The Best HandyCam & Camcorder Reviews and Online Deals

HandyCam Review(s)

Western Digital WD TV Live Network-Store your HD Videos

Written by Handycam Reviews on 13 November 2009

SONY HANDYCAM Deals

Western Digital WD TV Live Network-Store your HD Videos
Western Digital is releasing Western Digital WD TV Live Network-ready HD Media Player WDBAAN0000NBK-NESN which will be available on Amazon from November 18th, 09. the Full-HD 1080p resolution WD TV Live by Western Digital can stream videos from Youtube, flicker or from the home network. It also supports most of the media type. So, does not matter what kind of HD camcorder you have, just plug it in and start watching HD videos on your HDTV.

Product Features

* Play Full HD 1080p video, music and photos on your HD TV
* Supports widest variety of file formats and devices
* Network capable for easy access to the newest content from PCs, network drives, internet favorites
* Play network and internet content

From the Manufacturer

WD TV Live – Play a world of HD media on your TV.

HD video, photos and music – they’re on your computer, on your USB drives, on the Internet, but how do you enjoy them on your TV? Now it’s easy! Play a world of Full-HD, 1080p media on your big screen TV with the WD TV Live network-ready HD media player.

Play network and Internet content.

Stream content from Internet sites like YouTube, Flickr, Live365 and from your home network.

Full-HD 1080p resolution.

Experience spectacular Full-HD video and crystal-clear digital audio.

Enjoy your media instantly.

Supports a wide variety of the most popular file formats. No need to spend time transcoding.

Full-HD 1080p video playback and navigation - This is the real thing; Full-HD 1080p playback. Sit back and enjoy the spectacular picture quality of brilliant high definition video and the crystal-clear sound of digital audio. Use the included remote control to make your entertainment choices using our crisp, animated navigation menus.

Play a wide variety of file formats - WD TV Live supports a wide variety of the most popular file formats. No need to spend time transcoding.

Play videos, music and photos from the Internet on your big screen TV – Explore and watch YouTube videos and Flickr pictures on the big screen. Rock out to thousands of radio stations via Live365 and discover new music with Pandora radio.

Access files anywhere on your home network – Play movies, music, and photos from any PC or drive on your home network. The Ethernet port connects this player to your home network through a wired connection or via popular, supported WiFi adapters (sold separately). Ideal for use with WD’s My Book World.

Turn your USB drive into an HD media player – Play content from most popular USB drives, and digital cameras, camcorders, and portable media players that can be recognized as mass storage devices. Optimized for My Passport portable hard drives.

Collect without limits – There’s no limit to the size of your media collection; just add more USB drives for more space.

Play media seamlessly from multiple USB drives – Two USB ports on the player let you connect multiple USB storage devices and access them simultaneously. Our media library feature collects the content on all the drives into one list sorted by media type.

Transfer files easily – Copy, move or delete files stored on a USB drive, a network drive, your camcorder, or a camera to the attached USB drive using the on-screen menus.

Show photos and movies directly from your digital camera or video camera – Works with digital cameras, digital video cameras, in fact, any digital imaging device that supports Picture Transfer Protocol.

Advanced navigation options

Thumbnail and list views – Browse your content by filename or by thumbnails of photos, album covers and movie cover art.
Media library – This unique feature lets you view all your media by media type in one menu regardless of its location in folders or drives. You can view your content by categories such as genre, album, artist and date.
Search – Search by genre, title, artist, filename and partial filename.

Photo viewing

Create custom slide shows with a variety of transitions and background music
Zoom and pan
Search by filename, partial filename, most recently viewed and date

Movie viewing

Fast forward, rewind, pause, zoom, and pan
View subtitles
Search by filename, partial filename, most recently viewed and date

Music playback

Fast forward, rewind, pause, shuffle, repeat
Search by filename, partial filename, most recently viewed and date

File Copy

Copy files between USB drives

HDMI 1.3, composite video and component video output - The HDMI port lets you connect to the highest quality HD TV or home theater. Additional composite (RCA), and component outputs ensure compatibility with virtually all television sets.

