Western Digital TV

[pulsewidth947]

Anyone using a Western Digital TV (http://www.macworld.co.uk/digitallifestyle/news/index.cfm?newsid=23391) yet? I wanted something to play media in my front room. I'd love a Mac Mini in there but I can't afford it.

Apple TV is too limited for me, but this thing sounds great. £79.99 UKP, no network, but 2 USB ports and it plays almost anything. Sounds perfect.

[nordesmic]

Yeah I bought one of these and am very happy with it. The main benefit for me was the playing of HD .mkv files. It plays everything I have on my 1 terabyte external drive. If you keep everything on the one drive it really isn't much of a hassle to move it between a computer and the TV, as opposed to streaming with the AppleTV.

Very good interface and all around neat package.

[pulsewidth947]

Great - I've seen a lot of people be negative about the lack of network on it. But for the price, it's fantastic. Is it really that much hassle to unplug your hard drive, take it to your mac and copy over content? I think not :)

I've put my order in, now I have to play the waiting game. And decide what 1TB drive to get :)

[danny_w]

Looks interesting, but it can't do video_ts folders, which would be almost a requirement for me if I were to go with something else.

[pulsewidth947]

Looks interesting, but it can't do video_ts folders, which would be almost a requirement for me if I were to go with something else.

It can do video_ts, but not menus. There development team are working on firmware updates already, so menus maybe included in the future.

[Boise Jim]

Too limited. It doesn't have network capabilities, plus no component output (no HDMI here).
It shows some promise, though.

[mcdj]

I bought one the weekend it came out for $99 at Best Buy. I use it in the bedroom. I don't know how I lived without it. And indeed, it does play _TS files, and even ISOs.

[mkubal]

I bought one the day it came out and absolutely love it. It does exactly what I've been wanting a device to do for a long time now. I know many people love the bells and whistles with networking and youtube and whatever else, but I just wanted something that could play movies from a hard drive I plugged in. (The xbox 360 didn't cut it).

This thing delivers. I suppose you could complain about the lack of networking, but that's just not what this device does and if someone wants that they'll have to find something else. No use complaining about a lack of networking. It does what it does and it does it really well. Take it or leave it.

My only complaint so far is that it lacks support for subtitles that are embeded in mkv files. Other than that this device is awesome.

[pulsewidth947]

My only complaint so far is that it lacks support for subtitles that are embeded in mkv files. Other than that this device is awesome.

I believe subtitles are the biggest issue at the minute. I naively had no idea so many people were interested in subtitles. However a couple of the big forums have had a product specialist for WD checking over the suggestions, and I think they are trying to sort out the major subtitle issues.

I realise this unit may be too limited for some people, but for me I think it looks wonderful! No need for a computer or NAS to be on all the time. As I mentioned, streaming has never worked for me over wireless (buffers are never high enough to have glitch free playback). Also it's the first media thingy thats been in my price range (sub £100). If this hadn't come out I'd have looked for a second had Xbox to play my content :)

[danny_w]

Too limited. It doesn't have network capabilities, plus no component output (no HDMI here).
It shows some promise, though.
I didn't even get to the part about no component out after I saw that it didn't do video_ts with menus. If it had these 2 items I may be interested. I suppose since it does composite that it supports 4:3 tv's, which the :apple:TV does not do.

[pulsewidth947]

I didn't even get to the part about no component out after I saw that it didn't do video_ts with menus. If it had these 2 items I may be interested. I suppose since it does composite that it supports 4:3 tv's, which the :apple:TV does not do.

Yeah I suppose if you don't have HDMI then it is fairly useless for you. I have a couple of music tuition dvds that would benefit from menus, but I'm just going to rip the individual elements that way it doesn't matter that I don't have menus. Also I'll save myself some HD space. Score.

[spacepower7]

I didn't even get to the part about no component out after I saw that it didn't do video_ts with menus. If it had these 2 items I may be interested. I suppose since it does composite that it supports 4:3 tv's, which the :apple:TV does not do.

