Negative !

[piko72]

This is sad, i think this WD Community sould be called the WD Negative Community !! Every post is negative i think WD people have a lot of homework to do on wdtv live !! New firmware and strong product that going to make the competitors freak !! PLS do something !! 

[mkelley]

Except that ALL forums are negative -- you should visit the Apple forums sometime (you'd think there never was an iPod or iPhone that ever worked at all).

People don't come to forums to say "Hey, just wanted to tell you that my Live is working great!  It's streaming all the video from my home network, I can play 1080p streams with DTS or AC3 surround sound, and I couldn't be happier!" (Which is me, BTW). 

You only come to forums when you have a problem, just like you only go to the hospital when you are sick (if you spent all your time in a hospital you'd assume there were no healthy people anywhere in the world).  Compared to other devices of the same type the Live works fantastically (I bought another and am in the market for a third).  But trying to accomdodate all the literally tens of thousands of different setups, and tens of thousands of different audio/video codecs and container combinations is asking a lot of any device.

AppleTV (which I own) limits the device greatly -- you can't choose what drive to attach (you can't attach any), you can't choose the network adapater (it's internal as well, so no choices there) and you have to use iTunes to manage your files (so no video/audio codecs other than MP4/V and even THOSE are vastly limited as to data rates, frame sizes, etc).  Even at that there are tons of people (myself included) who can hardly get the #$##! thing to work (I wish the Live had been available when I bought the ATV).  If Apple (which is a MUCH bigger organization than WD) can't satisfy most people with these limitations, what makes you think WD (with a much broader product) can?

I love the Live but recognize there are folks who will never feel the same way and, truly, it's not their fault.  If they don't want (or can't) live with it's limtations they should return it and get something else (which will ALSO have limitations).  Nothing is perfect out there but the Live is perfect for me (and, most likely, for the many others who aren't in this hospital right now).

[WarStomp]

True.

[carib]

Ditto

[DonFede]

I agree completely !

I am a big fan of the WDTV and I'll suport it, But the frustration is hi !

All in all I get to make the WDTV Live to work but I have to reset it (remove the power) at list 2 times a day because cannot read or connect to my WHS(Windows Home Server)........ while any other computer or device i have can !

(wired network GigaBit Lan). Plus random freezes, drop out of movies, the sync problem....

is abit too much !

Is not just a little bug or a problem with a file or codec not supoprted.

This is a product designed to work with network shares ! and ... it does not work ! it fails the very purpose of it.

Is like a car that does not drive (or stops every 2 hours and have to be turned off and on again...): useless.

I have also the first WDTV. Now If I cannot use the network what is the purpose of the Live ?

A serius update of the firmware is needed... beacuse negativity in this case is Legit !

[mkelley]

Don't use a media server -- use network shares instead.

Trust me, media servers are Not Ready for Prime Time.  I've tried at least four different hardware devices and dozens of media servers and none were worth the effort to download them.  They ALL have trouble holding connection, and some of them are just plain pernicious.

With the Live you don't need a media server -- that's the whole point.  Try network shares and you'll be a happy camper (all except for the thumbnail issue, but they're working on it).

[Voyager]

you could try a Media Center PC or HTPC just like I did. I'm using an Asus EEEBox 1501 with ION chipset. It runs XBMC and Boxee, and is silent enough. The advantage is that you have "choice". Windows or Linux, XBMC or Boxee or Windows Media Center, MPC-HC or whatever you fancy. XBMC isn't perfect but there's an entire community developing it...

You can make this setup as user friendly as a WD TV Live, but in the end it'll cost you 3-4x the price of a WD TV LIve.

[mkelley]

But that's not wireless, right?  I mean, how do you serve your HDTV (assuming it doesn't have a WAP) or other video displays that aren't in the same room as your PC?

If I had my PC next to my various (four) HDTVs I wouldn't need a WDLIive either, but unless you have hard wired HDMI connections throughout your home (and then some sort of HDMI switching or branched connection at the PC end) just a media server PC ain't gonna do it.

[PixelPower]

---

Voyager wrote:

you could try a Media Center PC or HTPC just like I did. I'm using an Asus EEEBox 1501 with ION chipset. It runs XBMC and Boxee, and is silent enough. The advantage is that you have "choice". Windows or Linux, XBMC or Boxee or Windows Media Center, MPC-HC or whatever you fancy. XBMC isn't perfect but there's an entire community developing it...

You can make this setup as user friendly as a WD TV Live, but in the end it'll cost you 3-4x the price of a WD TV LIve.

---

That's something people don't seem to appreciate.  This is relatively 'cheap' media player by a company whose focus is not really home entertainment products.  They expect it to have features only available on hardware costing considerably more, or features coming out on products that haven't even hit the market yet (e.g. unfair comparisons to Popbox and Boxee Box).

Before buying anything, you should research it and be aware of potential issues.  That's simply common sense these days.  I did some research but still not enough to fully prepare me for all the issues (purchased back in December).

I can't understand the people buying a WD TV Live today and then coming on the forum surprised at the variety of known issues (usually creating new threads about them and not bothering with the search function, or even looking further down the thread listing in some cases).

Best thing to do if you're unhappy with a product is take it back to the store and get a refund / exchange for something else.  Whining about it to people already aware of the issues is just despressing.

FWIW, very few threads on the forums are actively monitored by WD tech staff (prerelease threads, ideas lab, maybe if you prefix your title with [BUG]).  

If you want a personal response from WD, you need to contact them via phone or email support in your region.

[wrarmstrong]

When I first bought my WD Live I considered bringing it back several times. I was very frustrated and was spending many hours sorting through my many issues. Now many weeks later I love my WD Live. It works perfectly 100% of the time. No video or audio problems. No lost network connections. Just glorious high definition, surround sound bliss.

This product certainly has its issues and limitations, but once you learn what those are and work around them, you'll be very happy with it. I've been considering posting a journal of all of my experiences so that others could learn from them.

I find it interesting that mkelley says that he's had nothing but bad experiences with media servers. I have had the opposite experience. I'm using Twonky Media Server to stream video to my WD Live and it works beautifully. I don't use network shares at all. Granted it didn't always work well. I had a few bumps along the way getting my system to where it is now.

I think the most important thing to take away here is what mkelley said in his first post. The WD Live does not work perfectly in all scenarios. The key is to find the right combination for your setup and then stick with it.