WD TV Live Streaming Media Player Wi-Fi 1080p review
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WD TV Live Streaming Media Player -
from left to right. Power cord, optical audio out, Ethernet port (not used), hdmi out, usb in -
front of media player with additional USB input -
back of player with inputs
The Western Digital (WD) TV live streaming media player is a great device to add to your home entertainment system. You need it because it allows you to stream media in 1080p HD from usb hard drives, flash drives and has wireless connectivity with built in apps to use some of your favorite web services like Netflix and Pandora among others. This review is for the current 3rd generation model. See below to watch my quick review and overview of the WD TV streaming media player.
The front of the unit has a usb input and the back has an optical audio out, ethernet connection, hdmi out, 2nd usb input and an analog audio out.
Set up is easy. Connect via hdmi out to your tv or other video source. Connect the optical audio out to your audio reciever, plug in a flash drive and turn the unit on. After the unit is on, you will need to select your language, enter your wireless password (You can hardline connect the box using ethernet cable) and install any firmware updates. Once the firmware updates are installed, you will need to restart the unit.
After the unit reboots you are taken to the home screen. On the bottom of the screen you can scroll to see your photos, music, videos, games, and services. The menus are very user friendly and you hit the OK button on the remote to enter each menu and hit the back button to exit.
The videos and music are located on your hard drive or flash drives that are connected to your Media Player. You can also set up a home network drive that allows you to stream media from any wirelessly connected computer or tablet in your house. You can also connect the WD TV to a Slingbox to stream live TV to any room in your house.
The services tab is probably how you will use the WD TV the most. There is a menu on the left side of the services tab that sorts the included apps into different genres such as sports, music, movies etc. Netflix, Hulu, Pandora and Spotify are just a few of the included apps with the WD TV. You will need to go into each app and enter your login information, but you will just have to do this the first time you access each app. At the time of this posting, Amazon Instant Video is not included with the WD TV. You are able to add any of these apps to your favorites. You can access of your favorites by pressing the blue (D) button at anytime using the remote.
Ideal for
- Streaming hit movies, trending videos, shows, games, and popular online entertainment such as YouTube™, Spotify™, Facebook®, and more
- Enjoying your digital media library in Full-HD 1080p on the biggest screen in the house
- Playing a wide variety of file formats including MKV, MP4, XVID, AVI, WMV, and MOV
- Wirelessly streaming videos, music, and photos to your TV
- Playing media from USB drives, network drives, and any PC or Mac® computer in your home
- Connecting a Slingbox to stream live TV to any room in the house
There is also a WD TV remote app for both Android and Iphone users that allows you full control of your WD from your smartphone which is a nice touch. I show how well that works in my video review below.
Download the WD TV remote app for Android by clicking here
Download the WD TV remote app for Itunes by clicking here
The WD TV Live is a great buy for anyone who finds technology too difficult to use. It runs about $100-$140 at Amazon. Whether its taking photos from a computer and moving them to a flash drive to show the family or watching the latest Arrested Development season on Netflix, the WD TV makes it easy to do. It’s wireless, displays in full 1080p HD and has a ton of apps. I think that is all you need. You won’t be disappointed.
Check out my short review of the WD TV Live in action:
Feel free to ask me any questions you have in the comments below. Caw!
Hello,
I have a question. I’m looking for a media player to play my movies on my hd tv. I’ve a lot of movies on external HDD. Can I easely connect these disks (mac formatted) to the WD TV LIVE? Is it possible to choose the language or subtitle of the movie with the remote?
Kind regards.
Yes, WD TV would be a great option for you. You can easily connect your hard drives via the 2 usb ports. And you can access the language/subtitle from the remote. You can also use the android or iphone remote app.
Would it be possible to connect directly through the WiFi to the WD as a ‘secondary Router’ or are all ‘user connections’ still through one’s primary router, and hence the wifi just used between the two routers ?
All connections are made through the primary router. You can not use the WD as a secondary router. You can only access the data and apps on the WD through the ethernet cable or through Wifi.
Birdman,
I have this WD HD media live unit and I love it except for one thing – I cannot get mkv, vob and other video files to be full screen on my TV. The movie video is very narrow in the middle. If I burn the same file to DVD – it comes up as full screen. I have tried changing aspect ratio – did not work. Maybe you can help? How can I get these video files to be full screen?
Thanks, Vytas
Because not all videos are in a 16:9 aspect ratio. Most movies are not. To maintain the correct aspect ratio for the movie the display is letter-boxed (the black bars) so you don’t get vertical distortion of the picture. Essentially the only way currently you can make a 4:3 movie fit your widescreen tv is to zoom into it until it fills the screen (but therefore cropping out both the top and bottom of the frame)
if i want to play movies from my usb stick do i need to buy one with a certain spec. ie speed
The faster the better, but the WD is compatible with all USB flash drives.
Does this device sort the movies by genre? The older version I have just list the movies in alphabetical order.
No. it only does it by alphabetical order
Great article. For those who live outside US like me, you can access Netflix, Hulu and similar media stations on your WD TV by using UnoTelly or similar tools.
Hello.
Can you suggest me a good media player with USB 3.0 slot, so that when I connect hdd to play movies, it does not take too much of time.
Also, I want the feature in it, that when attach the hdd in the media player then it’s content I should be able to access on my phone iPad or computer through wireless wifi..
Feature should also include that such connection with router should be wireless and not with Ethernet cable, I.e. It should have inbuilt wifi .
Can you please suggest any model based on my requirement.
I don’t know of anything that has all that you are looking for and a USB 3.0 connection. I will look and let you know.
Is there a proper net browser?
If not how does one use the alphanumeric key pad to bring up letters on the hidden browser in: Home/Setup/About/Search?
No, there is not a browser. It it just a media player designed to play media off USB storage devices and through apps like Netflix, Pandora etc.
I have been everywhere to buy one of these we’d TV live streaming wifi but can’t find them anywhere the new one doesn’t have Netflix can you help me with where I can get one
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