Saturday, November 19, 2011

Roku XDS Streaming Player 1080p


Manufacturer : Roku, Inc.
Model : 2100X
ASIN : B00426C57O
Price : 99.99$
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Product Description

Roku is a little box that allows you to instantly stream tons of entertainment on your TV. Watch over 100,000 movies and TV shows from Netflix, Amazon Video On Demand, Hulu Plus and more. Listen to music on Pandora, or listen to your own iTunes playlists. Watch major sports, news, or original Internet programming. It's all available whenever you want it.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews

474 of 488 people found the following review helpful:
Fantastic streaming internet device
  
This review is from: Roku XDS Streaming Player 1080p (Electronics)
I bought this device for my father as he is somewhat technically challenged. He kept telling me that he wanted to watch Netflix on his 52" LCD television. He was under the impression that he had to buy a Blue Ray player to achieve a high quality streaming experience. I figured it would be nice to buy a Blue Ray player since he'd have the player for all the DVD's he owns and the Netflix streaming would be gravy. After pricing the BR players I realized that if I wanted WIFI built in, I'd have to buy an off brand unit to be at a comfortable price point. Further research revealed the Roku XDS which is a fantastic piece of tech. It is extremely easy to set up. From the time you open the package to the moment you're watching a movie streaming from Netflix is around 15 minutes. You could probably even do it faster, but I was tinkering with some of the other channels that Roku has to offer.

Since WIFI connectivity was an extremely important feature, I quickly went to that screen in the setup sequence to make sure I had a good signal. Since my router is 10 feet from the Roku box my throughput is very high. I could have ran a cable to the ethernet connection but then we're talking more wires. I hate wires!!! I put in my WEP password and the box promptly started updating the firmware. In order to link your Netflix account the Roku will show you an alphanumeric code. You just go to [...]and input the code that appears on the screen. Within 15 seconds or so the Roku screen will advance and you are now fully integrated with Netflix. There is no need to do this again unless you reset the Roku back to factory settings. The same procedure is used for Pandora and other channels offered on the Roku.

There are dozens of other channels that you can add to Roku. If you have an Amazon VOD account, it integrates just as easily as the Netflix account. Then you have the ability to add Hulu + as well but I don't recommend that. The cost is $7.99/month as of this writing and since you still have to watch ads, I don't see the value. Lastly, if you're on the fence about which Roku to purchase (there are three) you should consider the top of the line model or the second tiered unit. Do not consider the cheapest model because it lacks WIFI and will not transmit in HD.

I happen to own the new generation of Apple TV (nearly same size as Roku). The reason I have the Apple unit is because of how it tightly integrates with iTunes and the iPhone 4 which I have. I can easily recommend the Roku player to anyone who wants to add a nice piece of tech to their multi-media systems. Best of luck and thanks for reading my review.


462 of 486 people found the following review helpful:
Every once in a while, a truly impressive device comes along.
This review is from: Roku XDS Streaming Player 1080p (Electronics)
Like a lot of people who use Amazon, I own all kinds of electronic gear. Every once in a while, you get your hands on a device that really stands out in terms of ease of use and performance. When I first hooked up my Slingbox, for example, I realized that it was unique and was going to add something truly useful and impressive to my audio-video set-up. When I read a description of the Roku box, I had a similar expectation. Could it be as easy to use as advertised? Would it perform on a level that would really satisfy? Would it be one of those "stand out" devices? Now I can say in all honesty that the Roku player is everything I hoped and more. When the description says you will be up and running in just a few minutes, you can believe it. I opened the box, plugged in the power cord, attached a cable to my high speed router, and ran audio to my amp. I turned everything on and immediately saw the set-up screen for the Roku player. To run a quick test, I tried streaming a video from Netflix--it worked perfectly. This initial set-up and test took no more than 10 minutes. After several days of using the Roku, I have yet to have even the slightest problem. I have added a couple dozen channels and all work as expected. My only moment of hesitation came when I saw how small the Roku player is. It is tiny sitting there with all the other components, but when I saw what it could do, the size became inconsequential. The Roku player truly is an impressive device. While not necessarily a replacement, the Roku XDS Streaming Player is another serious alternative to cable TV. By the way, for those traveling outside the USA, where Netflix does not allow the streaming of movies on your PC, there is a way to connect the Roku player to your Slingbox. You then have access to Netflix through the Roku wherever you have an internet connection.


231 of 243 people found the following review helpful:
Cable Killer? For my family YES!!
  
This review is from: Roku XDS Streaming Player 1080p (Electronics)
I have been looking for an alternative to cable/satellite for awhile. The ROKU XDS is the closest thing to it. With the support of Netflix streaming(some episodes even in HD), and with Hulu plus coming in the fall, the ROKU XDS is all my family needs. Also, if you look at the ROKU forums, developers are creating other private and premium channels. This is something that Apple.tv cannot do. They also mention on their website that with an update in November you will be able to play video off USB. Setup took only minutes and the picture in awesome on my 1080P LCD. The only draw back would be if you watch a lot of sports, currently they only have MLB.tv. As soon as Hulu Plus is added I will be dropping my $90/month satellite bill and pay $20 a month for Hulu and Netflix.

Most Recent Customer Reviews

Roku - a great alternative to cable TV
A friend of mine owned a Roku and was very pleased with the content she was able to access.

Roku opens up a whole new world of networks and I'm finally able to enjoy...
by Michael R. Eggleston

Very Cool
Awesome replacement to cable. dont forget to get netflix and playon.
Best investment in some time!
Playon is a private channel addon.
by Chuck

Good, solid product
This is a solid, good product. Simple interface. Intuitive. The remote control is much more effective than my dvd player remote at fast forwarding/reversing through Netflix and...
by dsm99

No era lo que esperaba
Compre este aparato pensando que reproducia la mayoria de formatos de archivos digitales pero me tope con la sorpresa de que no es asi, son muy pocos los formatos que reconoce, y...
by Javier V�squez

Good, but inferior image quality to Xbox/PS3
Upon unboxing and hooking it up, Roku's strengths are in ease of setup and channel availability. Also, the price point is fantastic.
by John Malaska

Roku XDS Streaming Player 1080P
This Roku streaming player is just what I was looking for. I get terrible antenna TV reception and wanted to be able to watch more quality programming and movies.
by Gary

dad loves the roku box
my mom & dad are not very good with electronics,but this roku box was so easy to install and set up.my folks where able to use this box in 15 minutes.
by kevin rodriguez

Simple streaming box, limited by a clunky interface
After using this for a year, I can say that the Roku has a great range of content available, and works for most everything you can find.
by Aussie_TN

Great device! Easy set up.
My Roku XDS finally arrived this evening, and I was set up and watching content within 10 minutes of unboxing the device.
by E. Vincent

Whats Cable?
I am 22 years old and honestly I don't see the reason for cable any more. With Hulu Plus and Netflix which are services provided on the Roku...i pay 16.
by zdeuyo

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Posted by jo chang at 4:34 AM 0 comments

Friday, November 18, 2011

Sony SMP-N100 Streaming Player with Wi-Fi


Manufacturer : Sony
Model : SMPN100
ASIN : B0042SDDXM
Price : 99.99$
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Product Description

Enjoy a variety of entertainment with the Sony SMPN100 Network WiFi Media Player. Wirelessly stream movies, TV episodes, videos, and music from Netflix®, YouTube™, Pandora®, Slacker®, and more. Easily access your music, videos and photos in up to Full HD 1080p by connecting a USB drive or wirelessly streaming them over home network using your PC.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews

256 of 275 people found the following review helpful:
could be better.
  
