WD TV Live (ie WD TV 2)

[spirovious]

WD2 can play Bluray ISO files with HD aud confirmed here-
Western Digital WD TV Live HD Media Player - WD TV Live - Final Thoughts and Conclusions - Legit Reviews

other cinephile grade?-

http://www.techradar.com/reviews/pc...ng-devices/hd-digitech-hdx-1000-646871/review

 

[argho]

Hi,

Today I got message from 20north support team that WDTV Live is stocked out with their US merchant. :annoyed:

Has anybody else ordered this from 20north and received same message?

I was told that the US merchant is expected to get fresh units during the first fortnight of December... So I expect I will get my unit in the new year only...

I received a similar msg.

 

[dolfin]

I received a similar msg.

@argho, Have you canceled the order or waiting?

I got insider information that Western Digital, India is importing first consignment of WD2 and it is landing here end of next week.

However price in India will not be at par with 20north. I am in dilemma whether to cancel order with 20north or wait for the delivery....

 

[spirovious]

However price in India will not be at par with 20north. I am in dilemma whether to cancel order with 20north or wait for the delivery....

Price here can be 8k+,as WD1 for 7k ($100) here.

 

[argho]

@argho, Have you canceled the order or waiting?

I got insider information that Western Digital, India is importing first consignment of WD2 and it is landing here end of next week.

However price in India will not be at par with 20north. I am in dilemma whether to cancel order with 20north or wait for the delivery....

Dolfin,

Is there an option to cancel the order with 20North ?
Has anyone tried it, and received a refund without a problem ?

If so, I would prefer to cancel.

 

[Dushie]

Price here can be 8k+,as WD1 for 7k ($100) here.

If the price will be 8k+ then one can also look at xtreamer now as without wireless antenna the pricing has been revised to Rs 8990 currently in the special offer. Which brings both pretty close.

Only thing which i am waiting for is for WDTV 2 to introduce the new firmware and fix the major bug list.

 

[dolfin]

Price here can be 8k+,as WD1 for 7k ($100) here.

Western Digital has already declared MRP 10.5K in India. When they introduced WD1, the declared MRP was 6.5K but the unit was selling for above 7.5K on eBay. This might be the reason why WD2 has been officially priced higher in India.

Since the price of WD2 in international market is lower than 8K I don't expect anybody selling it for more than 10.5K but 8-10K is a safe assumption. At 10.5 K price point, it doesn't make any sense to buy it locally (even beyond 8.5K for that matter).

I have seen many electronic items are priced higher in India and the importers put blame on import duties (or any other reason their clever mind can create). However, that is not the case. Firstly, the import duties have substantially reduced over a period of time. Secondly, all these manufacturers are having Indian subsidiaries. Therefore, they import at very low rate than a direct distributor would import.

I have myself imported many things in past for self use. Even if I have to pay duties, the total price is lower than local buy. And all this is after paying the air fright cost. Such is the difference in international and local pricing.

May be its time for Indian distributors to realize that we are no longer at their mercy. Gone are the days of high duties and high prices. We are not dependent on them. Yes, they can say we'll loose warranty benefit. But how many of such units fail? Even if they fail, all what they do is repair, not replacement. If such thing happens, even if I pay for repair, I won't be at loss.

 

[dolfin]

Dolfin,

Is there an option to cancel the order with 20North ?
Has anyone tried it, and received a refund without a problem ?

If so, I would prefer to cancel.

@argho,

Their mail mentions we can cancel the order for a full refund. I could not locate a link on their website to cancel it but I assume we can write to them to cancel it. IMO it is very much possible to cancel the order till the product is not shipped by the merchant.

BTW I am waiting for the Indian prices (street price i.e.). If it is beyond 8K I won't cancel my order. Between 7.5-8K its a tough call. Assuming that in worst case I am required to pay duty on 20north shipment, the price of the unit will be at par with local purchase if the local price is lower than 8K. But WD1 being priced at 7K range, I don't expect that happening unless WD India wants to revise prices of both products.

 

[hemantwaghe]

Price here can be 8k+,as WD1 for 7k ($100) here.

On what basis this magic figure arrives I was wondering ( anyway in later posts I got higher tentative price!)
I happened to be in it prod management and pricing depend on one majour factor - Greed!!!
If you know you have a demand and have a unique product general starategy is to rip the market

There are exceptions and there are situations ... by means sony had a strategy to rip he market in content - so PS3 was selling below production price and sony was making losses.
For long I have not tracked this market but it appers sony is still making losses

Sony PS3 Biz Up Some, but Division (and Others) Still Gloomy | BNET Technology Blog | BNET

 

[hemantwaghe]

But how many of such units fail? Even if they fail, all what they do is repair, not replacement. If such thing happens, even if I pay for repair, I won't be at loss.

