Reddit reviews WD TV Media Player (WDBYMN0000NBK-HESN)

Actually I got the WD TV Live 1080p Streamer. Just a little box and remote, that is almost like the Roku. But it will play every video format and audio format. I have an expensive home theater setup, and like to put it to good use. Most of the streamers that are out, won't play many audio formats, but this one will.

http://www.amazon.com/WD-TV-Media-Player-WDBYMN0000NBK-HESN/dp/B00JXFM75Y

Bought it though almost a year or so ago, when it was around $99. It's cheaper now. Pretty much the cheapest and best video streamer out, for 1080p. If you want a higher resolution, you have to look elsewhere though.

My WDTV plays everything off my NAS with no issues and it supports 5.1. I have it hard wired though, I have not tried to stream using the wireless connection. Comes with its own remote, adding movies and having it scrape the internet for the info is a little cumbersome but it does its job.

http://www.amazon.com/WD-TV-Media-Player-WDBYMN0000NBK-HESN/dp/B00JXFM75Y/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1419262767&sr=8-2&keywords=wd+tv

ive had one of these for several years now. they dont make them anymore, so youd probably have to look on amazon/ebay. its not the greatest thing on the planet, but it has played every single movie ive thrown at it.

https://www.amazon.com/WD-TV-Media-Player-WDBYMN0000NBK-HESN/dp/B00JXFM75Y

The bad news:

Wifi sucks for media distribution. While many routers will do 802.11 a/b/g/n speeds, they'll mostly only do one at a time. So if you have just one slow device in the house requiring a/b speeds, it's going to drag your real-world transfer speeds into the 150kbps range and even SD video will stutter.

Most "smart" TVs aren't. Many brand new smart panels/BD players have poor codec support and abysmal interfaces.

The good news:

All of this is fixable. As for moving files, you can find and disable the slow device that's dragging down your wireless network. In my case, it ended up being a wireless printer. Alternately, you can pull an ethernet cable from your server to the TV, or do ethernet over AC.

As for smartening up your TV, you have several options. The free one is to keep using the PC that's currently connected to it. It's not really putting any "strain" on the CPU, since unless it's an ancient machine, video playback is handled with no real effort by the GPU. If you want a standalone device, I've tried dozens of set-top players over the years and have found the WD TV units to be as close to perfect as anybody has gotten. Codec support is very good, the interface is acceptable, and they play nice with network shares.

However, if you're willing to spend a bit more, you can get a full-fledged windows PC that is even smaller and more capable. I currently use two gigabyte brix systems in my house. Toss in 4GB of RAM and a cheap SSD and you can have a complete system for about $200. Using a good media player like MPC-HC this will handle anything you throw at it.

Yes and no.

Chromecast and Miracast dongles support full-screen video sharing. Miracast is literally like a wireless HDMI cable and just shows up as an extra monitor, Chromecast is a proprietary variant but basically works the same way.

However, users generally are unhappy with the performance of this solution. Video tends to be choppy.

There is also the huge issue that the playback (start/stop, pause) must be controlled from the computer, not your TV (remember, the TV is just a monitor for the computer in this scenario). There are workarounds for this (wireless keyboard/mouse, smartphone apps) but they're just not as good as a dedicated client with a remote. This also means that, in practice, it's extremely difficult for someone to use the PC while it's streaming content.

The alternative is to get a dedicated player that supports SMB (windows filesharing) and DLNA/UPNP (video streaming). I'd recommend the WD TV for you, as it has the best codec support (support for MKV and other random stuff from torrents).

With the WD TV you have a remote and the WD TV connects to background services on your Windows PC, you can use you PC (even playing games or whatever) and it will have no effect on the stream. Your PC just has to be on. WD TV supports Miracast, so you can still go that way if you want.

Note that the WD TV has really terrible support for streaming services. No Netflix. No Amazon Instant. Pretty much nothing. It's mainly a client for locally-stored video. The intended use case is that you plug a WD external hard drive into the WD TV or you're streaming content off a WD NAS or Windows share.

Another option you might consider is the new Nexus Player, but that kind of an unknown at this point.

There are a bunch of devices that will play your media without any sort of "server" (as long as your media is in the right format) and most all of them will work without an internet connection. Xbox's playstations, Roku's AppleTV. Check out the WDTV media player

Now...the interface on these is nowhere near as nice as Plex or Kodi even but they will all do what you want.

Would this be the best one? Its the newest. Amazon Link WD TV
This has no Netflix for some reason..

There is also this one which has older software I believe. Amazon Link WD TV Live

There is also a WD TV Play, but no USB included.


...

Ordering a WD TV Live 3rd Gen WDBHG70000NBK. Seems to be the best.

Ok thanks, that seems to be the consensus on my Amazon question too. I guess i'l have to exchange it.

By any chance do you know the difference between this version and the version I have?

One seems to be newer, more expensive, but doesn't have netflix, while the older, cheaper one seems better. Is the more expensive one worth it at all?

What in the world are you talking about?

http://www.wdc.com/en/products/products.aspx?id=330

edit: http://www.amazon.com/WD-TV-Media-Player-WDBYMN0000NBK-HESN/dp/B00JXFM75Y/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1407775824&sr=8-2&keywords=WD+TV

I see, apparently they came out with a new version last month that lacks Netflix. Yeah good luck with that version!