This review is from: Sony SMP-N100 Streaming Player with Wi-Fi (Electronics)
This is a review as well as a comparison with other similar products out there.

I've done extensive research in digital media players and have tried the following models:
a) Roku XDS, b) WD V Live Plus, c) Sony network media player SMP N100, 4) Apple TV and Boxee software on the laptop.

I really wanted to like Roku and was super excited to set is up and have it connected to the internet and was installing apps within minutes. After few days I realized that the hassle of entering a code for every app and then registering on the app providers is too much of a hassle. Even if I wanted to play the content thru USB, it was a hassle with private channels. Another issue with this is that Roku is not DLNA certified so it doesn't work with your other machines on the network. You would need to jump thru the hoops of creating private channels or some elaborate setup to achieve that. If you install too many apps, it runs out of memory and you'd need to uninstall some.

Apple TV has the best interface and the most intuitive one. The only issue is that it only streams via iTunes so sharing thru anything else is a problem. Some people have installed Boxee on AppleTV sort of expands its capabilities in terms of the network support.

WD TV Live Plus is the best so far in my research and trials. It pretty much plays any content you throw at it and it recognizes the formats. There are not a lot of widgets (compared to Roku and Boxee) so you might feel limited in terms of what can be achieved, but if you install a TVersity server on one of the machines on your network then you can pretty much stream any content to the box. Installing TVersity is a snap (and free). This is also a DLNA certified device so it sees all the other windows devices on your network and you can play them on the box wirelessly. I've streamed 1080p thru a wireless laptop on the device and it worked without any hitch. This also support "Play to" in the media player according to the book, but I've not had success with it. I had my 1TB external USB drive connected to it and it was a sweet set up in terms of access to all my media. Since it's a DLNA device, I could also access my external 1TB disk on the network to copy/move data around and it didn't need a computer to do it.

Boxee software on the laptop works great but I haven't tried the hardware box as it's around the double the price of its compititiors. There are just too many apps on it so it becomes difficult to find what you want to play and then it has memory limitation as well. The interface is user configurable so you can get skins downloaded for your preferences.

Sony network media player is also a DLNA certified device but I came across the following issues: a) when I connect a external usb drive which has two partitions, it only recognizes the first partition and doesn't show the second one. While WD TV Live Plus shows both as hard disks. b) It recognizes the Windows 7 machine quickly as a media repository but only sees the directories which are marked as 'Library' in the Windows Media Player on the machine. You would have to add more directories to the library if you want its content to show up on the Sony device. WD TV Live Plus also recognizes the device as a network share so you are free to browse all the folders. You just need to set the 'source' in the settings as the root level folder then everything is visible. c) 'Play To' from the windows machine of Windows Media Player tries to contact the Sony device but always gives an error of "unsupported format" even though the same file plays fine directly from the Sony device. Never been able to use "Play To" successfully. d) For some widgets like Hulu/Netflix etc you would need to register at a sony url from the computer before you can use it. e) The on-screen keyboard is like a 'phone keypad' where the alphabets on keys 0-9 so you would either need to press the same button multiple times to enter a character or use the arraw buttons to go the right key, in which case it's easy to overshoot. Would have been nice to have a full screen keyboard like WD TV Live plus.. although Boxee device has a complete keyboard on the remote which would be even better to enter the words for search etc. f) It won't see many file formats since the support is not as wide as WD TV Live Plus. g) on the positive side, the dolby/dts sound from the device sounds much better than others, but if you are directing the HDMI thru a receiver then you don't care about it. h) also has composite and component out which makes it more flexible compared to hdmi only.

Overall, if you are interested in just using the online services like Hulu Plus, Netflix, or Amazon VoD then you can get Apple TV for the easiest interface. But if your inner 'geek' wants to make it a central device where you can add your own hard disks with it or stream content from any device in your home or stream any content from the internet using TVersity etc or play any format of audio or video, then get the WD TV Live Plus.



36 of 36 people found the following review helpful:
Works Great
This review is from: Sony SMP-N100 Streaming Player with Wi-Fi (Electronics)
I have no idea why some rate this unit so low. It's no harder to setup than a roku. But seems to elude some.

Purchased this box 2 months ago, and it always works great. Using it wireless with a Zyxel X-550 and I can stream 20M from my pc full hd and 5:1 dolby from a dvd I converted for testing the DLNA support. Video and music from windows 7 works great. Just need to setup the videos and music in windows media player and they all show up on the SMP-N100.

Internet video works flawless also. I use it with Netflix and Huluplus. I have a 15M cable connection so bandwith isn't an issue. I canceled my cable after getting this working. I can get news, etc over the air, everything else over the internet.

I also picked up a Roku XD/S. The Roku is much easier/nicer to fast forward and rewind. I like the Netflix browse list on the Sony over the Roku, it shows 18 selections rather than the 5 on the Roku. The interface is quite a bit better for Hulu with the Roku, the Sony is pretty crude. There are other small advantages in one interface over another.

As for the hardware, there is no question which one is on top. The Sony is much better built, with a full component, composite, optical audio and hdmi jacks. The Roku you need to buy there cable for component support which is a pretty low grade cable. I need component support cause I'm not ready to give up my DLP tv. I like the projection screen rather than looking into a light bulb. The HDMI connections work well on both units when connected to my LCD tv.

The remote for the sony is excellent. Put the code in for the tv and it runs both the box and tv great.

The video quality on both units is very nice. Better than what I use to get on cable.

The main reason I gave it 4 stars is the lack of software updates and I suspect it won't get much if any attention in the future.


68 of 74 people found the following review helpful:
Great for Internet content, falls short as music player
This review is from: Sony SMP-N100 Streaming Player with Wi-Fi (Electronics)
It's an impressive device for accessing Internet content (movies, music, etc.), seems to work flawlessly over my wired network, and it was easy to set up. Pandora and Slacker Internet Radio and On-demand Internet videos from Amazon, Netflix, YouTube, and many others work great. For those functions it meets or exceeds my expectations.

However, I also bought the SMP-N100 to play music from my home library stored on a Windows Vista PC and it's disappointing in that area. It did not recognize Windows Media Player 11 or Tversity as valid DLNA servers. I had to buy Twonky for it to recognize my home library through DLNA. But the worst shortcoming is that when you attempt to play a group of music files (based on artist, album, genre, etc.), you can only play them in alphabetical order. There is no shuffle. And there is also no concept of a play queue. So you cannot play songs from one artist and then add songs from another. These are very basic features needed for audio playback and hopefully will be added by Sony with the next firmware upgrade. Otherwise, it's not really usable as a digital audio player.

Most Recent Customer Reviews

If you want a reliable internet media experience....
....go elsewhere.