Valid Point
1. Video_TS menus problem isn't as bad as the problem not accessing DVD chapters. I don't care about menus if I can FF to the scene/song I want.
As far as I know, subs and audio tracks can still be switched, but chapters are still a problem.

IMHO
2. No Component outputs
Many people complain that the AppleTV has no composite outputs and no support for 4:3 TVs.

This device will out 4:3 or 16:9 (still testing myself)

Well this device has composite and HDMI, which makes it pretty much compatible with 99.99% of TVs built since the mid 1990s.

And what is the AppleTV compatibility with TVs from the same time period?

No device is going to please everybody, but for $99 on sale, this is pretty good. And it still hasn't even had it's first firmware update.

Even if Apple comes out with a new improved AppleTV/MacMini or combo of them. I may just put this in my bedroom TV setup. No streaming/iTunes problems either.

[pulsewidth947]

Mine should arrive today. Can't wait.

Another advantage for me is I'm not locked into proprietary formats like Apple TV. You can't use other formats (xvid, mkv, etc) unless you unlock, which complicates things if you have to send it back. spacepower7 said it well "No device is going to please everybody, but for $99 on sale, this is pretty good. And it still hasn't even had it's first firmware update."

I think the most perfect system would be a Mac Mini running plex, but I can't afford another Mini, and I don't want to move my current one downstairs just for watching TV.

[spacepower7]

Plex seems good so far, but I have barely played with it and I really need a manual to set i up properly, unlike and AppleTV or WDTV.

Main options on WDTV (which we should refer to it as bc the MacRumors search engine can't find words less than 2 or 3? letters such as WD TV) is to decide how to navigate.

Currently, I use the WDTV just for movies/TV shows. My music Library is way too large to navigate on WDTV or AppleTV. Without keyboard input I would spend more time scrolling than listening. Hint Apple (I already have the BT Keyboard)

Glad I have an Airport Express for my music.

When it comes to WDTV movie playback, I'm impressed. Not just the quality (supposedly it has the same decoder chips as in many Blu-Ray Players)

But I shut off the WDTV on Thursday, turned it back on on Sunday, sorted thru my movies, picked the one I was watching on Thursday and it remembered exactly where I left off and asked me if I wanted to resume from that point.

So far, not one single playback issue.

And from what I have read that you can use it with a car adaptor if you have a built in car video system.

[pulsewidth947]

Yeah Plex is complicated. You have to have all your media named in a specific way, to get the full benefit. I just like the way it'll download a synopsis of a TV show you have on your media drive.

That's what I'd do - I don't want my music playing on my TV anyway as I can't afford proper speakers yet.

Yes the resume feature is nice. I loved that about Front Row, until Apple broke it. Apparently it'll only resume if you do not unplug your drive before opening the file again. But that may change as the WDTV apparently leaves db files on your drives - it could be added that the current play point is added to these files.

Really excited to get mine, but the postie didn't bring it today so I have to wait another 24 hours. :)

[awr]

i grabbed a WD TV the weekend it was released as well - it's great.

i use it upstairs were i don't have an HDTV. all of my files are formatted for my Apple TV, so i don't really take advantage of its ability to handle different formats . . . but it's great to load up a pocket drive with some movies and TV shows and have it in the bedroom for viewing before sleep.

i'm even considering this as a gift for a few people on my list - it really seems to fulfill alot of needs out there.:)

[MLC4SGR]

Will the WD product play existing Apple TV files?

I.E. - 720HD AAC/AC3 mov files?
anyone tried that one yet?

Curious if you still get the 5.1

[staka69]

Yeah but will it blend.

I might have jumped all over it for my bedroom, but all is well with my appletv ever since I installed boxee and also have my usb hdd attached to it.

Plus, the appletv hack community is doing a great job with the appletv.

[spacepower7]

Will the WD product play existing Apple TV files?