1) I do not have statistics but modern goods are too complex and prone to failure than older goods ....
2) also a lot of complex goods are NOT AT ALL repaired but replaced --like Hard Disks, Thumb drives ,in case of laptops for a minor issue Mother Boards are REPLACED by HP ,there are instances where people got replacement of full refund in case of LCD/Plasma failure .
3) Least when I called WD service 6 months back I was told that warentee is valid on products purchased from US and they simply REPLACE the product ( no repairs)
4) So you are partially right that in case of WD or HP ( and I think apple) International warentee is honored ,but then what about Onkyo and Denon whose indian distries refused to serve products sourced from outside?

 

[dolfin]

If you know you have a demand and have a unique product general starategy is to rip the market

By & far this strategy is deployed by most electronic goods manufacturers. Take e.g. of iPhone! at that price one can buy a good laptop!

There are exceptions and there are situations ... by means sony had a strategy to rip he market in content - so PS3 was selling below production price and sony was making losses.

Nobody is here to make long term losses. General trend in game console market is to sell hardware (console) at subsidized cost and rip the benefit in software (games). So is the case of printers where the profit is made in consumables (printer cartridges).

1) I do not have statistics but modern goods are too complex and prone to failure than older goods ....

Agreed, modern goods have become complex these days but so are the manufacturing processes & quality controls. It all depends on what level of quality the manufacturer wants to maintain. Cheap below 5K range mobile phones are also sourced from China and iPhone hardware is also sourced from China. But product qualities are far apart. Reputed manufacturers want to maintain their image in the market so they keep the quality top notch.

2) also a lot of complex goods are NOT AT ALL repaired but replaced --

Prevention is better than cure. So it is easier to ramp up Quality Control & have less problems later. It is better option for both the manufacturer and the consumer. Yes, It doesn't completely eliminate the problem, agreed. Full replacement is a strategy to maintain brand image rather than repair-ability of complex product (unless the product is not at all repairable). Take for e.g. Nokia's recent recall of adapters.

but then what about Onkyo and Denon whose indian distries refused to serve products sourced from outside?

Again, its a strategy to push consumers buying product from Indian distributors. If people rampantly start buying products from abroad, in what way their business will thrive? IMO it's not a sustaining strategy. Better is to make the price equal to international market. Consumers' interest can not be ignored. Entertainment industry fought for legality of mp3, finally they had to surrender and accept the format.

In fact, the topic of this forum -- Media Box, is also known as Pirate Box... But the very is reason this industry is flourishing day by day is consumer demand. So is the success of this product that companies like Western Digital (WDTV), Pioneer (Project E-Tap) decided to venture in it.

 

[idlebrain]

Dolfin,

Is there an option to cancel the order with 20North ?
Has anyone tried it, and received a refund without a problem ?

If so, I would prefer to cancel.

You can cancel the order using thier live chat service. They will cancel it online. I cancelled my order once worth of 2k. They have added the amount as the gift points in my 20north account and used it for other product purchase. I am not sure about whether they will refund the amount to your card.

 

[danccc]

You can cancel the order using thier live chat service. They will cancel it online. I cancelled my order once worth of 2k. They have added the amount as the gift points in my 20north account and used it for other product purchase. I am not sure about whether they will refund the amount to your card.

I wish I knew this. On the mail they wanted to charge me 20% cancellation charges as the order was already processed. Ultimately I cancelled my "cancellation" request.

 

[reddream]

Guys, sorry for the late reply, I am also waiting for the player. Called and checked with 20 north a week back, same story no stocks.

It looks like there is no stocks anywhere, the told me that I can cancel the order and full refund will be done or I can point them to a site which has stock and they will get it for me.

Hopefully amazon will restock soon, the site says 18th of Nov.

I am busy trying to get a projector for the WD live, Optoma WD20 but the screen is breaking my head... learning.

 

[argho]

I sent them an email saying that I wanted to cancel my order.
They responded stating that it has already been shipped to their warehouse.

I have therefore asked them to go ahead and send it to me.

Hope I will receive it soon, and they weren't just spinning me a story.

 

[dolfin]

I sent them an email saying that I wanted to cancel my order.
They responded stating that it has already been shipped to their warehouse.

I have therefore asked them to go ahead and send it to me.

Hope I will receive it soon, and they weren't just spinning me a story.

I don't think they will let go their orders easily. If they have indeed received stock in warehouse its good news... BTW when did you place your order?

 

[argho]

I don't think they will let go their orders easily. If they have indeed received stock in warehouse its good news... BTW when did you place your order?

I placed my order on 30th October.

Just checked the status of my order on their website. Shows no change.
They have also not responded to my email asking about estimated date of delivery.

 

[dolfin]

WD TV Live gets first official firmware update...

Check these links out...

WD Product Update

Release Notes

 

[Dushie]

This is a good move from them in the right direction hopefully it should be able to resolve the major issues users are facing. Can any user who has done the firmware update give us a feedback on the same

 

[aneelr]

Hi,

A friend of mine has got his WDTV Live from the US for $110, not sure from where exactly (from best buy I guess)................. will be coming down to B'lore by next week .................. Will do a full test of the same and post the reviews. Hope for a good review

cheers