I wanted to trust Sony to provide a conduit to streaming media from my favorite providers - Netflix, Pandora and Amazon.
by Brian Williams

Good for DLNA video streaming... audio/photos so-so
If you are looking for a player that will stream Pandora, Netflix, Hulu, or Amazon on your HDTV, this unit is a champ and you will be very happy with that feature set.
by BuyerOfThings

Good Device No Issues or Problems
I bought this player a few months back instead of the Roku player. It was on sale at Best Buy. Let me say it has not disappointed me.
by warrior_princess1980

Great Product
Very easy to connect to Netflix, which is my primary purpose for purchasing. Easy to set up and use, I use it every day.
by Harold D Weston

my sony stream player
This is my first stream player and it was easily installed.It has been fun since then. No problem until now.
by Alberto

I like it
Neat little piece of tech, lets u play just about anything, it can be controlled with your Ipod touch or Iphone,
by Eric L. Porter

Don't use it outside the US
I bought this unit really cheap on fryes in the US. The good things about it are covered plenty on the other reviews, so let me talk about the bad stuff:

- It does play...
by Manuel Diaz Morales

Avoid This
I bought this because it was cheaper than the high end Roku but with all the same features. It isn't user friendly and very cumbersome to get it set up.
by jcorrales

Better than Expected -- Some DLNA streaming Limitations
My Setup:

CenturyTel 7Mbps DSL service --> TP-Link TD-8616 ADSL2+ Modem --> Linksys WRT-54g router running Tomato firmware --> wireless WPA2 connection to Sony N-100...
by linuxuser

I love this little black box!!!!
This was my first purchase of a streaming player and decided to get a Sony due to the features, reviews and the Sony tablet I own.
by Game King

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Posted by jo chang at 6:50 AM 0 comments

Thursday, November 17, 2011

The Boxee Box by D-Link HD Streaming Media Player


Manufacturer : D-Link Systems, Inc.
Model : DSM-380
ASIN : B0038JE07O
Price : 229.99$
Last Price : 171$(Discount 25.6489412583156%
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Product Description

D-link DSM-380 Network Audio/Video Player DSM-380 Network Media Players
Most Helpful Customer Reviews

345 of 370 people found the following review helpful:
Firmware Upgrade Brings Massive User Interface Changes
     
This review is from: The Boxee Box by D-Link HD Streaming Media Player (Electronics)
Boxee has addressed some of the concerns I highlighted in my review with firmware updates. Please see the bottom of the review for updates.

-----

Out of the box, the Boxee Box runs the familiar beta version of the software, which is familiar to me as a prior Boxee user. Everything works fine, from what I tested, though the edges of the screen were cut off a tiny bit (not enough to cause a problem). While exploring all the options, I found that a firmware upgrade to version 1.0 of the Boxee software was available. I installed it, the unit rebooted, and it automatically started a quick-and-simple screen calibration utility. That calibration was useful, because the stock firmware had some overscan problems (that is, the edges of the screen were cut off) on my TV.

Version 1.0 brings with it a new, simplified user interface. I immediately had trouble finding my way around, and was a little disappointed that the experience was different than what I was expecting. My main problem with the new interface is that it now takes several more clicks to access local files (that is, anything on your attached drives or home network). That's my stuff, and that's what I primarily want a video player to be able to play. The old interface allowed you to toggle between your videos, and all available videos, very easily, once you understand where the option is. With the default firmware, after a minute of configuration, I was able to select "Shows" from the home screen and see just my shows. Now, I have to use other, more complex and time-consuming methods to do the same thing, such as "Files > Shows" or "Shows > Files".

The new interface does make it easier to start searches (just start typing), and is very attractive. I just would rather that it allow me to put my videos front-and-center. Networked content is fine, but my own content should have primacy over it. I think that new users will not have a problem with the interface, but experienced users should know that changes are in store for you.


Networked Content

I had no problems streaming SD and 720p HD H.264 and DivX files from my NAS to the Boxee Box via my wireless-N network. Internet videos play well, but some Internet video sources are kludgy. Playing a video on Fancast, for instance, will open a web browser, showing the web page and the video in a small box. You have to use the remote to move the mouse cursor to the tiny "full screen" button and click it to get the video to play full screen. Good luck doing that on the couch, 10-20 feet from the TV! This is a big deal because the new Boxee software puts networked content front-and-center, in the "Most Popular" movies and shows pages. It's wonderful to be able to watch (ad-supported) shows that you haven't paid for, but it's a pain that you have to hunt for the full screen button, which looks different on every website, to do so.

Apps, on the other hand, are fantastic. TED and YouTube work exactly as you would expect, and there are dozens more available. Netflix and Hulu Plus apps have been promised; Boxee is working out the arrangements and hope to have these available by the end of the year (early next year for Hulu Plus). I hope for their sake that they do. Competing devices all support Netflix, and Netflix is, in my opinion, one of the most compelling sources for staming content.

Linking your online Boxee account to Twitter and Facebook seems like overkill at first, but it actually is pretty compelling to be able to watch videos that your friends are sharing. The RSS app is great, too. Through the Boxee website, you can subscribe to a whole bunch of video and audio streams (podcasts). Then, you can launch the RSS app and browse through the stream. It's very nice. I don't bother sharing what I watch on TV with my Facebook friends and Twitter followers, though, but I could if I wanted to. I think that if a large number of people I know used Boxee, this would be a lot more useful.

Another quibble I have with the UI is that "Watch Later" queue shows your most recent additions on top, and you can't sort it. To find the next episode of a series you've been watching from the queue, you have to scroll down. If I'm going to the trouble of queuing videos, doesn't that imply that I want to watch them in order, not in reverse order?


Hardware

The unique shape of the box is controversial, but it is very small and you should be able to tuck it away somewhere. The remote uses RF, instead of IR, to communicate with the box. Therefore, unlike most (if not all) of your other components, you don't need a line of sight. I actually decided to put the BoxeeBox behind my TV; I can't even see it, but the controller works perfectly fine! The only thing better would be to have Boxee software integrated directly into my TV.

The box is very capable. Until new video formats arrive on scene, I don't see an immediate need for Boxee or D-Link to refresh the hardware. I just hope they continue to improve the software and make the updates available to the Boxee Box.


Overall Impressions

The hardware is great. The box is small and silent (from across the room at least), the RF remote is fantastic, and the hardware overall is a good value over buying an ATOM/ION nettop and IR remote, and installing Boxee (beta) yourself.

Honestly, Boxee got off on the wrong foot with me for introducing so many changes to its UI at the same time it launched this product. Boxee 1.0 looks great--better than ever, really--but it is so simplified that it now takes extra button presses to get to my own content, and I think that was a bad move. I like the product, though, and will get used to the new interface soon enough.

I still think this is a geeky product that is trying to be usable for non-geeks, and just hasn't gotten all the way there yet. I'm a little disappointed in that, and hope that the software will be updated eventually to make it easier and faster to access both local and online content.

It is difficult for me to rate this product 3 stars, but I think that it just isn't quite up to snuff yet to earn 4 or 5. Some software updates and agreements with content providers could improve the user experience greatly (fix that full screen problem or provide a shortcut, please!). I am eagerly anticipating the Netflix app, and plan to award an additional star once it arrives.

-----

Firmware updates.

11/25/2010 update:

Boxee updated the firmware on Thanksgiving to improve playback issues and stability. This resolved an issue I ran into infrequently (after I wrote my review), in which some local MP4/H.264 files would start playback with sound but no video.

12/13/2010 update:

This is an important update to the user interface!

Boxee updated the firmware to allow users to put local content up front in the "Shows" and "Movies" sections (the top-level, giant icons on the home screen), or to allow online content to take precedence. This is accomplished in the least geeky way possible: After updating the firmware, you are simply sked whether you use the box mostly for local or online content. If you pick "local," the main "Shows" and "Movies" sections default to local content, and online content is buried one level deeper in the menus. You can toggle this preference, and refine it independently for Shows, Movies, and Apps, in Settings > General > Menu. Bravo to Boxee for listening to their users and pushing out this change.

