WD TV Live (2011)
Manufacturer: Western Digital Corp. Part number: WDBHG70000NBK
- More product information:
- Editors' review
- User reviews
- Specifications
- Manufacturer info
- Bottom Line:
- The WD TV Live (2011) offers a solid combination of must-have streaming services and excellent USB and network file support, making it one of the best devices of its kind available for under $100.
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CNET editors' review
WD TV Live (2011) price range: $89.99 - $119.75
- Reviewed by: Ty Pendlebury
- Edited by: David Katzmaier
- Reviewed on: 10/06/2011
- Updated on:05/16/2012
The good: The WD TV Live features industry-leading format support and built-in Wi-Fi. Its broad selection of streaming services includes Spotify, Netflix, Hulu Plus, Vudu, and Pandora, among many others. The interface is friendly, and video and sound quality are as good as you'd expect.
The bad: The best streaming channels require paid subscriptions or pay-per-view fees. There's no support for Amazon Instant. The remote buttons are rubbery, and the onscreen keyboard is a pain to use. DLNA support is spotty, and the software still has a few bugs to iron out.
The bottom line: The WD TV Live (2011) offers a solid combination of must-have streaming services and excellent USB and network file support, making it one of the best devices of its kind available for under $100.
Editors' note: As of December 2011, the WD TV Live reviewed here has been updated to add a variety of new channels, including Vudu, Flixster, XOS College Sports, and SEC Digital Network. Western Digital has also released compatible iOS and Android remote apps.
Following the success of the WD TV Live Hub, Western Digital has now introduced the diskless version in the new WD TV Live (2011). The new Live adds a couple more killer features, namely built-in Wi-Fi and support for the Spotify music-streaming service, to the already long list of services and file formats handled by its predecessors. And all for only $99--the same price as the Roku XS, the Apple TV, and the Logitech Revue (Google TV). It has one of the prettiest interfaces of all the streamers, even if it can be hard to use at times, but its main appeal over those other devices is its broad file support, an extra that should appeal mainly to people who make heavy use of downloaded video files. The only thing we wish for, aside from Amazon and Vudu support, is an App controller. The WD TV Live isn't yet the ultimate streaming device, but it comes pretty close.
Design
The box shares the same footprint of 3.9 by 4.9 inches as the original WD TV Live HD (fall 2009) and WD TV Live Plus (summer 2010) but sheds their rounded "bookishness" for something blockier yet sleeker. It's also much lighter at 6.72 ounces, which is actually a negative in our experience; the collected mass of cables and USB keys can make it rear up like a seesaw ridden by one person.
Then there's the remote. That wonderful, hateful remote. It's decently ergonomic with indents underneath that enable it to sit naturally in your hand. All of the buttons are well-marked and, interface aside, easy to use.
Our problem was with the buttons. They're tall, rubbery blighters that take some effort to press quickly in succession, making inputting anything, especially long lists, tedious. We'd swap this out for a quality universal remote as soon as possible.
Features
The addition of Wi-Fi to the WD TV Live is crucial, since its lack was the weakest point of the Live Hub. Western Digital has also made sure wireless setup is straightforward. When you turn the device on for the first time, you are greeted by a language screen, and are then asked to choose your wireless access point and input your password.
With the newfound wireless freedom, Western Digital has been sure to boost the number of services offered compared with the Live Hub, more than doubling them from 9 to 19. Joining Netflix and Spotify are the streaming services Hulu Plus, YouTube, Blockbuster, CinemaNow, DailyMotion, Pandora, TuneIn Internet radio, and Shoutcast, among others. The major missing items are Amazon Instant and Vudu, both of which are available on Roku. The WD's apps include Facebook (but not Twitter), Picasa, and Accuweather.
The Live inherits the Mochi interface from the Live Hub, and it's friendly even if the small "colored button" icons used for some navigation are a little indecipherable.
The reason you'd buy this over the Roku, though, is if you have a large library of digital files. The laundry list of supported types misses very little and includes notables such as FLAC, AAC, MKV, DivX, and even ISOs. The small Dolby TrueHD logo on the top suggests that the device will also play Blu-ray "rips" with full-quality sound (although we didn't test this).
Where the Live Hub had the real estate for a wealth of connectivity, the Live is more modest. It eschews its forebear's extras, such as a component output, for just HDMI, a composite AV breakout, two USBs (one front, one back), optical digital, and Gigabit Ethernet.
The device features an onscreen keyboard but text input can be laborious because of the clunky remote and the keyboard being alphabetical and not QWERTY. Thankfully the WD accepts USB keyboards, which makes setup much quicker.
Performance
As a DLNA device, the WD TV is a cut above the norm, though perhaps not in the realm of dedicated music devices. The Next and Previous Page buttons do speed navigation of large media collections once a content source is cached by the device. We also liked the "Now Playing" bar that appears at the top of the screen.
