WD TV - digital AV player [PC]

Firstly, despite its greatness as a media player, within a few minutes of owning it, I'd already found a couple of wmv. and flv files that would not play. Now... this is (correct me if wrong please) the fourth generation of these WD Lives, and I've 'upgraded' from a 1st generation WD Live. So, as far as file playing capabilities go, they may well be generations apart but they still have the same file limitations. Progress? Hmmmm, not in all ways it seems. My first gen WD Live didn't play all flv and wmv files either! But... that being said, it would be unfair just to leave it at that - for this latest WD live also is capable of playing internet files from youtube etc. which is, it must be said, a brilliant upgrade from the 1st gen WD Live. There are also a few (puzzle etc.) games thrown in for fun which you can play on your tv. And its very useful network abilities (included with a very recent firmware upgrade is BBC iplayer which works very well, and Netflix as well as youtube, facebook integration etc) is an impressive upgrade over earlier gen WD Lives. Having Windows 7 on any PC, now you can simply play a file to your WD live and it plays on your TV screen. Pretty good, also for the fact that that's also a way to overcome any of the WD's few file limitations - for if it will play on your PC - that at least is a way to get any troublesome file definitely to play on your TV too. Its user interface is completely updated over that of earlier generation WD Lives. Ok, I'm not too sure whether I'm warming to the new interface just yet, but suffice to say it is definitely screaming with more bells and whistles - while remaining user friendly. What's nice is that you can use it as simply or as complicatedly as you like. So, if you don't feel like reading a long manual? No problem, just load up a file, sit back and play.

Quality of playback is every bit as excellent as I'd hoped on those files which *do* play - e.g., avi's including 720p and 1080p, xvids, .mp4, mpeg, dat, and dvd folder files. However I am still not happy that it took me only 5 minutes to find some files which play easily on any computer but which do not play on this unit (unless you've windows 7 and use the "play to" command). Frankly, at this stage, there should be nothing commonly available that this player shouldn't play. Granted it will play some FLV and WMV files - just not all of them, which is a little irritating. Still, that's really a minor nibble and I very happy with this unit as an upgrade to my first gen unit. Also, one minor niggle goes to the PSU - mine was supplied with a continental PSU and a plug was given as an extra in the posted box. Just be careful to examine your box when you receive it and make sure you don't accidentally throw away or lose the supplied plug adapter or you'll be paying around a fiver to replace it. I'll update my review in due course when I've had more experience with it. It is supposed to be able to update itself via the internet, and although there is new firmware available, my unit wasn't able automatically to update itself. Four stars for the fact that there are still commonly available files which do not play on it, and for its relatively demanding price (given how much more inexpensive competitor units are). However, this is still the best media player of its kind and with only a few minor improvements it would definitely be worth an unquestionable full marks.

-Super user friendly and beautiful menu.
-Convenient remote control.
-Exelent picture quality and sound especially with 1080p DTS movies.
-Digital optical out for Home Cinema
-USB for external HDD and memory sticks
-Play almost all type of music,video and picture archives
-Connect with WLAN
-Internet radio with all local stations (Tunein application)
-YouTube
-Greek subs
-Many more...

I have this unit plugged in via a HDMI 1.3 cable in to a 20" Samsung 720p lcd tv.
With a 500gig WD passport drive for storage. Everything is working well so far.
The unit it's self is very small and compact, it does feel a little "plasticky" though.
I don't think it would do well if it was being taken out and about a lot.

Menu is easy to navigate with it's pane layout.
Load times are not super fast but well acceptable.
Play back is very good, no jitter on anything I've watched yet.
Remote control feels nice in the hand and is well laid out.

My only negative opinion on this product is the psu it shipped with.
Worst possible option...A wall wart with a two pin plug that comes with a clip on 2 to 3 pin adapter.
Sticks out a lot from the wall socket. Got around this by swapping it out for a sensible psu.

All in all. It's great.

UPDATE

So a few months on and I have had a few issues with it overheating. This causes the device to stop seeing my media drive.
Turning it upside down to allow the air vents to do their job seems to have fixed it.
I will say that it only overheated when I was watching 1080p files.
All other lower res files seem not to to stress the unit.