I.E. - 720HD AAC/AC3 mov files?
anyone tried that one yet?

Curious if you still get the 5.1

I've played 720p MKV and 1080p mp4.

From my understanding/experience
MKV with 5.1 AC3 will pass stereo out the analog and 5.1 out the optical.
MKV with 5.1 DTS will not pass stereo out the analog, but will send DTS out the optical.

Haven't tried a MOV with AAC/AC3 yet, but I would assume the AC3 will work out of the optical.

Will try when I get time.

And let's call this device WDTV so we can actually search the forums for info about it.

[pulsewidth947]

If you have DTS mkv files, and access to windows, you can use the Popcorn Hour Media converter.

Or if you are not afraid of Terminal you can do it within OS X. Here are the instructions (http://www.networkedmediatank.com/wiki/index.php/Convert_DTS_to_AC3)

[TheZA]

I've had the WD player for a day and love it ($99 from NewEgg). As for networking, I bought a mini-DVI to HDMI converter and long HDMI and audio cables from Monoprice, and use my LCD TV as a monitor. Now there is nothing I can't do.

[pulsewidth947]

Postie finally dropped off my WDTV! I cant believe how small this thing is!!! When I saw the box I thought damn thats small, then I found that it was at least an inch smaller than the box!

Watched a couple of movies on it now. I love it. It's played 720p MKV (AC3 sound), Xvid, mp4. The menu is a bit sluggish, but thats the only complaint I have.

[TheZA]

Anybody have any better suggestions than the Normal (default) for Handbrake settings when ripping a DVD movie for use on the WD Media Player? I've been using the Normal setting to create an mp4 and everything looks pretty good, but maybe it could be even better or more versatile. Typical movie file is about a gb. I did try the Apple TV setting to make an m4v but it wouldn't fast forward on the WD player.

[vadim.iablokov]

I have a older tv with only a DVI input. Has anyone successfully connected the WD TV to a DVI only tv? And if they did, how did they get the audio to work? Does the WD tv output from both the hdmi and component sources at the same time? I'll order one right now if someone can help me, this thing sounds amazing. I want it because I fear my macbook's processor is going to melt when I play .mkv HD movies. VLC takes up all my cpu's power and I fear for the longevity of my macbook.... Thanks to anyone who can help.

[pulsewidth947]

Well providing you have an HDMI to DVI lead, you could just plug a cable from the white/red phono outputs to a set of speakers. That'd probably work. Haven't tried it though :)

You might have to set your audio output in the settings.

Few days later, few more videos watched. I still love this player :)

[grozier]

I received my WDTV a couple of days ago and spent a few minutes testing it out. Overall, I love it. Since I already have all of my media backed up on external USB drives, it's real easy to plug them up and start watching. I also like that it has composite video as well as HDMI, since I still have a standard TV in the bedroom.

It plays everything that I have, but with one problem. All of my videos are encoded using Handbrake and the WDTV won't allow me to fast-forward through them. Even movies with chapter stops. The other annoyance is that it does not display thumbnails for my videos, even on the movies with poster art inserted. Has anyone else dealt with this?

[TuckBodi]

Was just getting ready to pull the plug on one of these baby's and I see the resellers (i.e. Amazon, Buy.com and even NewEgg) have jacked up the price around $20 smackers. What's up with that? Is this their version of a Black Friday/Cyber Monday sale? Next we'll be hearing them complain about a slow weekend and us buyers are being tight with our money...

[TheZA]

I received my WDTV a couple of days ago and spent a few minutes testing it out. Overall, I love it. Since I already have all of my media backed up on external USB drives, it's real easy to plug them up and start watching. I also like that it has composite video as well as HDMI, since I still have a standard TV in the bedroom.

It plays everything that I have, but with one problem. All of my videos are encoded using Handbrake and the WDTV won't allow me to fast-forward through them. Even movies with chapter stops. The other annoyance is that it does not display thumbnails for my videos, even on the movies with poster art inserted. Has anyone else dealt with this?