If you use a lot of WAV files, you will probably use the Files option a lot to find your music, but be aware that you need to press "Play" instead of "Enter" to play a whole folder full of music. If you have a large music collection and use an external DAC or receiver, then the WDTV is a good option to listen to high-quality music, especially because of its wide format support.
Streaming movies via DLNA is also a highlight of the device, as it will also pull salient details about your movies and will even display DVD menus from ISO backups. We watched a 720p copy of Australian horror flick "The Tunnel," and it looked great with no stuttering and plenty of detail.
But it's the newfound streaming capabilities where the WDTV really hits its stride. The device has one of the strongest lineups for the price--Roku notwithstanding--and most online subscribers should find their service provider of choice. We liked the newly added Spotify, though it is still a little impenetrable for new users, but at least it uses the device's Mochi interface.
Netflix was quite slow to load--and even looked like it had crashed--but with perseverance we found the familiar Netflix interface from other connected devices and quickly found the content we were after.
We did find some random crashes and glitches including slow menus. Since they occurred while it was caching the content on an attached drive, perhaps the device finds it hard to walk and chew gum at the same. However, as this is a brand-new device, we expect that the bugs will be ironed out with further firmware updates.
The only other downside was its lack of interplay with other devices. DLNA support from Windows 7 was as buggy as ever--though probably Microsoft's fault and not WD's--and even third-party DLNA apps for the iPhone refused to work.
It's here where we think Western Digital is missing a trick with the lack of a dedicated iPhone/Android app. The company introduced WD 2Go last month, an app that remotely controls content but only works with the My Book Live. Perhaps a WD TV app is coming soon?
The WD TV Live also competes directly with the Apple TV, a device with the big advantage of AirPlay--which does away with the poor intercompatibility of DLNA and just simply "works." Where the WD soundly trumps Apple, though, is in the wide variety of supported files and streaming services.
Conclusion
The WDTV Live is a further distillation of the ideas introduced two years ago, as it offers a wealth of services and enjoys wide format support. If you want a device that will stream and play back your downloaded files, this is one of the leading models. Only a couple of operational issues prevent it from being the best media device yet.
User reviews
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WDTV is Awesome!
by Athenon87 on October 27, 2011
Pros: *Supports almost every format (in other words, completely unrivaled format support)
*Subtitle switching support
*Audio track switching support
(The above two are not found on the Revue, the box that I replaced with the WDTV)
*Runs 1080 video like a champCons: *Sometimes the subtitles are a little messed up for shows with subtitles for more than one character simultaneously.
*Not a lot of different outputs
*You really need a keyboard for certain things
*The Netflix app is inferior to the one on the Revue (speciSummary: I watch a LOT of foreign shows that require me to activate subtitles and alternate audio tracks in MKV files. I initially bought the Revue and was extremely happy with ...
Summary: I watch a LOT of foreign shows that require me to activate subtitles and alternate audio tracks in MKV files. I initially bought the Revue and was extremely happy with it except for two fatal flaws: network streaming support was limited to DLNA only and it didn't support switching subtitle or audio tracks in MKV files (or any files for that matter). Before I returned it, I did some research and found that, from every corner of the net, the WDTV's name came up in relation to anime streaming over the network. I also noticed it had a dedicated button to switch subtitle and audio tracks. As such, I decided to buy the newest model of the WDTV (in my Best Buy it was located with the HDDs for some reason, even though the Revue and the other WDTV models were located with the TVs).
I just wanted to add that I think a lot of the user reviews here on CNet aren't actually referring to the WDTV Live 2011. There was a previous device under the exact same name (WDTV Live) and people get them confused very easily. Note, though, that I am referring specifically one released in October 2011 in my review.
Once I got it home and unboxed it, I was surprised that such a small box could support so many different formats. I have read several places that the WDTV will play more formats than any other streaming box out there. So far, I've not run across a file it couldn't play, and that seems to be the norm. That's more than I can say for the Revue, albeit a lot of it had to do with my DLNA servers.
The WDTV doesn't have as many features as Google TV, but if you need a solid streaming box that can play any file any way you want, this is the box for you. If you mostly just need streaming services like Netflix or Amazon and would enjoy your box being able to control your entire entertainment setup in a very cool way, then the Revue is definitely for you.
I subscribe to the former. I just need a box that will play any format I throw at it (via Samba!) any way I want it (along with Netflix or Crunchyroll occasionally). I really love the WDTV for this reason and would highly recommend it to anyone looking to buy a streaming box.
Note: I have 20mbps internet and a 1gbps router, cables, and network cards as well as a custom-built gaming computer streaming files. As such, your experience might be a bit slower on the streaming side of things. I also have not tried plugging in an external HDD or flash drive to play files off of it.