The update also added an hourly scan option for your local content folders, and an icon in the "Local Shows" and "Local Movies" screens that allows you to kick off a rescan immediately. Hourly scanning is a huge upgrade from the daily scanning option, and the new location of the rescan command is a lot easier to get to than it used to be (in Settings > File Sources > [Share Name]).

Boxee also added sorting (A-Z, and Newest First) for Shows and Movies, though, sadly, not in the Watch Later queue. There are also new A-Z lists in the Local Shows and Local Movies sections, to help you browse faster.

There still aren't Netflix or Hulu Plus apps, unfortunately. I think the Boxee Box's UI and playback are shaping up incredibly nicely, though. Now they just need to match their competitors' online content choices.

1/20/2011 update:

Boxee upgraded the firmware to include Vudu support, a new sort option to ignore (if you want to) "A" and "The" when performing a title sort, and various minor fixes. The browser is now much more readable on the TV, and many more online videos open in full-screen. I also discovered a two-click method to put online videos into full-screen if they don't open that way: [menu] > [middle button] (select the double-arrows icon). Vudu's 1080p online movie rental app offers compelling content and great video quality. The Boxee Box still, desperately, needs Netflix and Hulu Plus to catch up with and overtake the competition. Nonetheless, I'm now convinced that this is the best video streamer for local content, and a quality competitor to Google TV and Roku for online content. Netflix should arrive soon; I will award another star then, because then it would be on par with competitors' feature sets.

2/14/2011 update:

After a long wait, and behind schedule (unfortunately), the Netflix app finally arrived on the Boxee Box with this firmware upgrade. The Netflix interface is quick, and the hi-def streaming looks fantastic. Hopefully Hulu Plus will arrive soon.


108 of 125 people found the following review helpful:
Only going to get better
This review is from: The Boxee Box by D-Link HD Streaming Media Player (Electronics)
Some perspective on me: I have never written a review but felt it was necessary in this case. I have been streaming video accross my network since the Buffalo Link Theater (7 yrs ago). I consider myself somewhat of a computer\electronic geek. I, like many others, have been excited about the release of the Boxee Box. I have tried several other similar alternatives (X-Box, LG Blu-ray player, WD...etc) and NOTHING even comes close to the experience I've had so far with the Boxee.

Pros
-Quality hardware
-compact
-qwerty keyboard on back of remote (brilliant!)
-User interface (needs to improvement though)
-Zippy fast getting around (except for downloading cover art for thumbnails)
-Lots of content providers (more to come for sure, Netflix, etc)
-Streams every file I have thrown at it (my movie collection is over 500 strong with different formats).
-there are many more

Cons
-As others have commented (the qwerty remote is unreadable for me without extreem light (come on, grey on black letters!)
-no options to customize the user interface more (advanced settings?)
-many apps load a webpage with the video in a small window with the "full screen" option small and difficult to brows to with the remote (needs much improvement).

If you want to look at your digital piture collection, play your digital videos\movies, listen to your music collection and play content from the web all through a great interface on your DH TV and through your Home Theater system, this box is a must for you. I promise, you will not be disappointed.

I am confident this box will only get better.


125 of 155 people found the following review helpful:
Finally, a solid product
  
This review is from: The Boxee Box by D-Link HD Streaming Media Player (Electronics)
***UPDATE*** 02/21/11
A few more updates and now we have both VUDU and Netflix Support.
Netflix and Vudu both look really nice on the BoxeeBox, I'm actually really impressed.
I no longer see as many 'no video' issues with apps like I used to. All of the apps work pretty well with only the occasional 'fail to go full screen' problems. The remote feels easier to control in these situations (not sure if it's a fix or I'm just getting used to using it) and making videos full screen is not that hard.
I no longer run into any video or audio issues like I did in the past.
It would be nice if BoxeeBox allowed deleting of local files after you view them, but I can deal with it for now.

Still missing from the Boxee Box:
Hulu support
Amazon Video Streaming

If you want to watch those, you need another device.

The Boxee Box is perfect if you have a lot of local media that you want to watch. The remote also makes finding video on Youtube very easy. It would be close to perfect if Hulu and Amazon were supported.

All in all, the BoxeeBox team has obviously taken the criticism to heart and worked to fix the product. I can now honestly say that I would buy this device again and recommend it for anyone looking for a small, quiet, all in one device. It will be imposible for the BoxeeBox team to make everyone happy, but they have done a great job trying. Thank you guys for actually taking the time to read your users reviews and fix the issues we complained about. That alone makes this device worth all of the trouble I had in the past.

Please note that the reviews below are older. The bottom one I left so you can still see how upset I was when I purchased this device and how they have fixed the issues.
Thanks again.


***UPDATE*** 12/23/10
After using the system for several days with the latest software update, I am pleased to say that it now offers you the option of making your locally stored media a priority. This saves you several clicks each time you want to watch something you have stored locally on your network. As for the internet media, there are some fixes but still some problems. Most of the apps or videos you click on will display in full screen now. This was one of my big issues with the first release. Network performance over wifi seems to be more stable and has yet to show any issues viewing locally stored media. Many of the only videos (I'm looking at you Youtube) still display over-lay ads which slow down the video and are basically impossible to rid yourself of. This is a youtube issue, not a boxee issue but still annoying. Based on what I see now with the boxee box, I would buy this device again. I am still eagerly awaiting Netflix and Hulu support.




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OLD Review, No Longer accurate information
**************************************
I have been using the Boxee software for almost 2 years and have mostly loved it. Boxee was the first XMBC spin off to truly attempt a mainstream hardware launch. I pre-ordered the Boxee Box the day it was up back in September. For months, I have been giddy with anticipation of it's arrival. Then I got it today. Upon opening the box and setting up the device, It looked just like the software I was used to. I always admired Boxee for saying "Try it" and actually having good software to try, knowing that one day the sweet sweet hardware would arrive. Then, about 15 minutes into my wonderful experience and before I had the chance to test everything out, it forced me to update. I was then left with an overpriced popcorn hour that glows green.

I'm too tired to write all of the issues here, but here are a few pros and cons:

PROS:
Very small device, Takes up little space.
Nice remote design (save for a few issues) as long as you have light.
Plays most of my locally stored media very well.
It has an OFF button

CONS:
No Netflix support.
No Hulu support.
No VUDU support (Even though it features the app icon on the screen!)
Many of the apps don't play ANY video at all (like the open university app), stating that the video files are not the correct format or are corrupted (Then why have the app on the screen?)
Several apps simply open up a web page in the built in webkit browser with the video showing on only a tiny fraction of the screen. You must painfully navigate to an extremely tiny 'full screen' button to watch full screen video.
Many other apps also just link to youtube videos and show the progress bar at the bottom of the screen with no way to minimize it (unless you are lucky enough to get the 'glowing green bar')
Navigation and layout of locally stored media is abismal. There is no easy way to organise your local media. This wouldn't be a big deal if there was any decent online media to watch.
Typing numbers on the remote is difficult. You must hold down a 'num' button the entire time.
The remote is impossible to see in a dimly lit or dark room. It has no back lighting.
The remote does not function the same across all apps. In Youtube Leanback (which is really neat), the pause/play and back/menu buttons are completely useless. You have to use just the center button and the directional keys. This issue is compounded by the remote being difficult to see unless in direct light.
For the thousands of videos and movies this device has, it is almost all independent and ad supported. I don't mind video ads but the pop up ads that display (since you are basically watching youtube on a browser) are impossible to minimise and block the video.

