WD TV LIVE HUB ALTERNATIVES....

[zballz]

Hello Community, long time no see...

I've had the WD HUB for about 18 months now, and wrote the Ohagi theme way back...

Now, I am looking for a new media player for another room in the house. I must say that the firmwares have been too buggy on the HUB to call this an absolute succes, but I have been pretty happy with it so far. I am not using all the bells and whistles, but the HUB always plays my media files, so the basics works. (I gave up on the NAS features, when i finally made it work, a new firmware would mess it up again, and it was painfully slow anyway!)

But, looking for an extra media player, I was wondering what is new on the market? Any better alternatives? I wouldnt really mind getting another WD HUB, but then again, it there is something better on the market, perhaps it is time to take a new direction...?

Any suggestions? I use i mainly for playing video-files, HD. NAS capabilities would also be nice...

thx

ZballZ

[flhthemi]

Take a look here!

http://www.networkmediaplayers.org/

http://reviews.cnet.com/home-video-reviews/?sa=1000036&filter=1105350_124397_&sort=userRating%20desc...

Some of them use dual core and Android

Really good info here and not just media players either!

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/forumdisplay.php?f=39

 Edit: This unit appears to be a new contender in the market and looks VERY promising!

http://www.pivosgroup.com/#!vstc3=specifications/vstc2=products

[Miami_Son]

Seems kind of bad form to come on the WD-operated forum and ask for recommendations of their competitor's products. Just sayin'.

[zballz]

Bad form? Perhaps.  But I am not asking for competitors products - I am asking on alternatives. It could be a new WD product, in theory. 

Also, having been a part of this forum for over a year, I think it is fair to say that I know a little of the strengths and weaknesses of this product - and since WD is not taking this forum seriously anyway (take a look at the FIRMWARE or IDEAS section of this community) I would like to discuss a fair topic with fellow media-streamers...

I have no intention of bashing the product, but 18 months has passed, and pretty much every firmware has been a disaster. Personally I am still on 2.03.24, which is the only on that works (almost) flawless for me. It's a great product with horrible support and development!

...also, I am undecided, so I might go for another Live Hub...

[zballz]

Thx Flhthemi!

Promising stuff out there :-)  Although it seems that only very few media players has the integrated HDD like the HUB - a feature I really like...

[flhthemi]

Quite a few of those units will allow you to add your own HDD. I think that's a plus as it wouldn't limit you to a particular brand and model, as we are now.

Take a close look at that Pivos, the last link. It looks like a lot of features for 89.00. I'm going to find a forum for it and see what people are saying about it...

Really I'm not dissapointed too much by the Hub, I just wish they would fix the .png issue and make the themers happy which in turn would make many of us happy.

 @Miami_son

It's OK. WD could care less about this forum and what's said here. The Mods that run it are the ones that care about it. If one of them told me I violated a rule with the info I supplied then I would agree and he could do what he wanted to do with the thread, including deleting it. It wouldn't bother me in the least. I'm cool with it, you should be too. Just sayin'

[tm224]

Not so sure how you are running your WD but I use mine solely for videos right now and after the latest 2 firmwares WD has nailed it. I am using a NAS to store all my files on and they are iso files every video is on the root of the drive. They all work as close to flawlessly as possible.

I too am not a huge fan of the add ons exept my wife loves netflix. It is amazing to see that some people don't have issues and others have tons I have to think that this is not solely a WD problem. I am using TW mojo theme with cover boxes and have tweaked it a little to suit my needs.

All in all I think the WD is the best media player in the business I don't even have the desire to try another so if you want to get another unit I say hub or SM

[Bill_S]

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flhthemi wrote:

 @Miami_son

It's OK. WD could care less about this forum and what's said here. The Mods that run it are the ones that care about it. If one of them told me I violated a rule with the info I supplied then I would agree and he could do what he wanted to do with the thread, including deleting it. It wouldn't bother me in the least. I'm cool with it, you should be too. Just sayin'

---

That's funny.  We, moderators, are WD.  We strive to reflect WD in all that we do.  Everytime we, moderators, help someone, that's WD helping that user.  So, I don't think your assessment of WD not caring is really correct or fair.  However, I do understand that issues with a product can cause frustration.  So, I'm not saying we're perfect.  But I am saying that we care a whole lot more than we're given credit for. 

[GulfcoastGuy]

Pardon me, Bill but I have to take issue with that.  I've only been on the forum for a few weeks now and my exposure has been limited, but I don't see WD responses to issues very often.  Granted the format lends itself to user-to-user interaction and often the issues are resolved before WD has a chance for input.  But I've seen other issues that don't seem to be resolved and all I've heard from WD is the sound of crickets.  

WD has a media streaming lineup that in my opinion has, hands down, the most potential of any I've seen in the price point.  But potential unrealized isn't going to keep customers.  I know it takes time to correct issues and maintain coherent revision history, and adding services is a vital marketing requirement, granted.  If the little nagging aggravations aren't even acknowledged how can anyone possibly KNOW that you care.

Throw us a bone, man.  We all want this lineup to be the best thing going.  You have willing and capable testers with a vested interest in making things right.  Use us.  You might find we're a more valuable resource than you think.

Respectfully,

GCG

[Bill_S]

I'm not sure I'm understanding what you're taking issue with. I was addressing the fact that us moderators were being separated out from WD, as if we're okay but WD isn't. When, if fact, we work for WD.

Nevertheless, I do understand the rub you are expressing. Most new users come to the community with the expectation that this is, or at least should be, a support community. And when they don't see any WD people posting answers to questions or issues, they get frustrated and think that we don't care. We do care, but this community was intended from the beginning to be a user-to-user community, and not a support community. That's most likely not going to change. So, the obvious WD support presence that might be expected is not going to be here.

In response to throwing you a bone, we did try doing open beta-testing with community users for a while. But that didn't turn out as well as we'd hoped. So, we decided to stop it. That doesn't mean we gave up, as a matter of fact, we're probably doing better beta testing now than previously. But, users do need to understand that if something hasn't been fixed, that's because it's not yet fixed. Hopefully, as the issue exchanges get more organized, our users will have the statuses updated more regularly. So, they'll know more of what to expect on the next firmware release as it comes out.