pop it out, replace it and pop the top back on. My box came back to life and no I did not have to reinstall anything.

[@Troy_z]

Robert Neilly thank you I appreciate the help 👍

[@CH-ho5vr]

Can you confirm if this 3rd gen player as cinavia protection. Thinking of getting one. Nice review by the way.

[@hirarules]

very good review veere..

[@Maze3012]

Does it support the exFAT format? Im searching for a Media Player which i can use whit my MAC to transfer files.

[@JendrixHimi]

Is there a media player out there now that plays all file types , like the early WD player? sometimes they say the can but they dont thanks

[@Babblingboolean]

You'll want to check out the 2019 model of the Nvidia Shield found here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/fmHGoGmDrpqGf7s Load the VLC or Plex app on it and you're set. It's pricey but it's an incredibly powerful media player.

[@cookiehead2]

I saw that you mentioned the Sony BDP-S5100 as a better alternative as far as speed and features. Does it support all the same file types as the WD TV Live, or does the WD TV Live still top the list for codec/format support? What device would you suggest for the broadest support of file formats?

[@Babblingboolean]

I've had better luck with the Sony surprisingly. Hopefully I can start working on the review soon.

[@shelby3822]

Please note in order to read a large external hard drive with tons of files, make sure you 'comment out' (insert a period in the beginning of the folder name) folders you DO NOT want the WD to read. I had issues compiling and then once I found the trick I commented out 3 music collections, upwards of 1TB of mp3s, and then it compiled the videos no problem. I think it just choked on the tons of music files, which I didn't want to manage with the WD anyways.

[@MrOliveiraPJ]

Hi. I am having difficulties in creating a new rss feed. Basically any new website I try to add (add a subscription) is shown as invalid!! Help.....

[@Babblingboolean]

You'll have to call tech support, sorry.

[@toyyou2jp]

Where can I find the apps to download for WD TV live player?

[@Babblingboolean]

You can't, they're only included in firmware updates which usually doesn't provide new apps.

[@radekb1270]

You told that some other media player is 10x faster. Which one do you reccomend for similar price? Is there some better device?

[@Babblingboolean]

Not perfect, but the best media player I've ever used and reviewed: kzbin.info/www/bejne/Z5nOh5mIaMdko8k

[@adeaak]

Hello Babbling Boolean, would you please advice on any good Live streaming machine, mainly streaming football from the internet. Thank you

[@mohan1maddy2000m]

Which media player would u suggest as future proof and 5/5 u would rate

[@Babblingboolean]

There isn't a single media player that gets a 5/5, all these large companies seem to miss the mark on a simple but important function. As for future proof, I can't say as 4K is becoming more popular and H.265 could be used by the mass public sometime soon. Media is in a transition limbo between most people using 720p and 1080p and some people adopting 4K, which 4K will become increasingly more popular over the next few years.

[@thelastwise]

It seems that the device only supports 2.4Ghz band. Do you know whether the 5Ghz problem could be solved with a 3rd party USB dongle ? Thanks

[@shogattack]

Do you knowhow to download other apps like google play store or any other app?

[@honda12345678]

I just bought this thing as I have lots of high def movies I would like to play without running them off my computer and tired of transferring them to dvd. This thing says it can play .mkv and it does not. I put in a flash drive with a movie on it and it says unable to play this type of file. Is it because of a flash drive or do I need the harddrive plugged into it. I'd really rather not have my backup harddrive running for hundreds of hours and risk it crashing to play movies and I will not be using the box for anything online.

[@Babblingboolean]

I have mkv files on a USB stick plugged into this media player, always plays fine for me.

[@honda12345678]

How large are the files? I had to format it to NTFS because the files were too big 8 or 9 gigs. I have the wd media player not the live tv. Not sure why that would make a difference.

[@KAriedoll]

I've noticed few MKV files play ok, yet some play but without audio, and some don't play at all. I think it depends on the type of audio format. The individual movie files I use are usually range between 250 mb to 1.5 gigs. When that happens I run them though handbrake and turn them into mp4 files (no issues after that). But I appreciate this particular WD TV Live for being able to play AVI files as well. Most streaming media players do not.