Yes, I've dealt with it. If it was a file converted to m4v for ATV I couldn't fast forward. I had to convert to mp4 using Handbrake. There might have been another format or two I couldn't fast forward with, I can't recall, I played with it a lot in the last four days. And I had the thumbnail problem too - generally, if I could apply the artwork in iTunes, it carried over. What I typically have ended up doing is rip using MTR, convert to mp4 with Handbrake and put it on the external harddrive, then load it into iTunes without importing it just pointing to it on the external (approximately, iTunes=>preferences=>advanced, check box). Then in iTunes, approximately: File, Get Info, Add Artwork, and you can drop an image file. That was such a pain I stopped doing it and just go list view.

I've been using the Handbrake Normal setting to convert to mp4. Other suggestions?

[grozier]

Yes, I've dealt with it. If it was a file converted to m4v for ATV I couldn't fast forward. I had to convert to mp4 using Handbrake.

Thanks for the tip. Simply renaming the files from .m4v to .mp4 enabled fast-forward on the WDTV. No conversion necessary. However it still doesn't recognize the chapter stops.

[TheZA]

Thanks for the tip. Simply renaming the files from .m4v to .mp4 enabled fast-forward on the WDTV. No conversion necessary. However it still doesn't recognize the chapter stops.


Oh yeah, that works for the fast forward fix, but then don't you end up running into problems if you care to import into iTunes to add artwork.

[spacepower7]

I have tagged some videos with MetaX and their thumbnails show up fine.

I prefer list view and find scrolling faster that way, although it makes it not nearly as elegant as the AppleTV.

Do you guys have the media library option turned on or off?
From my understanding it doesn't work with Journaled HFS+ drives. Journaling can be disabled with disk utility.

I haven't tried yet since I have some FAT32 WD Passport drives hooked right now.

[TheZA]

I have mine on a WD Passport still formatted to the factory set FAT32. I figured I might want to carry it over to a Windows machine at some point. In one instance I did run up against the 4 gb FAT32 size limit when attempting to copy over a ripped DVD unconverted to mp4. Oh well, I figure I'll just use that drive for WDTV only for converted video, music, and pictures and the 4 gb size shouldn't be an issue.

I've organized my media in to files, and have the library enabled on WDTV. For the music, I just copied over the iTunes music file as it was already organized in files.

I really don't like WDTV thumbnail view. It would be better if the names appeared right at the bottom of the thumbnail.

I downloaded the latest Mac Turbo driver, or whatever they call it, for the Passport HD from Western Digital. You get a goal looking icon on your desktop, and transferring files to it seem to be slightly faster.

[dalvin200]

i read the TrustedReviews (http://www.trustedreviews.com/multimedia/review/2008/12/02/Western-Digital-WD-TV-HD-Media-Player/p1) on this yesterday, and it does seem impressive... although it would be much better if it had a network connection (ie, wifi) in the least.

If I wasn't already using my macbook hooked up to my HDTV for watchinf films/tv shows then i would probably go for it .. and at the prioce £79.99 @ play.com you can't really go wrong.

[vadim.iablokov]

Has anyone yet tried this out with a DVI only TV?

[obey908]

after reading the reviews, I am gonna go buy a wdtv from bestbuy, test it out for a few days, then either return it or the apple tv i bought last week.

[danny_w]

The wdtv sounds very interesting if it only supported video_ts or .iso files (with menus). Is there anything out there that does that and does a good job of it? I have used XBMC on the Xbox and both XBMC and Plex on the :apple:TV with mixed success; the XBOX version was the most stable, but the Xbox is so loud and has no wifi or gibabit ethernet. I also don't think it had any sorting capability (genres, etc).

