New WDTV Live?

[mpompey]

What set top/media devices do you guys recommend? I'm looking for something that will stream Netflix as well as handle any video codec I throw at it.

I'm currently using the WDTV LIVE HD (couple of years old) It has trouble handling mkvs & movs. I'm currently running PS3 Media Server/ubuntu 10.04 to serve and transcode on the fly. I'd rather not have to transcode anymore and just have the shares out there for the device to hit.

I'm thinking about the new WD TV Live. What do you guys think?

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

Honestly there much to choose from:
Netflix - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Most of times it's ether you get good streaming options or great format support..
I know WD TV Live + is probably one of the few who do both, but I don't experience with it.
My netgear is ok, it does have rare issues with some of wagon mkvs, but for most part plays everything including dvd/bluray iso's with menu support, too bad br initiation takes over 2 minutes..

I'd consider Boxee Box the ideal device, but the noisy fan is a show stopper for me. Now, if you could relocated it into different room/sealed cabinet...

p.s: No more software media extenders for me

 

[sholling]

I haven't found the perfect one-box solution yet so for now I'm using two boxes. I have a Roku for Netflix and Amazon Prime in up to 1080 and in the case of Netflix some 5.1 content. I also have a Netgear NeoTV550 for video with passthrough support for Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD MA as well as 24bit FLACs.

The WDTV Live is like a Swiss Army Knife it does a whole lot of things reasonably well but there are specialized devices that do individual functions better. That said a WDTV Live will meet the needs of most people's needs. All it's missing is is DTS-HD and 24bit support and if you don't need those it's a good solution.

 

[psbfan9]

I use an Apple Mac Mini. It does everything and more that standard media server does. Plus, it has a full pc function with a very high WAF.

Apple - Mac mini - Even more powerful. Even more affordable.

 

[mpompey]

I never really thought about using the mac mini.

Can I run it headless like a linux box?

 

[psbfan9]

I never really thought about using the mac mini.

Can I run it headless like a linux box?

Do you mean can it be run without a monitor over a network? I believe it can, but that's not how I have mine set up. I have mine connected to my tv, (LG LCD) via HDMI and use the the LG as the monitor.

 

[Grador]

If you're very techy and feeling....adventurous....you could put XBMC on an appleTV. You'd get your netflix support from the native hardware and anyfile support from XBMC. All for $100.

I'm mostly pushing this because it is a project I want to try but have no use for as there is an actual computer on every one of my TVs. Living vicariously is the best way to live.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

Checkout this deal: Might be what you are looking for:
Daily Steals Today Main

There is also PLEX for Google TV app
It doesn't do ISO, probably no menu support ether, BluRay or HD audio codecs, but it seems to be pretty decent with streaming stuff including 5.1 netflix

 

[skuzzzzy]

i use and like my xtreamer pro

 

[dpc]

I've had two of the WD TV Live boxes for the past half year or so and have been really happy with them. I've not had any problems with mkv files created by handbrake.

I'm running ubuntu server and currently using mediatomb to serve my media to the WD TV Live boxes without transcoding.

I've not used Netflix on it, so I can't comment on that, but it does have a Netflix app.

 

[Nemo128]

Are you wired or wireless? I've never had stuttering on BD rips up to 25GB large with my older WDTV Live Plus.

Check out the Dune HD Smart H1.

 

[malibumike]

Same here, I've also had no problems with any video files playing on my WDTV Live +. You should check that you have the most up to date firmware installed.