Boxee may be salvaged in the future but for now, this is basically an heavily overpriced popcorn hour with a worsened layout.

I strongly urge you to wait until these issues are resolved. When these issues are resolved, I will re-do my review and adjust accordingly.
**************************************
END of OLD Review, No Longer accurate information
**************************************




Most Recent Customer Reviews

Love my Boxee!
I've been using Boxee for a year now. I first ran it for free on my laptop. This was a great way to get to know the platform to ensure it fit my video watching habits.
by Jesse A

LOVE IT!
I love my Boxee Box! It is so simple to use and its so small that it can fit anywhere. I connected an external HD to the USB port and I watch my movies off the HD with no hassle...
by Foose

Not a must have for most.
I've had this product for a quite a while and have not been overly stunned by it's functionality. I think it's aimed at the set who download a lot of movies and want to be able...
by Munkee

Easy to use all around media player
I purchased my Boxee Box in Brazil, where it costs exactly the same as Amazon, something we brazilians are not used to happening.
by Joao Leal Deiro Cardoso

No 3TB HDD Support or firmware upgrade plans
I purchased boxee to consolidate my video library and avoid DLNA over WiFi. After reading rest of reviews I thought Boxee would be what I needed.
by Bibin

great buy
great product great buy i have two now i have them in my guest bedrooms now i have internet access all over the house
by coop57

Not for the technically inept
This is a great product as long as you understand the difficulty of what it is trying to accomplish. As far as playing back local content this thing is great.
by MrBungle

I live overseas! Let me tell you why this is great!
Until I purchased the Boxee Box, I had been using an old WD Media Player that only had USB inputs, no LAN port on the back.
by M. Gourdin

Should be called "buggee"
I finally tossed this POS off the balcony of my apartment and smashed it on the pavement below. It's the most enjoyment I've gotten out of this product.
by miller stevens

Boxee Box Getting Better All the Time
The Boxee Box Box is a long way from being a finished product but it gets better every month and the promise it shows is limitless.
by Dana Bessey

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Posted by jo chang at 6:35 AM 0 comments

Friday, November 11, 2011

NETGEAR N600 Wireless Dual Band Router WNDR3400


Manufacturer : Netgear Inc
Model : WNDR3400
ASIN : B0041LYY6K
Price : 99.99$
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Product Description

Netgear RangeMax WNDR3400 Wireless Router - 600 Mbps WNDR3400-100NAS Routers & Gateways - Wireless
Most Helpful Customer Reviews

62 of 65 people found the following review helpful:
Fast, Easy, and Affordable -- Predictably Netgear
  
This review is from: NETGEAR N600 Wireless Dual Band Router WNDR3400 (Personal Computers)
We've had this router for a couple weeks now, and I must say I'm nothing other than happy.

One person streaming movies to Xbox, playing shoot-em-up game on PS3, and surfing the web all at the same time and everyone is happy. I didn't have any trouble with setup (I did not use the setup CD). Instead, our old router was a netgear and I just copied most the old configuration and used my brain to figure out the new wireless settings. (they're not so hard)

My only complaint is the ring of blinking blue LED's on the side. In a dark room they are a bit irritating. Maybe there's a way to turn them off?

Oh, and I decided on this router over the next wndr3700 because we don't need a gigabit wired network in the house. So far as I could tell, that was the only difference and I couldn't see paying $70 more for something we wouldn't use. I don't even think our computers have gigabit ethernet on the built-in network cards.


57 of 61 people found the following review helpful:
Fast, great for streaming HD video, and easy setup.
This review is from: NETGEAR N600 Wireless Dual Band Router WNDR3400 (Personal Computers)
I bought the N600 after having problems with the signal from Linksys e1000 constantly dropping the wireless signal after only one week of use. The setup out of the box is relatively simple as you have the option of using the setup disc or logging in online and setting up from there. I tested them both, but opted for the disc setup. The bridge setup for the PPPoE settings was fast and the connection test is automatic which is very convenient. There are a couple of minor tweaks to make such as clicking the radio button which establishes a constant internet connection, nothing too heavy. I liked being able to assign my own SSDI network name and password upon setup--which is something Linksys did not offer. The router does not have pre-drilled holes for wall-mounting--what I prefer--but I solved that issue by spending $1.97 on two large strips of commercial velcro from WalMart and sticking the router on to the wall next to my modem. Simple.You also have the option of turning the router off from the back and also turning off the blue circular light on the top exterior by gently pressing it for 2 secs and releasing it.

I run a wired laptop, two wireless laptops, an Epson 610 wireless printer, my Blackberry Curve, and one Wii connection via this router. I'm very partial to the HD setup as I stream Netflix via the Wii regularly. Both wireless laptops (XP and W7) picked up the signal immediately and the range is excellent throughout the house--four strong bars. Not bad without an antennae. If you have a 6 DECT phone, you will need to unplug the main phone from the base prior to establishing the wireless network and plug it back once the wireless network is setup. For whatever reason, having the phone plugged during the initial setup interferes with the signal upon setup. There were no issues with signal interference when I plugged the phone back in.

I had a Belkin router for 5 (problem free) years before trying the Linksys e1000 N router which proved to be a headache due to its limited range. The N600's wired and wireless connections are both extremely fast and when streaming video--especially via my Wii--I noticed the difference in HD video quality immediately. To date, I've streamed movies from Netflix, printed documents from my wireless laptop, while streaming music from Pandora on my Blackberry and have yet to have an issue. Also, if you are adding a wireless printer for the first time to your network, you will still need to unplug your 6 DECT phone prior to setup.

I need to add that the best feature--in my opinion--is the USB/Readyshare connection which allows you to hook up an external hardrive for sharing between multiple PCs in your home. I no longer have to drag an external drive with extra files from one computer to the next. I just click on the Readyshare icon on whatever PC I'm on and there everything is and there is no lag time in downloads. Storing files from my laptops to the readyshare drive have proven to be easy, as I just move them from the folders of whatever device I am working on to the readyshare drive by dragging them.

This router has exceeded my expectations and I would recommend it as a solid "buy" for a very reasonable price.


24 of 26 people found the following review helpful:
Painless setup, easy-to-use, great connectivity
This review is from: NETGEAR N600 Wireless Dual Band Router WNDR3400 (Personal Computers)
I bought this as a replacement for the Belkin N1, which wouldn't reach upstairs and would drop signal strength just 30-40ft away from the unit.

The connectivity is great, I receive full signal strength at the other side of my house, and it was painless to set up. I actually started the setup downstairs and while it was checking for firmware updates (which is what it does before it lets you do anything else with the setup) I went upstairs to see if I could get signal bars. To my surprise, I had full signal strength AND I was instantly online ... no setup required. :-)

Great product, extremely easy-to-use and set up. Highly recommended.

Most Recent Customer Reviews

Works, but not well
It does work as a wired router, but the wireless frequently stops working. In addition, the firmware is buggy and sometimes displays broken pages with nothing but the text "eth0"...
by Jeremy Cowles

Easy to set up and very functional -- highly recommended

This is a good product. Not cheap but not expensive either.