SPDIF digital output - The optical audio output sends digital signals to your AV receiver for the best surround sound experience.

Ultra-compact design - Fits easily into your entertainment center.

File formats supported

Video:
AVI (Xvid, AVC, MPEG1/2/4), MPG/MPEG, VOB, MKV (h.264, x.264, AVC, MPEG1/2/4, VC-1), TS/TP/M2T (MPEG1/2/4, AVC, VC-1), MP4/MOV (MPEG4, h.264), M2TS, WMV9

Photo:
JPEG, GIF, TIFF, BMP, PNG

Audio:
MP3, WAV/PCM/LPCM, WMA, AAC, FLAC, MKA, AIF/AIFF, OGG, Dolby Digital, DTS

Playlist:
PLS, M3U, WPL

Subtitle:
SRT, ASS, SSA, SUB, SMI

System Requirements

My Passport portable hard drive or other USB storage device with supported video or audio content stored on it.
Standard or high definition television with HDMI or composite video connections.
Home network and broadband connectivity for online services.

Compatibility

HDMI, Full HD (1080p), AAC, MP3, JPEG, USB 2.0, H.264, SimplayHD™, Energy Star®, Dolby Digital, DTS, DLNA, Bonjour, AVCHD, Windows Vista®

Note: Compatibility may vary, depending on user’s hardware configuration and operating system.

What’s in the box

HD Media Player, Compact remote with batteries, Composite AV cable, Component AV cable, AC adapter, Quick Install Guide.

Buy:Western Digital WD TV Live Network-ready HD Media Player WDBAAN0000NBK-NESN

Amazon.com Price: $94.99 (as of 2010-09-08 11:39:05 GMT) Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon.com at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.

User Reviews Send this to a friend

Western Digital WD TV Live Network-ready HD Media Player WDBAAN0000NBK-NESN

Manufacturer: Western Digital
Customer Rating:
List Price: $149.99
Sale Price: $94.99
Availibility: Usually ships in 1-2 business days

Buy Now

Product Description

The WD TV Live HD Media Player from Western Digital has everything you need to play your HD media collection and the fun stuff you find on the web in brilliant HD 1080p on your big screen HDTV. Because it supports a wide variety of file types, you can instantly enjoy all your home digital media, regardless of the file format. Plus you get direct access to a huge selection of video, photos, and music from popular internet sites like YouTube, Flickr, Live 365, and Pandora (U.S. only) right from the beautifully easy WDTV navigation screen. The WD TV Live HD media player is exceptionally easy to use so anyone in the family can do it and, because it’s networked, you can easily access media from any PC in the home. Compatibility; HDMI, Full HD (1080p), AAC, MP3, JPEG, USB 2.0, H.264, SimplayHD, Energy Star, Dolby Digital, DTS, DLNA, Bonjour, AVCHD, Windows Vista. Box contains; Media Player, Compact remote with batteries, Composite AV cable, Component AV cable, AC adapter, CD with sample media, Quick Install Guide.

Product Details

Play Full HD 1080p video, music and photos on your HD TV
Supports widest variety of file formats and devices
Network capable for easy access to the newest content from PCs, network drives, internet favorites
Play network and internet content

Video Reviews

No video reviews found for this product.

Customer Reviews

Can't Live with out it!

Review Date: September 3, 2010

Reviewer: edel,

I love it! To be honest thought when it says "network-ready" I thought it meant it would pick up wifi automatically. You have to put in a usb wifi adapter (not inluded) to get the other features such as youtube, etc. Other than that it's perfect. I'm not to crazy about how it looks but hey it really does the job.

