Western Digital WD TV HD Media Player - a HTPC replacement??

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Dude this laptop to LCD is a Pain in the A** . I myself went for a high end Dell XPS for this and then i realized that you not only need to keep adjusting the screen resolution you also have to change your default sound settings. I also bought a USB Digi Optical out but it was so much of hassle that I ultimately ended up buying WD TV . But totally agree with you here, it should work with CRT's !
Click to expand...


The other day I connected my Inspiron which has an HDMI port to my Bravia 32" LCD via HDMI cable and everything seem to work fine. I dint had to change any sound or display settings! :)


I am traveling for the next few days. But from what I remember, the zoom functionality does work fine - will see if I can check the Pan too tonight.
Click to expand...

UPDATE-

I also tried the player with Bravia 32" LCD via HDMI cable and also with Philips 32" LCD via composite cables as it doesnt have HDMI!!


So when sony was connected via HDMI the picture looked fine and there didnt seem to be any cropping though I dint check very carefully.

But when I connected the player to Philips LCD via Composite cables the picture was still cropped!! X-( I changed the resolution of LCD from "widescreen" to "4:3" to check if the LCD is cutting out the picture but it was not the case. Black bars appeared on the side but some part of picture was still missing which I could see if I reduced the size to 1/2 or clicked on PAN and moved the image.


I think it has got something to do with when the connection is via composite instead of HDMI!!
 
You can also consider the following.

IOmega Multimedia ScreenPlay Pro HD

ScreenPlay Pro HD Multimedia Hard Drive: Multimedia Ethernet and USB PC to TV Video Hard Drive

It has video recording functionality as well. You get it for $210 with 1TB HDD (approx).


Mvix ULTIO

1080p High Definition Home Theater PC (HTPC) | Ultio | MvixUSA

($169 without HDD)

MVIX 800HD

Mvix.Net - Homepage


MediaGates MG-M2 TV HD player
(Without HDD, HDD has to be connected externally)

Amazon.com: Media Player 1080P HD Hdmi Mediagate MG-M2TV: Electronics


Western Digital WDTV
(Without HDD, HDD has to be connected externally)

WD TV Product Update
 
Last edited:
KBS said:
You can also consider the following.

IOmega Multimedia ScreenPlay Pro HD

ScreenPlay Pro HD Multimedia Hard Drive: Multimedia Ethernet and USB PC to TV Video Hard Drive

It has video recording functionality as well. You get it for $210 with 1TB HDD (approx).


Mvix ULTIO

1080p High Definition Home Theater PC (HTPC) | Ultio | MvixUSA

($169 without HDD)

MVIX 800HD

Mvix.Net - Homepage


MediaGates MG-M2 TV HD player
(Without HDD, HDD has to be connected externally)

Amazon.com: Media Player 1080P HD Hdmi Mediagate MG-M2TV: Electronics


Western Digital WDTV
(Without HDD, HDD has to be connected externally)

WD TV Product Update
Click to expand...


which one of these r available in India? Amazon doen't ship them to India.
 
Hi folks,
Its regarding the WD 1TB My Book. Read some good reviews.
(Would like to add on with WD media player later).
The links below from ebay:

1.
eBay India: WD 1TB My Book Home USB Firewire eSATA Hard Drive 1 TB (item 170374679881 end time 29-Aug-2009 16:05:32 IST)

2.
eBay India: WD 1TB USB Hard Disk Drive (item 350244718012 end time 29-Aug-2009 11:28:59 IST)

3.
eBay India: WD Western Digital 1TB My Book 1TB Home Edition (item 400069484808 end time 29-Aug-2009 07:17:00 IST)

4.
eBay India: WD Western Digital 1TB My Book Essential Rs 5375/- (item 140338969532 end time 30-Aug-2009 05:30:00 IST)

Or
this essential edition (What is the "Essential Edition when compared to "Home Edition").
http://cgi.ebay.in/WD-Western-Digit..._203?hash=item518c235d66&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14

Is Home edition higher than Essential Edition?