I installed it directly from Windows 7 in about three minutes.
by Unknown

So far - so good
Amazon Prime is GREAT - 2 business day delivery at no charge! Let's get down to my first day's experience:

This unit replaces my 5 year old G band NetGear Wi-fi...
by Michael Horn

Great router...but don't rely on Netgear tech support.
I purchased the Netgear N600 to accompany an installation of Comcast/Xfinity high speed internet. I had read that they often use Netgear as their brand of wireless router, so I...
by Eugene Frazier

Netgear N600 has worked flawlessly, with great range and speed from the day we bought it
I liked my very old wireless G netgear routers, and they worked great for years until recently, with the change over to IPV6 (a newer internet addressing scheme, old one was...
by Dan P.

Great Router, just don't give up on it...
Dropping signal? CHANGE CHANNEL.
This is a great router. I bought it to replace a WNDR3700 that a lightning strike claimed.
by James Metze

Very impressed with the wifi signal
Replaced my old Netgear Wifi router, which was the base N-150 model, with this and I could immediately tell a huge difference.
by Michael V. Kordus

Dissappointed
I read the reviews and they were 50/50 on like or dislike. I dislike this product. I was unable to get my laptop or Wii to communicate with the router.
by L. Vance

Works Great with Sony TV
I have a new Sony XBR 929 3D TV that has wireless internet built in and was looking for a high speed router to watch Netflix and Crackle movies directly on the TV.
by AvGas

Tach support is nonexistent
Fast when it works but the wifi signal goes out about every thirty seconds, and I can't get it fixed because it only comes with 90 days free tech support (which is unintelligible...
by Elise S.

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Posted by jo chang at 6:12 AM 0 comments

Monday, November 7, 2011

Sling Media Slingbox PRO-HD SB300-100


Manufacturer : Sling Media
Model : SB300-100
ASIN : B001EZRJZE
Price : 299.99$
See Special Offers
Product Description

Take your entire HD home theater with you wherever you go with the Slingbox PRO-HD. Connect to multiple A or V devices and tune into your favorite TV shows, sporting events, and special programming in stunning, true-to-life 1080i high definition. The PRO-HD gives you the same features and ease of use as the Slingbox SOLO, plus a high-quality HD viewing experience—anywhere in the world. Easily connect up to three of your home-theater devices to the PRO-HD and take your entire entertainment center with you—on your desktop, Mac, laptop, tablet, or mobile phone.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews

378 of 395 people found the following review helpful:
Great product, with 2 HD caveats
        
This review is from: Sling Media Slingbox PRO-HD SB300-100 (Personal Computers)
Having been a prior user of the SlingBox Pro, I was already familiar with the SlingBox software and hardware setup. Receiving the ProHD it was quite easy to perform the setup and installation required to be "slinging" my TV all over the world (and around my home).

Despite having setup one of the the original devices before, I attempted to walk through the installation as a completely new user. The booklet gives clear, easy to understand directions for the multitude of ways in which this device can be setup. It isn't relegated to "just" HD; the SlingBox Pro HD can also sling your standard definition content over the world or over your own network as well. This does not mean, however, that a person couldn't be easily confused just due to the sheer amount of devices one could potentially control with the SlingBox Pro HD (or the original Pro for that matter).

Remember when setting up the hardware, the location of the IR sensors is crucial in your ability to control your devices over the Internet or the network.

Once you are finished setting up your SlingBox Pro HD, you are prompted to download and install the Sling Player software. Of the entire process, I have to say this is the most frustrating part. It would have been easy enough to deliver a CD with the software inside the box, however Sling Media chose to force you to download the software. The only time I can see this as being an issue is if you purchased the SlingBox Pro HD with the express intention of "slinging" your media around your house and not over the Internet (and even then really only if you have no Internet connection). Deduct a point for the 5-15 minutes you must spend downloading the software; as if the anticipation of getting the device working wasn't bad enough already!

Next up was actually installing the software and finding the device on the network. The software walks you through every step of the process. The most difficult part, and calling it difficult may be stretching the definition, is in figuring out what remote to use. Some devices you may have in your home have several hardware versions and also have remotes with different nuances which could potentially throw a monkey wrench in the works. You are presented with the layout and a picture of the remote, so as long as your remote is handy you should be able to compare it easily to what is on the install screen.

You must install the Sling Player software on every PC (laptop or desktop; or cell phone if you purchase the software for it) you wish to view your media from.

Now for the fun part, actually watching your media!

From home, you can sling HD media around your network with reckless abandon. Even with a "slow" network speed of 10 mbps, you can achieve the ability to sling content in HD. At lower speeds you may notice some minor artefacting and other compression issues, but this is really only due to the slower network speed. If you are using a 100 mbps or faster connection, this should shoot high quality HD content all over your house with no problems. The only down side in this is that if you are using wireless, you must remember THERE IS NO WIRELESS CAPABILITY built into the SlingBox Pro HD (or other SlingBoxes for that matter). I wish they had included the Sling Link Turbo, which allows you to connect the Sling Link Turbo to your network, another cable into your power line and network the SlingBox Pro HD via your electrical outlets, negating the need to run network cabling all over your house. Including wireless connectivity would also be a bonus, however there is no guarantee on wireless connection speeds, which is why it is not included as a feature. Given variances in wireless speeds and quality of connection, there would be no good way, yet, for the SlingBox to offer a consistent level of quality in the video it slings.

Now we delve into watching from anywhere around the world. The first HD caveat I mention in my title for this review, is one of HD media slinging. Unfortunately you must have a decent upload speed from your Internet connection to be able to receive a decent HD picture. The recommended upload speed for a consistently good HD picture while traveling and watching over the Internet is 1.5 mbps. My DSL connection is capped at 768 kbps, which means I cannot watch HD content while traveling as I am given choppy images and broken audio. You can, however, still watch the content, only you will need to set the SlingBox Pro HD to "down convert" the video you receive to standard definition quality. So if all you want is to be able to watch local sports or TV while traveling and don't mind it not being in standard definition, this is a great device. The other side of this caveat is that if you will only be watching while traveling and don't have a fast upload speed, you may be better served saving some money and going for the regular SlingBox Pro instead of the HD.

The other HD caveat is that the SlingBox Pro HD can only accept and output sources UP TO 1080i. This means that if you have a Blu Ray or other HD capable device that can output and is setup to output at 1080p, you will have to dial it down to 1080i output. 720p content is not affected.

Which brings us to connections. There is NO HDMI connection on this device. Not a single HDMI connection. Your options are:

Inputs:

composite (red, white, yellow)
svideo (still needs red and white for audio)
component (red, blue, green, uses either red and white for anlog audio or orange connection for digital audio)
coax (your cable connection)

Outputs:

composite (red, white, yellow)
svideo (still needs red and white for audio)
component (red, blue, green, uses either red and white or orange connection for audio)
coax

The SlingBox Pro HD also has a USB connection for viewing media off of a USB thumb drive (may even work for a USB hard drive; I haven't tried it as of this writing)

You can control all sorts of devices with the SlingBox Pro HD, and especially important is the inclusion of an ATSC tuner within the Pro HD. What this means is that this SlingBox is prepared for the digital conversion we all keep hearing about on TV. The regular SlingBox Pro has only a regular NTSC tuner so is not future proof on its own (if you have a digital converter box, like the ones the government offers coupons for, the regular SlingBox Pro may still be an option).