Please re-send package, sorry due to a post offfice error--

Review Date: August 30, 2010

Reviewer: marc,

This is not a review about the seller. I am only trying to contact the seller through the only way I see. Seller, please resend the package when you receive it back. The local post office made a mistake about the delivery address. If I may ask since it is coming back to you from the postal error, can I exchange it for a better model? if you cannot, just resend it back to me using the same address as before. I now have the post office straightened out.

Thanks,Marc

works like a charm

Review Date: August 30, 2010

Reviewer: vinod,

I gave this as a gift to one of my cousins & have heard it works wonderfully.

WD TV Live Media Streamer

Review Date: August 27, 2010

Reviewer: Buzz,

This is the second one of these I bought. No, the first one was not bad. I bought the second one because I was so pleased with the first one. I might as well just do the review based on both since they are the same model.
Right out of the box it is a simple hookup. Basic hookup: Plug in your network cable, HDMI cable and then the power adapter. It right away configures and lets you know that there is a firmware update available and it gives you the option of doing it or not. I let it and this takes a little while so be patient. When it is done it reboots itself.
There is different firmware out there that is available if you are the tinkerer type of person like I am. Know this, I immediately found it on the internet, downloaded it, put it on a USB stick and reflashed the firmware. Much too cool! This adds lots of features and allows one to get into the code and play! It's in Linux. Do a search for WD TV Live Firmware and you should find it. Hats off to B-RAD for coming up with this and all of those who help and support him.
I should note that I use this to stream movies and music from my 4 Tb's of server space, and media on my PC's but also I purchased software named "PlayOn". This software is installed on one of the PCs and allows Hulu, Crackle, Netflix,ESPN,etc... to be streamed. Please also note that some of these services require subscription and some do not.
In a nutshell the box work great for me (It replaces and out performs a DLink DSM-520 media player I have). WD support is much better than DLinks product support, B-RADD's firmware has some really good forums supporting it, and PlayOn support is quite active and helpful too. Be aware for internet streaming you should have a bare minimum of 1.5 meg service.

I give this box a 4.5 stars out of 5.

Needs refinement...

Review Date: August 25, 2010

Reviewer: Michael Borowiec, Chicago, IL, USA

Users should beware the following "features"...

1) NO Gigabit Ethernet. You can stream full DVD quality over the built-in 100 megabit Ethernet adapter. However, if you're planning to stream BluRay material (real HD quality) over Ethernet, this box won't work - it drops frames like crazy. Gigabit (1000 megabit) Ethernet is needed and, frankly, I can't believe WD didn't opt for the slighty more expensive Gigabit chip. If you want to watch real HD quality stuff, be prepared to attach a USB hard drive (which works quite well if you have a disk that's fast enough).

2) NO support for Samba network shares. Works fine with Windows 7 media server, but I could not access my UNIX/Linux Samba servers which use industry standard SMB protocol, even tho all my Windows machines use them just fine.

3) NO Netflix support... EVER! Western Digital strung their customers along for months, saying they were looking into adding this feature to the Live when I believe they knew it could never work. While continuing to sell Live inventory, they were quietly working to bring out the Live Plus. The only difference between the Live and Live Plus is a slightly more expensive CODEC chip with Macrovision support. Customers who kept their box thinking that Netflix was a real option are now stuck with the Live. Solution: buy the Live Plus too! Sure... don't hold your breath.

I was lucky to be able to return my HD TV Live and get a full refund. If WD ever decides to fix these shortcomings, I would reconsider my decision not to buy any more Western Digital TV products. However, as far as I'm concerned, WD has really damaged their own reputation with the Netflix debacle, and should be racing to offer existing Live purchasers a trade-up program to the Live Plus.

If you don't care about these issues, it is a nice little piece of technology. But, be advised it may have a very short shelf-life (months). The next feature (HULU viewing?) may require a completely new box (Live Super Plus?) because of WD's short-sighted engineering choices. IMO, WD should spend an extra buck or two for more capable chips and avoid having thousands of disgruntled customers stuck with obsolete hardware.