[@williamccjr]

It might be because yours is the older model, the WD Live TV & WD TV Play are the newer models. If its not playing your MKV files then just convert them to a format it will play, or download your videos in the compatible format so you don't have to convert them. Unless your shooting very long HD videos yourself, 8-9GB is WAY too big for a MKV video file. For example, I have the movie Fury (2hr-14min long, 1080p HD, FANTASTIC MOVIE!) in MP4 format & its only 1.94GB, so if your interested I can tell you how to download almost all TV shows & movies easily, anonymously & FREE! Just reply to this comment that your interested & I'll tell you exactly how to do it.

[@honda12345678]

William C. I have it playing .mkv files now. I do play full bluray 8-12 gig movies as I want full high def. sound. Those 1.5-2 gig movies look ok but the sound is lousy on a high end home theatre. I guess it needed to install a wd tv folder on my memory stick but it seems to be working now.

[@alvarez5150]

will this support my 3tb hd?

[@eAzydaman]

This plays .avi straight from my computer to TV without any trouble? I'm talking normal quality not 1080p etc.

[@PandorasBox2]

hi i know this is old video just wondering how to sect video files and play them on repeat i selected repeated all of them i selected repeated all on video setting but only play 1 file!

[@Steamer1956]

Good review. Most of the "Con" aren't important to me however. Except for the 'laggy" issue, which actually isn't all that bad. You just have to be patient. A couple of things I'd like to add... I have three WD 4 tb external hard drives hooked up (via a usb splitter). All content is video media, with total videos numbering in the thousands. This will take a couple of minutes to compile, but once that is completed everything can be accessed easily. Also, It wasn't mentioned in the review, but one feature I really like is the ability to handle ISO files that include chapter/scene menus straight off the DVD. DTS sound works as well. Lastly, I'm sure in a couple of years this will be obsolete (just like the first model). But hopefully WD will (re)issue a worthy successor and still keep the price reasonable. This model cost just a bit over $100. If I get 3 or 4 good years of satisfaction, I'll be more than happy when the time comes to move on.

[@FearlessCaper1]

also if the rounter is within 100 ft of the device it will pick it up . doesnt matter about the walls or anything. open connection can go up to 1k ft unblock

[@StacyCelestial1]

Does the remote have an on and off button? How about a sleep timer?

[@Babblingboolean]

Yes, the media player itself has no buttons so the remote is the method to turn it on and off... There is a 3 hours sleep timer option available.

[@hyylo]

Hi. Could you help with the following question I have: Does this media box now officially support Plex media software ?

[@djcalcutt]

You mention the inability to ply 22 Mbps video. It not the wd media player but rather the wireless connection. I too found the problem with my Canon camera. Audio Colden require teathered Ethernet connection. Verified by WD.

[@Babblingboolean]

In the video I was using a wired connection and the bitrate problem file was connected via a direct USB stick...

[@Chelly_Smelly]

Thanks for the review I never even knew there was a reset button on the bottom of mine until I watched this video.

[@Gecchikun]

Can it play MKV that has FLAC ?

[@suru1nonly]

Hi i am planning to buy WD TV Live Media Player Wi-fi 1080 this month end..... but i need to know whether it can support logitech wireless keyboards with nano usb transceiver .. ?

[@jas0nmack]

I am Trying to find a media player such as the WD TV Play or WD TV Live where I can export Power Point presentations to .wmv and have it auto play that file when it is turned on. Can this device or another one you reviewed auto start playing a .wmv file via USB or Network and be set on repeat with gapless playback. I know issues with some smart TV's when it repeats a file on USB it goes black for a second and then flashes USB on the screen. I am trying to find a solution for a front lobby TV or media player to replace using a desktop computer with power point.

[@Babblingboolean]

I don't know of any device that will auto play media as it's turned on, sorry.

[@janagct]

Nice. Is there any media streaming player with in-built web browser in addition to playing videos form USB hard drive? ie., I am looking for something like WD Live TV + in built browser? Thanks in advance.

[@Babblingboolean]

Here's a decent choice, not perfect but the best media player I've ever used. Has a web browser as well: kzbin.info/www/bejne/Z5nOh5mIaMdko8k I still personally suggest you not use a web browser on a Smart TV or media player, most of them are still pretty terrible and laggy, but that's just my opinion.

[@tedroy13]

Is a 3 or 4tb HD compatible? If so what make?

