Which HD Multimedia Player

C

craigdoepie

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Hi Guys and Gals,

I am looking at investing in a HD Multimedia Player, but after looking at You Tube clip of the WD HDTV. I am not too sure. I want to hear if anybody has any major issues with the WD HDTV player.

All I need it for is too play HD movies and series, don't need streaming and all that other jazz. The WD HDTV is also sufficient, because I got two external terabytes.

So if there is something similiar anyone can suggest, please do so. I don't mind spending the extra bucks, but I want a decent HD Multimedia player. But if I can save some bucks, but still get something decent, even better.
 
I have a WD TV Live which plays HD.

Using it for about 18 months now and I must admit it was a very good buy for the price.
It has a LAN port which I have connected to my Linux server in another room and I watch all my stuff through it.

It seems to play everything I can throw at it although recently I found a few things that were not playing properly and I tracked this down to the way the file was encoded (It was encoded with GMC - Global Motion Compensation).

Ran the files through a freeware program called 'Handbrake' and converted it to a MKV file which plays perfectly.

One thing I can advise, if you do acquire one, is to update the firmware as it does make a difference.

At present it does not play DVD menus, only the VOB files, although through trolling the WD forums, I read this will be added to the next firmware release. (The beta firmware already has this issue resolved. Apparently it was not a technical issue, but a technology licensing issue)
 
I had the WD TV (v1) and it worked great - played everything. I just upgraded to the Mede8er, and what can I say - brilliant piece of kit for the price - got mine at Esquire for R1599 + VAT.
 
I have the Lacinema LACIE HD Drive Player, love it to bits and it only cost me R1200 fot the enclosure
 
I bought a mede8tor at one of Esquire's big sales with a 1.5TB HDD for about R2000 and it works a treat. Simple to use, plays 99.9% of my files and I recommend it to my mates.
 
Guys I thank you very much for all the info. Has really been helpful. But can I just ask with regards to the WDTV. Does it freeze alot when you fast forward, because the Youtube Videos I watched, it does that. Thats what is putting me off from buying. It's cheap, but I hate struggling. My 1st choice is actually the Mede8tor, but is a bit pricey. But hopefully going to get someone from the UK to buy it for me
 
I bought a Mecer one that plays MKV and all other HD movies. Takes 3.5" or 2.5" drive and you can use the external drive too. I paid about R1100 for it. works fine for me.
 
craigdoepie said:
Guys I thank you very much for all the info. Has really been helpful. But can I just ask with regards to the WDTV. Does it freeze alot when you fast forward, because the Youtube Videos I watched, it does that. Thats what is putting me off from buying. It's cheap, but I hate struggling. My 1st choice is actually the Mede8tor, but is a bit pricey. But hopefully going to get someone from the UK to buy it for me
Click to expand...

Thats the format not the player... does that on my pc as well.
 
Two guys at work have the wd tv and they both love it.

It's what I'd get if I were in the market for a media player.
 
All these players suffer from a bug where MKV files with compressed headers cannot be played back (usually 720 and 1080 MKVs use compressed headers). ANY and ALL players based on Realtek chipsets are vulnerable to the bug. Pretty much all players use the RealTek chipset.

Can confirm that the following suffer from the bug:
WD TV - My brother has one but there are threads about it on their forum
Mede8er - Confirmed from their Forum
A.C Ryan Playon HD! - Confirmed on their Forum. A beta firmware has been released to fix the problem.

Of those sold locally only the A.C Ryan Playon HD has released a firmware to resolve that bug. Only other recourse is to use MKVToolnix and remux the file without compressed headers.

So my recommendation is the A.C Ryan because of that reason, but also you can check their forum, they regularly (every other month) release new firmwares. They reply on their forums and respond to feature/bug requests. It's cheaper than most players (when bought from Esquire).
 
My only issue with WD TV is you have to select either Pics and only view pics or Video to only view vids. I have folders with pics and videos ( family stuff from camera ) and its a shlep to go back to change your viewing option. This wasnt a problem with my old Playtime player. Other than that I'm happy.
 
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