Updated on Oct 27, 20112 out of 2 users found this user opinion helpful.
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WD products are generally better than this little dump!
by HueJJass on December 22, 2011
Pros: Seems to be capable of playing all files.
it's very small.
easy to connect.Cons: would freeze up daily, and would have to be reset often. Firmware updates seem to destroy the functionality. Would lose account (pandaora) information, which is a huge pain in the ass because you have to use the arrow keys to type in your info.
Summary: CNet seems to love WD, and generally I liked WD too. But this thing is a complete dump. Not only did I return this piece of trash, but after talking ...
Summary: CNet seems to love WD, and generally I liked WD too. But this thing is a complete dump. Not only did I return this piece of trash, but after talking with their understaffed, broken english, under trained, irresponsible support staff, I sold every penny of stock I had in the company. If your main responsibility is to talk to people, and you can't speak their language, you are hiring the wrong people WD!!! I used to be a huge fan of their products, but this encounter has completely killed my opinion of this company.
1 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.
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BUYER BEWARE!
by bhs506 on December 8, 2011
Pros: Amazing file format support! Compatible with Mac HFS drives, which is GREAT because I can take my Time Machine drive and just plug it in. You can see the device over wifi network as a networked drive so you can just drag and drop files.
Cons: CUSTOMER SUPPORT WORTHLESS. Access over my home network had to be setup several times. IF YOU PLUG TWO DEVICES INTO THE USB PORTS, they don't always both work. Slow for file transfers over wifi. HORRIBLE playback of highdef quick time files.
Summary: Completely worth it if you are a mac user and want to play all kinds of media formats and want the ease of a networked drive that you can share ...
Summary: Completely worth it if you are a mac user and want to play all kinds of media formats and want the ease of a networked drive that you can share media with.
1 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Excellent Media Player if in Working Order
by dtrto on December 8, 2011
Pros: 1080 capability
Playing multiple file formats
Very good user interface
2 USB's, wireless/LAN connectivity
Multiple applications
Small
Very convenient subtitle button and well designed remote
Got it for around $88 at WD Web Store using WDCARES code.Cons: The first unit was a firmware update nightmare. Tried to exchange it but I was offered only a refurbished unit for my 7 days old one.
Needed to order a new unit and return the old, malfunctioning one and pay for shipping???Summary: After receiving my second unit watching movies and listening music from USB attached drive is nothing but pleasure.
Netflix works as good as on my old Roku or PS3.Summary: After receiving my second unit watching movies and listening music from USB attached drive is nothing but pleasure.
Netflix works as good as on my old Roku or PS3.1 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.
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FLAWLESS PERFORMANCE Mac OS Lion.. TwonkyMedia Server
by abacus01234 on October 23, 2011
Pros: Crisp fast interface....reasonbly priced..blows away my popcorn hour unit....finds the server immediately....Picture quality is superb.....
Cons: If they would include more 3rd party internet content apps like the ROKU...there wouldnt be a need for the ROKU anymore.....but thats the only thing missing from this unit...
1 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.
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WD TV Live vs. Roku Player(s)
by Zeek-the-Geek on October 13, 2011
Pros: - Best value product in it's category "Media Player"
- Works with USB keyboards.
- Wireless AND Gigabit port.
- Multiformat player (much better than Roku)
- More Service Providers than in Blu-ray players.
- Easily sees and connects to other network deviceCons: - GUI is hard for novices (Roku easier)
- Firmware updates from WD can be problematic.
- DLNA functionality could be better.
- Many less Service Providers than Roku offers.
- Occasional lock-ups requiring reboot.Summary: NOTE: I own the previous WD TV Live PLUS, and previous model Roku without wireless capability. I do not own the most recent models of these two products.
My spouse ...Summary: NOTE: I own the previous WD TV Live PLUS, and previous model Roku without wireless capability. I do not own the most recent models of these two products.
My spouse likes the Roku because of the friendly GUI. But i prefer the WD because it can do so much more than the Roku.
The WD unit was originally developed for streaming from your local network; Netflix capability came later. Roku was originally made for Netflix, but has been expanded with 200+ apps and Service Providers. They have both followed their origins. Roku has never offered their own application to do local network streaming, although they keep hinting.
There have been several Roku-based LAN streaming apps offered by third party developers (hobbists). I tried one which was very complicated to set up, it did not work. Another app was easy to set up but was way too slow to use, and had limited codecs. A third app was so complicated and invasive I didn't try it.
Best Summary:
Buy Roku if you are mostly interested in Netflix and other internet sourced media.
By WD if you want to easily connect to other LAN devices to listen and watch your own media. If you are tech-savy, this is a very fun unit.
