10 Reasons to buy a Western Digital TV (WD TV) HD Media Player

For some time now I was looking for looking for a HD Media Player to connect to the TV. Initially I tough making myself a PC Media Center, but soon I gave up since the price tag was far from what I wanted to spend. Then I googled the internet searching for a cheaper solution, and I came across the Popcorn Hour and Apple TV + box. I ended giving up in all of the first three options as I finally choose the Western Digital HD TV due to it's simplicity and mainly its price.

This unit is far from the level of a PC Media Center, or even a Popcorn Hour and Apple TV + box since there is no official network/internet connection (see 3rd party firmware link at the bottom) but it solves my problem and I don't get bankrupted just for only watching some movies. :)

The main 10 reason why I did buy the WD HD TV

1. Simple interface. So simple that even a 10 year old kid can work with it
2. On / Off time is very low
3. It is small, both the player and the remote
4. There is no noise
5. 1080p :)
6. There is no key to eject. To dismount a disk or a pen drive is simpler than in Windows. Click on the eject on the remote, choose your device and go. As simple as it can be!
7. It's fast. Choose the video and it plays almost instantly
8. It is not expensive, though I think the fair price should be a little lower
9. It has the hability to have 3rd party firmware
10. It suits well with my LCD :)
    

Another reason that made me choose the WD TV HD Media Player, was that I allready have here at home an external disc (Lacie 3.5' 500Gb) that I don't use except for making movie backups.

I mainly wanted to avoid connecting my laptop to the LCD, since it takes almost 10 min: removing it out of the bag, startup, cables...

It has some bad aspects that you should bare in mind:

• Showing photos is not for this unit. I haven't tested this feature much, but the results that I've come trough are not as good as I expected. Neither in quality nor in performance
• Doesn't "play" DTS. The solution is to convert the audio track to AC3 DTS before connecting the disc/pen to the HD TV. I hope the next firmware update solves the problem
• It Doesn't come with HDMI cable
• The remote doesn't have volume controls

Keep in mind that:

• It has no internal disk, it can be good or not. In my case it was a way to give life to one that already
• Easy to take at a friend's house
• Running Linux in the future may serve to do some tricks
• Part of the source code is available
• Fits well next to my TV which is glossy black

If you don't have one allready, grab one right now from eBay!