One other "problem" is not being able to control the PS3. As the PS3 is one of the best selling Blu Ray players, I would have liked to have seen a way to manipulate it using Bluetooth connectivity from the SlingBox Pro HD. They missed the mark on this one, but only by a little. Hopefully they will allow for Bluetooth remote control connections in the next version of the SlingBox?


In the end, this device is amazingly nice. Very rarely does a device impress me as much as this. If you desire to watch HD sources all over your house, this is a great device to purchase. If you want to do the same with SD content, this will still work for you. If you want to watch HD media while traveling, this is the device to purchase (assuming you have a fast enough upload speed to the Internet); you can also use it for watching standard definition content while traveling, though again, if this is what you desire you may be better served with the regular SlingBox Pro and save a few dollars.

As long as you can look past the inability to input/output at 1080p and the Internet upload requirements, this is a great buy!


194 of 200 people found the following review helpful:
Failed after 100 days; More $ to get support
  
This review is from: Sling Media Slingbox PRO-HD SB300-100 (Personal Computers)
I wanted to review this product's feature set and its ease of setup or its compatibility or some other attributes. However, I could not: mine failed after only 100 days of ownership. And I couldn't initially get it fixed by Sling because they told me they only support it for 90 days. I guess I'm old-fashioned in that I expect products to last more than three months before they fail. I also expect companies of those failed products to stand behind them.

UPDATE ONE MONTH LATER: Sling was now willing to honor the warranty on my Slingbox....but only if I paid them $50 more for an extended warranty. Yes, even though my product was well within the one year warranty. Only if I paid them more money would they answer my calls or e-mails asking them to replace my unit.

Anyone considering this product should add $50 to the purchase price when evaluating its worth to you. The product essentially comes with a mere 90 day warranty--you must pay extra after that. Sling should be upfront, adding that $50 to the list price and providing good support. But I guess that's not how they do business.

UPDATE ONE YEAR LATER: After stewing over the extra $50 for months, I opted to pay it so I could move forward and actually have a working SlingBox. I will give Sling credit: Once you pay them their extra $50, they do support you. They stayed on the phone with me at length, connected in remotely, and didn't hesitate to send a replacement unit for my failed one.

I did require support after receiving the new unit because no installation instructions were included and their software is not all that smart. It should have recognized there was a new SlingBox on my LAN and proffered "Do you want to configure the unconfigured SlingBox?" instead of making me hunt through the menus to force it to do so. There are still bugs in the latest configuration utility too, leaving me stuck in the procedure at one point with no "Continue" button and necessitating another chat with Sling support.

OVERALL: I cannot recommend a SlingBox for a non-technical user. With work, an average Joe can connect the cables to one but the software setup is for those who understand video hardware and computer software rather well. This is in no way whatsoever a "plug & play" product. Better software engineering (and hardware quality) could vastly widen the potential user audience. Maybe we will see this in future revisions, but until then it remains a hobbyist extravagance. Make sure you know what you're getting into before buying.


249 of 264 people found the following review helpful:
Horrible customer/technical support. Only 90 days warranty!
     
This review is from: Sling Media Slingbox PRO-HD SB300-100 (Personal Computers)
Overall, I have been pretty happy with the functionality of this product over the last 9 months. Other reviews have covered the features well, so I'd like to focus on the customer support/warranty side of things, which is an important consideration.

In order to use access the video from your Slingbox remotely (when away from your home), Sling has created the concept of an online "sling account" which stores your Slingbox access information on the internet.

As far as I can tell, once you leave your home network, there is no way to access your slingbox signal, without logging into your sling account. This is basically a website, that you log into with email/password, and designate which slingbox you want to watch.

I recently ran into a problem where my email address changed (they require you to login into your slingaccount with your email address rather than a userid), and I needed to update it on my slingaccount. After MUCH searching, all I could find was a way to change my password, but no way to change my email address.

So, I found the "contact us" email link, and fired off a quick request to "please let me know how to change the email address on my sling account".

What I received back was really shocking. Honestly, I have been buying electronics, web services, etc for a long time, and have never received as outrageous of a reply as this.

The response was basically:
- We checked your account, and you purchased your slingbox over 90 days ago, which makes it outside our warranty.
- Therefore, in order for us to resolve you issue, you will need to pay us $29.99 per incident.
- OR you can pay us $49.99 for 2 more years of support.

Are you kidding me! It took them LONGER to write that reply than it would have to copy/paste in the answer for how to change my email.

So just beware, that you will very likely need to pay an extra $50 (or $30 per incident) in order to have access to ongoing functionality of your SlingAccount.

Also, at least in the email I received, they indicated that the $49.99 2 year support coverage was only available PRIOR TO MONTH 12 of your ownership of Slingbox. So if you want to avoid the $30/pop charge, you need to pay the $50 before the 1 year mark.

Most Recent Customer Reviews

support sucks
problems with solo . . . difficult to reach support in or out of warranty! Is there an alternative out there?
by Louis B. Fowler Jr.

Slingbox is the best
A perfect gift for my father for his birthday, he had been eyeing an upgrade from the original slingbox.
by Matthew J. Sherman

Sling Box Pro HD
I waited a year to buy this device partly because of some new entrants onto the market. After carefully evaluating the other units I selected the SlingBox ProHD.
by AfterBurner

Set your cable/satellite box free!!!
If there is anyone out there who needs the ability to access your cable or satellite box on the go, here is your answer.
by JL

Disappointed.
I had an older Slingbox (which was great), which I used for about three years when it just died. So, I replaced it with this unit, because of the tuner.
by Rick Wingender

Support is getting worse
After 90 days you only have the unpaid support option of using the forum. This works for most companies but Sling routinely deletes posts about complaints that users discuss.
by Ross608

My experience with the Slingbox Pro-HD
I've wanted a Slingbox for several years now. Finally decided to get one once I knew I was really going to be needing its remote viewing capabilities.
by Maurice Del Prado Jr.

Purchased Slingbox in USA and sent it to Bulgaria
I purchased a SlingBox Pro HD (SB 300-100) a month ago in the USA and sent it to my parents in Bulgaria (Europe) so they can hook it up to the cable TV provider there and allow me...
by George R. Cakov

Solid Product But...
This does what it says it will and as others have noted, it does take some tech-savvy to get it going. Once does work, it will almost always work.
by Price Above Rubies

Probably the best thing I've bought for traveling.
First I'll tell you that this device is designed for road warriors. Anyone who's away from home for any extended time should buy one of these.
by Kenny Nipp

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Posted by jo chang at 4:07 AM 0 comments

Saturday, November 5, 2011

Western Digital WD TV Live Plus 1080p HD Media Player


Manufacturer : Western Digital
Model : WDBABX0000NBK-NESN
ASIN : B003MVZ60I
Price : 89.99$
Last Price : 76.69$(Discount 14.7794199355484%
See Special Offers
Product Description

WDTV LIVE PLUS HD MEDIA PLYR HDMI AV USB 2.0 ETH Play media from your home network and the Internet on your big screen TV. Plus, enjoy access to your Netflix unlimited membership and other premium content. Dont confine your movies, music, and photos to your small computer screen. Experience them as big as life on your TV in Full-HD 1080p with WD TV Live Plus HD media player.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews

273 of 293 people found the following review helpful:
Now I'm Happy with WD Live Plus
  
This review is from: Western Digital WD TV Live Plus 1080p HD Media Player (Electronics)
I purchased the WD Live Plus HD Media Player to watch movies from my Windows Home server. I got tired of all the DVD's and no where to store them so I built a WHS from an old computer and ordered the WD Live plus. I ran a CAT5 cable to my LCD, hooked up the WD Live Plus and it automatically connected to my WHS. I was up and running in as little as 5 minutes streaming a video on the big screen. The 1st movie played flawlessly until I started to watch the 2nd movie. Towards the middle of the movie, WD Live started to freeze up. At first I thought it was my server so I rebooted the WHS and was back up and running again. Started to watch the movie and froze again. Now I'm getting very upset. Now I powered off/on the WD Live Plus and same issue. Some movies played with no issues and some movies just locked up. Now I'm getting upset with this media Player. I checked WD's website and could not find any solution to the device freezing so I ordered the "Asus O! Player" unit to replace my piece of crap WD live Plus. I was already to mail it back and connect the Asus O! Player but something told me to check the WD support website one more time before I mail back WD Live Plus HD Media Player.