Are these four the same? If so, i can go for the lowest price.(I also have a discount coupon which i can club with this lowest price).
Not sure about the warranty because i see different warranty info offered by each seller.

I thought to clarify with you folks, because i see different rates. So will there be any product difference or any other difference? Want to confirm before i order one.

Do let me know.

If you folks do not recommend, i will stay away from this.
Thanks
 
Last edited:
sgmane said:
Hi folks,
Its regarding the WD 1TB My Book. Read some good reviews.
(Would like to add on with WD media player later).
The links below from ebay:

1.
eBay India: WD 1TB My Book Home USB Firewire eSATA Hard Drive 1 TB (item 170374679881 end time 29-Aug-2009 16:05:32 IST)

2.
eBay India: WD 1TB USB Hard Disk Drive (item 350244718012 end time 29-Aug-2009 11:28:59 IST)

3.
eBay India: WD Western Digital 1TB My Book 1TB Home Edition (item 400069484808 end time 29-Aug-2009 07:17:00 IST)

4.
eBay India: WD Western Digital 1TB My Book Essential Rs 5375/- (item 140338969532 end time 30-Aug-2009 05:30:00 IST)

Or
this essential edition (What is the "Essential Edition when compared to "Home Edition").
eBay India: WD Western Digital 1TB My Book 1 TB Essential Edition (item 350243478886 end time 30-Aug-2009 12:52:56 IST)

Is Home edition higher than Essential Edition?


Are these four the same? If so, i can go for the lowest price.(I also have a discount coupon which i can club with this lowest price).
Not sure about the warranty because i see different warranty info offered by each seller.

I thought to clarify with you folks, because i see different rates. So will there be any product difference or any other difference? Want to confirm before i order one.

Do let me know.

If you folks do not recommend, i will stay away from this.
Thanks
Click to expand...

WD 1 TB had some really bad reviews. Seagate is a better bet but again many people are not satisified with Seagate . Think it would be better go for those 500gb portable HDD's !
 
sgmane said:
Is Home edition higher than Essential Edition?


Are these four the same? If so, i can go for the lowest price.(I also have a discount coupon which i can club with this lowest price).
Not sure about the warranty because i see different warranty info offered by each seller.

I thought to clarify with you folks, because i see different rates. So will there be any product difference or any other difference? Want to confirm before i order one.

Do let me know.

If you folks do not recommend, i will stay away from this.
Thanks
Click to expand...

I have been using the MyBook Essential for a very long time now. Its good and runs silent.

The different WD Editions are compared here. Here is the pdf.

Cheers.
 
unleash_me said:
I have been using the MyBook Essential for a very long time now. Its good and runs silent.

The different WD Editions are compared here. Here is the pdf.

Cheers.
Click to expand...


I have a Maxtor 1 TB Plus edition . I got it as a replacement to my Maxtor ! TB Basic edition which got bad sectors in less than a week of usage . The maxtor plus is working fine although I dont use it much ! All movies are currently being played through a Portable Western Digital 320 GB HDD . The Maxtor is primarily for HD content.


A very good place to start if you are confused is Amazon.com. They have some very useful (and some very silly :rolleyes:) reviews. Hope this helps.
 
I am thinking of buying this WD player & i want to connect it to sony home theatre ( older model )which has only composite cable option . Will connecting hdmi cable to tv & composite for audio will work for 5.1 sound ?
 
ssps said:
I am thinking of buying this WD player & i want to connect it to sony home theatre ( older model )which has only composite cable option . Will connecting hdmi cable to tv & composite for audio will work for 5.1 sound ?
Click to expand...

Composite componant is only for video?
Can I hav exact model number of your sony? Does it have Optical input?
 
madbullram said:
Why buy this, when Popcorn Audio Converter does it for free :yahoo:
Click to expand...

Any similar software but this time for mp4 files ?


Currently to handle aac tracks of mp4 files , I need to convert it into mkv using mkv merge and then use popcorn audio converter, This two step process increases file size in each step. Hence was wondering whether it was possible to keep the mp4 video as it is and only convert the aac audio to ac3 .