[@King-Gilgamesh]

Sir, you talked about everything but the TV channels ... I do not understand this section, I want to collect and deal with channels such as cable ....There is no Middle East Cable TV ... Can Collect channels available on the net in the favorite I mean to use the device ... like zaap tv if you know how is a limited channels and slow

[@TomNouri]

1. 4TB drive works just fine. It's all I've ever used. Initial compilation takes close to 2mins. 2. For typing use the WDTV app on ur phone, well designed and works great. -Thx for vid.

[@christianschroder6806]

+Tom Nouri 4TB (GPT formatted) really working ? i have orderd so much of these machines an no matter which serial number, no one of those players even finds the 4tb hard drives :(

[@TomNouri]

+Christian Schröder yea just a Costco seagate 4TB drive.

[@TomNouri]

+Christian Schröder yea just a Costco seagate 4TB drive.

[@TomNouri]

+Christian Schröder I also have the older wdtv in another room, works with that one too.

[@ohcaloz]

I watched your WD TV Play video and in it you mentioned about the reading issues you got from a 4tb external Hard drive. I really want to purchase one of the WD TV products however I have a WD my passport ultra 2tb Hard drive. Do you think if I purchase the WD TV Live instead of the WD TV Play it would read and play seamlessly considering that its not a 4 tb? What would you recommend?

[@Babblingboolean]

Honestly I don't know since I don't have a 2TB hard drive, but keep in mind the TV Live is very slow at reading USB devices so if your hard drive has a lot of files, you'll be waiting a while for it to read your HDD. As for my comparison thoughts, watch this video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/lYnTiYKjqax4oM0

[@ohcaloz]

Babbling Boolean Thanks... I already watched that video. I've watched it over 5 times. I'm hoping that it will work. I recently got my TV Sony KDL50R550A and wanted to try it out on it. However I wanted to get your insight on it before I go and spend the additional bucks. How long did it take to load with your 1.5 tb?

[@Babblingboolean]

Steven Gilbert For the amount of content on my 1.5TB HDD it took about five minutes. Now I just copy content to a USB stick it's much faster.

[@ohcaloz]

Kool. Thanks! Someone recently told me they have the same drive and that it would be better if I got the Roku-3. They work together seamlessly. Thanks though.

[@calingasan88]

Does it read .srt files for subtitles?

[@SmallRailroad]

At least yours works, my first unit from best buy was DOA, second unit will not go to internet with good signal, looks all the comments are positive, has any body else had quality problems out there?

[@mistarekoms]

why wont it read my 1 terabyte external hd? does it need to be updated or something?

[@hunedali]

Does it have a built in web browser?

[@SirCookeMusic]

No.

[@rnwilliams44]

Will it work with .OGM video files as well?

[@badassuchiha4875]

is this Free WD TV that you just Hook up to your TV

[@pamboscharalambous3770]

Bro what are the differences of Live model vs Media Player 2014 model? Thanks very much. . .

[@robertneilly4349]

Did you know there is a 2032 battery on the board internally. Changing this battery made my box completely new. Faster, stronger and completely glitch free.

[@hilairegonsalves2245]

Where in Mumbai can i purchase this item?

[@bojidarmartinov5949]

Doest this support external subs? Cuz mine doesn't and i think my only option is hard subs, is it really my only option?

[@juanireve]

Can I use the hdmi video output and analog audio(av) output at the same time?? for example, to use my stereo to listening...

[@SalemMillion]

Great review, i got a question, i got this cheap chinese android box tried playing MKV on it after installing the BSPlayer app i do have 5.1 surround sound system but it won't play on the 5.1 surround speakers just the two speakers and maybe the center speaker, if i bought the WD media player would the 5.1 surround system work perfectly with an MKV file ?

[@Babblingboolean]

SalemMillion If you're speakers are working correctly and the MKV file supports 5.1 properly, then yes. It might not be the Android Box's fault, perhaps your speakers are defective, or the wire carrying the sound or the file itself, etc.

[@MrBredly89]

Does WD TV Live have Cinavia protection?

[@MrJdm2001]

Gave you a thumb up.like to know your favorite media player is ?

[@alexnosski007]

If I connected my WD 2TB HDD that's full of 1080p movies, approx how long would it take to load all of the icons on to the screen??

[@Babblingboolean]

Depends on how many videos there are to detect. Let's put it this way, a 32GB USB stick I had with about 8 movies took about 1 minute to read, another time I had 3 video files and it took about 30 seconds.