I found this on their site:

"When playing a movie over a Network location on a WD TV Live HD Media Player, the video may slow down

Problem:
When playing a high bitrate movie from a Network location (computer or NAS), after a period of time, the video may slow down and jitter.
Cause:
Samba (the method the WD TV Live uses to read a network location) cannot play back high bitrate movies.
Solution:
If this problem is encountered there are two solutions:
1. Try playing the content from the Media Server selection on the WD TV Live HD Media Player. This may require installation of a Media Server on your computer. Windows Media Player 11 has a built in Media Server. There are other alternatives such as TwonkyMedia, and TVersity which may also work for these videos.
2. Copy the high bitrate content to a USB drive, attach the USB drive to the WD TV Live HD Media Player and play the content from the local drive".


I said Hmmm, "playing a high bitrate movie from a Network location", well this was my problem. I went to TVersity and they explained how the software transcodes any video depending on your network speed and devices for proper streaming settings. So I installed the software on my WHS. During the installation it prompted to install the additional AC3 codec. So I installed it on my server. After installation completed, I configured TVersity to use my Video folder on the WHS and behold video was streaming to my LCD with no issues. Actually I believe the video quality is slighter better now than it was before.

So I'll take that back about calling the WD player crap. Now I can say I'm very happy with WD Live Plus and will give it a 4 star rating now. TVersity is excellent software for streaming videos and will help any media player handle video streaming. Oh did it mention that it's free! So go ahead and purchase the WD Live Plus HD Media Player and install TVersity on either your WHS or desktop/laptop and the 2 together they'll make a perfect couple.

Enjoy.


198 of 221 people found the following review helpful:
A Real Review from a Real Owner
  
This review is from: Western Digital WD TV Live Plus 1080p HD Media Player (Electronics)
I just got the WD TV Live Plus and I have to say that I've finally found the perfect media streamer (for now).

I've had the WD TV Live (not plus version) for about 5 months and it's served me well, streaming up just about every type of movie file that I've ever encountered. When I purchased the non-plus version, the only two features that I really wanted that it was missing was NetFlix support and full DVD menu support.

Yes, I am a bummered that my existing non-plus version can't support NetFlix, but I very well knew that what I purchased it.

Please Note: Most of the non-plus version marketing material says that it doesn't support full DVD menu navigation, but WD just came out with a firmware update that DOES add DVD menu support - Kuddos to WD for listening to their customers and giving them what they want.

Regarding the NetFlix support, the PLUS version has a different chip inside of it that is required for NetFlix support (something about copy protection). The non-plus version does not have the required chip in order to support NetFlix so if you read some rants about WD trying to !@#$% their customers, it's probably non-plus owners who feel cheated that they have to buy a new product to get NetFlix support.

I understand their frustration, but the truth of the matter is that there is nothing WD can do in order to get the non-plus to support NetFlix.

On the other hand, they *have* just added DVD menu support to the non-plus version, so anyone who says that they stop supporting the older products doesn't know what they're talking about.

To the point of the review, the NetFlix supports both queue playing (when you already have stuff added to your play now queue) AND browsing.

This is my first NetFlix player (other than my PC) so I can't really compare it to other NetFlix players. I know the Xbox also supports browsing, but I think that most other stand alone players do not support browsing.

The activation process was surprisingly easy (I just went to the NetFlix site and entered a code the Plus gave me).

Regarding HD content, I'm not 100% sure if the Plus supports this, but last night I was viewing some 30 rock episodes and it looked *really* good, better than viewing a DVD.

When starting to view a NetFlix video, it took about 15-20 seconds from when I clicked on play to when the video started playing. I don't know if this is good or bad. No streaming issues once it started playing. My device is connected directly to my router.

I also played around with the new MediaFly feature. Never heard of it before. Basically it aggregates some audio and video podcasts by topic. I saw some CNN and NPR content which is cool.

Overall I'd say this is the best media streamer ->currently<- on the market.

I emphasize currently as I REALLY wanted to get a POPBOX, which sounds like a better option (at least on paper), but it still isn't out and I got tired of waiting for it to be released.

Lastly, I know I didn't cover other aspects of the PLUS, but other than NetFlix support (and I think MediaFly support) the plus and non-plus devices are identical so go read some non-plus reviews for more info :)

[UPDATE June 21]
A few people correctly mentioned that the DVD menu support for the non plus version isn't officially out yet since it's still in beta.
You can see the entire thread of people who have download the beta version and successfully played DVDs with menus on the non-plus version here:
[...]


195 of 223 people found the following review helpful:
Stick with the Non-Plus version - Buggy!
  
This review is from: Western Digital WD TV Live Plus 1080p HD Media Player (Electronics)
Before I get started, let me give you some background. I've owned 2 WD Live (non-plus) models for about a year. I upgraded the 2 non-plus models to (2 of them, so you can't blame faulty hardware) plus models, which was a big mistake. The reason I did this was that the WD Live is a great product and I wanted to add Netflix support.

So let me start with the positives
*It plays practically everything
*The interface is simple and straight forward
*Support for Youtube, Pandora, Netflix
*Streams 1080p with no issue
*Really easy to setup

Now for the negatives
*The firmware is buggy. There hasn't been a single firmware released since the product has been out either.
*If your networked drive is asleep, the Plus will hang at connecting 95% of the time (non-plus wouldn't do that). You have to do something else on the device before trying again or turn it off and on again to try to connect again - It's like it caches the info
*Takes like 30 seconds to turn on (non-plus takes like 2)
*Menu navigation is slower compared to the non-plus
*It won't remember the place you stopped in a movie/show if you turn off the device (non-plus didn't have this issue)
*Netflix - you can't 'search' for a movie. You can only pick from the selection that is presented. If you want add other movies, you have to do that from you computer.
*If you drop connection while connecting to Netflix, then the device will not try the connection again after you fix network issue. You have to shut off the box and turn it back on
*You can't customize what network devices to show on the menu. It shows all devices on your network (same issue with non-plus)

So I would suggest skipping the buggy Plus version getting the WD Live Non-Plus, because that is a great unit, and do netflix via your tv, wii, ps3 or 360.

UPDATE After 6 months: Western Digital has issued updates to this device, but broke other things and made things worse. If you have bought this device, I would suggest a custom firmware from b-rad. This fixes most of the complaints I listed above.

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