WDTV in place of Windows Media Center Extender

[TheDufster]

Hi,

I am considering a replacement for my Linksys WMC Extenders. They are excellent for music and photos, however I can't stream video with them and this is becoming restrictive around the house for the kids.

I like the WDTV but I have never seen it in action. I need to know that it would perform as good as (or better than) my WMC Extenders for music and photos but I have a few other questions if I may:

1) Can I stream and play all of my films which I currently have ripped and saved as ISO files (without having to do any conversion)?

2) What is the interface like? Is there any noticeable lag? I will be using a wired connection and with my WMC Extenders the interface is quite quick with my 13,000 or so tunes.

2) Does the remote work even if not pointed straight at the unit?

3) Can I run the WDTV box streaming files directly from a NAS box? At the moment, using my WMC Extenders, I have to have the main PC switched on which is a bit of a pain.

4) Any feedback on the Android App as a remote control would be useful.

Any other points to convince me to get one (or not!) would be helpful.

Cheers

[badmem]

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TheDufster wrote:

Hi,

I am considering a replacement for my Linksys WMC Extenders. They are excellent for music and photos, however I can't stream video with them and this is becoming restrictive around the house for the kids.

I like the WDTV but I have never seen it in action. I need to know that it would perform as good as (or better than) my WMC Extenders for music and photos but I have a few other questions if I may:

1) Can I stream and play all of my films which I currently have ripped and saved as ISO files (without having to do any conversion)?

2) What is the interface like? Is there any noticeable lag? I will be using a wired connection and with my WMC Extenders the interface is quite quick with my 13,000 or so tunes.

2) Does the remote work even if not pointed straight at the unit?

3) Can I run the WDTV box streaming files directly from a NAS box? At the moment, using my WMC Extenders, I have to have the main PC switched on which is a bit of a pain.

4) Any feedback on the Android App as a remote control would be useful.

Any other points to convince me to get one (or not!) would be helpful.

Cheers

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1. You should be able to play your .iso files with the WDTV. Which software did you use to create your .isos files?

2. Speed is subjective, but I am happy with the responsiveness of the interface, there is very little lag.

3. You can play files directly from network shares. Which NAS do you have?

4. The Android app works pretty well and it controls the WDTVs volume, which the standard remote control does not.

[TheDufster]

Hi, thanks for the reply.

I use AnyDVD to create the ISO files, currently play them back using Virtual Clone Drive and PowerDVD.

I currenlty don't use a NAS, all of my music/pictures/films sit on 4 x 1TB drives housed within my Home Theatre PC. I have a backup drive, a Synergy Cubestation but will want to keep that as backup. I guess what I really need is a NAS drive unit that I can add my current 1TB drives to. Ideas would be welcome!

[badmem]

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TheDufster wrote:

Hi, thanks for the reply.

I use AnyDVD to create the ISO files, currently play them back using Virtual Clone Drive and PowerDVD.

I currenlty don't use a NAS, all of my music/pictures/films sit on 4 x 1TB drives housed within my Home Theatre PC. I have a backup drive, a Synergy Cubestation but will want to keep that as backup. I guess what I really need is a NAS drive unit that I can add my current 1TB drives to. Ideas would be welcome!

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I'm not sure what your price range is for the NAS and whether you want RAID, but people seem to have good luck with Synology NAS. I'm using an old D-Link DNS323 and a WD Sharespace because I can't buy better NAS where I live. I read posts where people have problems with some of the Buffalo and Seagate NAS.

[Dikkiedikdik]

I have the synology 212j and I have absolutely no problems at all. Everythings works perfect.