[@FaFairuz8]

Can I use this on my old (crt) tv?

[@Babblingboolean]

With the wires provided in the box, yes.

[@thomasreese5653]

Hi, does this type of player play large mkv files....35 GB as an example...thanks

[@Babblingboolean]

It's hard to say. With media players it doesn't matter on the size of the file but rather the bitrate of the video playback. I couldn't provide more information on current large mkv files as I haven't used this media player in years.

[@motivatednero8355]

My device keeps restarting after connecting to network Any solution?

[@SE09uk]

I have a sat tv card in the pc, anyone know a way to live stream over lan to the wd? I use win 7 and progdvb nice review btw

[@Jayhowell72]

I liked your review. I actually use an Asus OPlay which I plan to replace with this and I use two Chromecasts on the other TVs. Can't wait to replace now. Oh, watch your use of Mbps and MBps. You kept saying Megabytes per second, it's Megabits per second throughput. Big difference.

[@jesseabadie7872]

Can the mediaplayer transfer files between two external hard drives? I plan to keep my 3tb connected to it but I'd like to add movies to it via a jump drive and note 3 through the wd tv live.

[@Babblingboolean]

No, this simply plays media content, it cannot alter files.

[@JimmyJefferson]

so you're saying the maximum capacity of harddisk that you plug is 4TB.. and it just "could" or "couldnt" handle it???? Coz mine is 3TB and i need to know that before i grab this stuff

[@Babblingboolean]

I wasn't able to, but some commenters mentioned they could. It probably depends on how many files are on the HDD. There's no way of telling how much this media player can handle, I simply copy my files to a USB stick and I'm set.

[@JimmyJefferson]

Just buy the latest generation of this item and actually YES it can read up to 4TB hdd.. I tried it myself and plug 3TB hdd and have no problem at all.. It running smooth.. Its just having a quite long time for the first time booting.. Other than that, it run flawlessly

[@emadfk7]

***** More than that if you plug a usb hub and connect 3 0r more external hard it will work perfect

[@JimmyJefferson]

Emad Elkhanagry wow amazing so it could read up to 12TB... I wouldnt try that because it must be a long time to wait for it to load.. But im still amazed of what it can do

[@kimyurkin7612]

I am from Ontario ,Canada could you watch primewire off of this media player? Thanks

[@Babblingboolean]

You'll have to ask someone who gets Canadian content on the media player, sorry. You could Google search it.

[@potatochobit]

do you know if this has proper PGS/SUP subtitle support which is commonly found on blu-rays

[@Babblingboolean]

Not sure, I don't have access to those files, sorry. You'll have to Google search.

[@SE09uk]

I like my wd tv r3, but as with most of the tv hdd video players, its main problem is lack of ram I would pay more for 2 or 3 gb, or a dim slot ive found that restarting the wd from options before running services, its okay and for 80% of the time never locks up also NEVER have the box playing a video or services when sending a big file over LAN to the usb HDD, it will lock up and may messup the HDD this is CPU/RAM being too small the youtube bug is there though anyone know I good small keyboard for it? I tried a Bluetooth one, but pairing is a no go

[@luciusdark1455]

It works perfect for me and doesn't lag - must be your internet provider. I've hooked up a 30 TB SAN to it and it works great. Much better than the roku junk.

[@mroliveros]

Hi Lucious, Did you hook up your 30TB external directly to the usb input? I have a 16tb array external hard drive and am considering purchasing this.

[@swollenplumz110]

Hey bud How do I delete movies from the device without removing from tv? On my older tv hub in my lounge it was just by pressing options/edit/delete but this version doesn’t allow me to delete a movie! Any advice please ?

[@swollenplumz110]

Sorry, I forgot to add that the movies are on my hard drive which is plugged into the hub

[@nowhereman424]

Hi. Is the power adaptor autovolt (100V to 240V)? Thanks.

[@daniellikahong]

So what is the best choice of Media Player for you at this moment? The WD TV is quite fast, if you compare it to the other 3rd party media players...

[@Babblingboolean]

This, Sony BDP-S5100 3D Blu-ray Media Player: kzbin.info/www/bejne/Z5nOh5mIaMdko8k In terms of price for quality it's the best I've reviewed so far, although that's the 2013 version. I've yet to review the 2014 version: BDP-S5200

[@mgmmassey]

does it support chromecast now?? Pleae update