@mbr - any idea on this ?
 
Hey!!

I recently bought a WD Tv. I need info on the following:

1. Can a provision for chapters be made in WD tv? Or is the movie has to ripped in a particular fashion for WD Tv to understand chapters? You see, in case of a power cut, getting back to the spot is a pain as I have to fast forward.......its ridiculous.

2. Which is the best format to:
a) RIP DVD for WD tv
b) D/L from net
(Considering space is NOT a constraint)

3. Which is the best application to do the same? At present I use DVD smith to get rid of copy protection. And, then I use handbrake to convert the same to AVI. Is there a better way to do this?

Thank you guys.

Sumit

PS> I probably would find some answers in this thread...but this is an awfully long thread and I don't have the patience. Please excuse me here. Thanks
 
Welcome to the WD family

1. Yes. I always rip DVDs and then use Handbrake to convert them to .mkv format with 5.1 audio. In handbrake you have a tab in which you can create chapters. Infact, handbrake automatically adds chapters to .mkv. But if you want to be perfect (like me), i go to the tab and type each chapter name bcos handbrake just names it as chapter 1, 2 etc.

When you play this .mkv file in wd tv, Press the options button on the right extreme you will see chapter icon, select it and all chapters will be displayed.

2.What is best? read in order of quality

1. Blu-Ray disk original format. This will be around 25-30 Gig. You can download from torrents . this is the best
2. 1080p ripped and encoded movies from torrents or u can buy Blu Ray disks and rip them on your own, again this will be around 8 to 15 gigs depending on the parameters used
3. 720p ripped and encoded movies from torrents or u can buy Blu Ray disks and rip them on your own, again this will be around 3 to 8 gigs depending on the parameters used
4. Micro HD rips downloaded from torrents which will be around 1 to 3 gigs
5. DVDs and DVD ripped into .mkv file using handbrake at 60% compression with source audio retained.


3. If DVD smith is working fine use it. There is another thread I started which discusses applications


Sumit said:
Hey!!

I recently bought a WD Tv. I need info on the following:

1. Can a provision for chapters be made in WD tv? Or is the movie has to ripped in a particular fashion for WD Tv to understand chapters? You see, in case of a power cut, getting back to the spot is a pain as I have to fast forward.......its ridiculous.

2. Which is the best format to:
a) RIP DVD for WD tv
b) D/L from net
(Considering space is NOT a constraint)

3. Which is the best application to do the same? At present I use DVD smith to get rid of copy protection. And, then I use handbrake to convert the same to AVI. Is there a better way to do this?

Thank you guys.

Sumit

PS> I probably would find some answers in this thread...but this is an awfully long thread and I don't have the patience. Please excuse me here. Thanks
Click to expand...
 
illusion said:
Any similar software but this time for mp4 files ?


Currently to handle aac tracks of mp4 files , I need to convert it into mkv using mkv merge and then use popcorn audio converter, This two step process increases file size in each step. Hence was wondering whether it was possible to keep the mp4 video as it is and only convert the aac audio to ac3 .

@mbr - any idea on this ?
Click to expand...

Currently, I am not aware of anyway we can directly do this. Sorry Bro :(
 
Thanks a lot MBR. This clears a lot of doubts. I shall use the chapter option in handbrake menu. As of now, I use to rip in AVI format. From, now onwards I shall rip in .mkv format.

However, I have a second set of queries for you:

1. I read somewhere that WD tv can play vob files. So, if space is not a constraint then can we not just rip the dvd and play directly? We won't need handbrake then. Wat say?

2. I want to create playlists from the huge collection of music that I have. How can I do the same and play on the WD tv?

3. Any idea about subtitle/s support?

Thanks a ton man.

Sumit
 
Last edited:
Hi Guys,

This might be very basic question. Will WD TV supports 5.1 DD/DTS? This is the only thing stopping me from WD TV. Please confirm.

Thanks.
Satya.
 
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