New Firmware - too much discussions but when?

[tafernando]

Too much topics and discussions, and as a respect for the customers, WD should make an official statement about next firmwares and products without any update anymore.

Several other products have at least one update per month, so why a simple player can not have and incorporate the suggestions made by customers like us. Is it too hard to enable subtitle color / font size and many other ideas?

simple question, pls simple aswer.

thanks

fernando

[Tvrdi]

last firmware for Gen2 was in 12/09......in the meantime Live version got 3 new firmwares....and they released both units in the same time...shame on them....no update or support for their new product....thats how unprofessionals do....

[nijaju]

---

Tvrdi wrote:

last firmware for Gen2 was in 12/09......in the meantime Live version got 3 new firmwares....and they released both units in the same time...shame on them....no update or support for their new product....thats how unprofessionals do....

---

Yea, but the Live firmware updates weren't all peaches and cream either. One of those updates bricked a fair number of boxes. But you are right, Live has had more development than the Gen2.

[djalex]

YOU'RE RIGHT !!!

NO MORE TO SAY  !!!!

[Ibrahim-]

If you saw the "pissed" thread, you know it just ain't happening. As of now, there isn't going to be an update for the WDTV2. Some dude sent a message to the support, and they basically pleaded ignorance to the issue and suggested some software that you have to BUY, to convert your mp4 files to avi.

If you spent good money on the product, you thought it would play files that the box SAID it would play, and it doesn't, this is what you do:

You go to Amazon.com, you go to Bestbuy, Newegg, and review the product citing exactly what's wrong with it. If you feel people shouldn't buy it because it has shoddy support, SAY SO in your review. Go to youtube and look up reviews of it, and add your comments...Or make your own videos. There are more than a few people here complaining about these problems, there should be more than a few negative reviews on EACH of the websites selling this product.

ONLY THAT will get WD's attention. Complaining here means NOTHING to WD, as WD knows nobody researching what to buy will look here.

[nijaju]

The problem with consumer electronics in general these days is that they're all going down together. I haven't read any very good reviews of other devices in this market, so as long as they're all bad together, they're all good by comparison.

Consumer electronics aren't made to last but more than a year or so and if WD holds out another 6 months, they can just move on to their next generation products. I know they're coming out with new firmware for the Gen2 but as far as I'm concerned they may as well have already moved on. I've seen how they messed up firmware updates on the Live so I pretty much expect to see the same screw-ups with the Gen2. And, if the next firmware does go as well as they plan, I doubt the update will bring this box up to the level that it really needs to be because WD just doesn't care.

I imagine that at one point they were a good company but now I'm pretty sure they're just like every other company in the world that's forgotten their customer and is just chasing money. If I had to guess, they didn't get into this market because they wanted to make a difference. They got into it because they saw it as a growing market where there was money to be made. Don't get me wrong, I think it's fine for companies to make money, but when that's their one and only motivation (which I'm pretty darn sure is the case here), then there's something really wrong. As for myself, I won't be buying anything in any of their other markets either now that I've had the true WD experience.

[Ibrahim-]

Nijaju, what you're saying seems a bit defeatist, and it also doesn't entirely make sense.

As long as the WDTV2 is on the shelves and is being produced by WD, WD has an interest in it NOT getting a bad name because of negative reviews from customers.

The list of problems with the player to my mind in pretty small. The problem is that the problem is a big problem, which is that it won't play one of the most popular video formats out there. We KNOW that the WDTV 1 played mp4s just fine, and so this is a problem with firmware. What other real problems are there?

The solution can't be all that out of reach if the older version didn't have this snag. The buyers just need to press on the matter, and the best way to do that is to use the internet and the review sites to get them to listen.

From what I've seen, not many of you have done that. I've reviewed and cited the problem on a few sites, waiting before I go on others.

[nijaju]

Yeah, but it's also defeatist to say that if people stop buying the product, WD will be more likely to support the few people they have left. They'd be more likely to drop it and then move on than they would be to fix it so that more people buy it especially when the Live is their flagship product in this area.

I have written quite a few reviews based on my experience at places like Amazon and Newegg. I'm surprised that more people haven't written reviews as well.

I don't think the list of problems is small. The size of the problems might be small or they might just hit a small number of people, but there is still a long list of them. If you just read through the forums, you'll find lots and lots of different corner cases where the device doesn't work. The problem is, it seems that the way everyone is using the device is a corner case because nothing in this area has been standardized. There is no standard file format and no standard software for putting dvds into these files. One of the big selling points of this was the number of files types it did support.

The bigger problem than the size of the list of problems is the length of time the problems have existed without even being looked at by WD. Maybe they've looked at them but from what I've read, whenever anyone calls tech support, WD makes it sound like it's the first time they've come accross the problem, even if it's a well known problem like audio/video sync.

[Tvrdi]

tbh, best way is to stop purchasing their products...but since they made their breakthrough on the market (in earlier years) some ppl will stil lbiy their crapy products.....however, they wont be the first company to die after bad reviews....

[mihof33]

Apparently they want to make the perfect firmware to resolve all issues. Therefore, it is so slow.