Those of you that fall somewhere in between will have to study the two choices carefully, or buy BOTH!1 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Like t a lot so far...
by RoadrunnerDeluxe on October 10, 2011
Pros: Beautiful, functional interface, stellar improvement over the old models
Supports more file types than any other player out there
Plays anything from network shares/media servers (unlike Roku)
It has Netflix, Pandora, Hulu plus, TuneIn, Youtube...I at leaCons: Really none so far
Summary: A major improvement over the older models. I will cut cable TV and will get my TV fix from Netflix and HuluPlus. It updated to the newest firmware automatically. There ...
Summary: A major improvement over the older models. I will cut cable TV and will get my TV fix from Netflix and HuluPlus. It updated to the newest firmware automatically. There is a lot of crying going on about the lack of Amazon streaming. Doesn't touch me so much, if you want it, look elsewhere. Also everybody whining about past issues with firmware on different devices take note: no issues.
Really, so far I love it.1 out of 2 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Was great!
by captcruzan on April 27, 2012
Pros: Played EVERYTHING very well. Easy setup and very small.
Cons: When it updated to most recent firmware it stopped working completely. Now it is in the mail and will not be replaced until I read that WD has gotten their collective $hit together. The toll free line for help is awful, they don't speak english.
Summary: This thing was awesome until it updated. Think about that for a moment.
Summary: This thing was awesome until it updated. Think about that for a moment.
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Nice Product, but boy watch the firmware updates!
by 804s on April 24, 2012
Pros: Works wireless or wired. Will play pretty much any format. Prior to the last 2 firmware updates I would have rated as 4.
Cons: Wireless range is poor. The last 2 firmware updates have been disastrous. You want to ignore prompts to update firmware and check WD forums before applying. There is a 26 page thread on the WD forum about the things broken in the last update.
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Nice Integration With Home Media CENTER
by kculp on April 15, 2012
Pros: FILE support and Hulu Plus/Netflix access
Cons: Long blank screens between tasks. No volume button.
Summary: Had some trouble connecting to WiFi out of the box. Disappointed a bit with blank screens between tasks. Can't play *.mov files from older cameras (QuickTime). I also have ...
Summary: Had some trouble connecting to WiFi out of the box. Disappointed a bit with blank screens between tasks. Can't play *.mov files from older cameras (QuickTime). I also have an ATV2, apple does Netflix a bit more smoothly. Interface is nice, but I prefer ATV2 just couldn't get Hulu on the Apple TV.
Specifications
- Manufacturer: Western Digital Corp.
- Part number: WDBHG70000NBK
- Description: Wirelessly stream the latest movies, hit TV shows, Internet entertainment, and your personal media collection to the biggest screen in the house. With the WD TV Live streaming media player, you can enjoy it all in the comfort of your living room in Full-HD 1080p.
General
- Product Type Digital multimedia receiver
- Width 4.9 in
- Depth 3.9 in
- Height 1.2 in
- Weight 6.7 oz
- Localization North America
System
- On-screen Menu Language Portuguese,
French,
English,
Spanish - Features Progressive scanning (line doubling),
Upgradable firmware Audio System
- Output Mode Stereo
- Digital Audio Format Dolby Digital output,
DTS digital output Connectors
- Optical Digital Output Yes
Network & Internet Multimedia
- Functionality Digital audio playback,
Digital photo playback,
Digital video playback - Connectivity Wired,
Wireless - Connectivity Protocols Ethernet
- Internet Streaming Services AccuWeather ,
Blockbuster ,
CinemaNow ,
Dailymotion ,
Facebook ,
Flingo ,
Hulu Plus ,
Live365 ,
Mediafly ,
Netflix ,
Pandora ,
Picasa ,
Spotify ,
tunein Radio ,
YouTube - Supported Audio Formats MP3,
WAV,
PCM,
WMA,
AAC,
FLAC,
OGG - Supported Video Formats AVI,
VOB,
MKV,
MPEG-1,
TS,
TP,
M2TS,
FLV - Supported Pictures Formats PNG,
TIFF,
JPG,
BMP,
GIF
Remote Control
- Type Remote control
- Technology Infrared
Connections
- Connector Type 1 x ( 4 pin USB Type A ) - Front,
1 x ( 4 pin USB Type A ) - Rear,
1 x - Rear,
1 x SPDIF output - Rear,
1 x ( RJ-45 ) - Rear,
1 x Composite video/audio output ( Mini-phone 3.5 mm ) - Rear Miscellaneous
- Cables Included Video / audio cable
Power
- Type External
Manufacturer Warranty
- Service & Support 1 year warranty
- Service & Support Details Limited warranty - 1 year
Manufacturer info
- Manufacturer profile
- Browse Western Digital Corp. products on Shopper.com
-
- Manufacturer:Western Digital Corp.
- Address:
20511 Lake Forest Drive, Lake Forest, CA 92630-7741
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