[vadim.iablokov]

The wdtv sounds very interesting if it only supported video_ts or .iso files (with menus). Is there anything out there that does that and does a good job of it? I have used XBMC on the Xbox and both XBMC and Plex on the :apple:TV with mixed success; the XBOX version was the most stable, but the Xbox is so loud and has no wifi or gibabit ethernet. I also don't think it had any sorting capability (genres, etc).

From what I've read (haven't bought the WD tv yet) it DOES support video_ts folders AND .iso. This thing is magic, seriously.

"ScottWD says:
Re: First Look: Western Digital WD TV
WD TV does support folder_ts along with .iso and .vob.
Scott Rader
Sr. Product Manager
Western Digital"

http://www.macworld.com/article/136510/2008/11/wdtv_first_look.html

[danny_w]

From what I've read (haven't bought the WD tv yet) it DOES support video_ts folders AND .iso. This thing is magic, seriously.

"ScottWD says:
Re: First Look: Western Digital WD TV
WD TV does support folder_ts along with .iso and .vob.
Scott Rader
Sr. Product Manager
Western Digital"

http://www.macworld.com/article/136510/2008/11/wdtv_first_look.html
Yes, but it only supports the individual VOB files, which means you ahve to select each file in turn. You cannot simply select the directory or .iso and have it play like a dvd with menus. at least that is what I have read, I don't personally own one.

[vadim.iablokov]

You are right about not having menus, maybe in the next frimware update, does anyone know of any WD TV hacking communities anywhere on the net, to get some technical advise.

I just ordered mine off NCIX.com, I'm canadian so my choices were limited to ONLY this site, but they still had a great deal. 149$ plus shipping+handling.

How I miss the days when the Canadian dollar was stronger than the USD...

[Koola]

I'm selling my aTV for this, it's exactly what I wanted the aTV to do/be minus the networking.

[Nakor]

Same here.. since I cant access the iTunes store anymore its been all WDTV. The compatibility with this thing is jsut insane as well. The whole family can have their own USB drive full of shows/movies/coughporncough to suit their tastes too. love it!

[dubhe]

Anyone know any UK shops with it? I don't want to buy online as I am away from home until Christmas but can get to Liverpool to do some shopping this weekend...

[mkubal]

Has anyone else had trouble using the Popcorn Hour audio converter? I started with a ~4 gig mkv and ended up with a ~1.2 gig mkv. What gives?

I might have to try out the command line later. If that works it will keep me from having to find ridiculous ways of going from HFS to NTFS and then back to HFS.

[pulsewidth947]

Has anyone else had trouble using the Popcorn Hour audio converter? I started with a ~4 gig mkv and ended up with a ~1.2 gig mkv. What gives?
What did you convert your audio to?

[vadim.iablokov]

Got mine in the mail today. The audio works great with a DVI only input tv as long as you connect the audio through the composite cables. Although, now I'm having trouble with my journaled 500GB external drive. I have a ton of media on there (200GB) and I don't want to erase the drive in order to reformat it. I'm trying to create a new partition in the empty space and make it a non-journaled format, but it keeps failing the partition saying that there isn't enough room for the partition. Which is BS. So I'm erasing all the free space on this drive and see if that helps. But so far this little box works pretty damn well! :)

[mkubal]

What did you convert your audio to?

Sorry, not following the thread close enough.

I converted to AC3. It outputs a file that's functional, but only the first 45 minutes or so of the movie.

I then tried the command line stuff you linked to earlier and, unfortunately, the standalone program no longer exists because the guy maintaining it got himself a receiver and is able to decode dts now. Not sure why the files couldn't have been left for people to download though.

Since that program was gone I decided to go the command line route. After installing all the programs I got to this step:

dcadec -o wavall /tmp/dts.file.dts | aften - /tmp/ac3.file.ac3

Terminal told me something about not being able to find aften, which makes sense after looking at my home folder where there are a bunch of files and folders strewn about that one of the installers left behind. I have no clue where these files should be for me to be able to use aften from the command line.

This is so frustrating knowing that this conversion is very much within reach, but everything I try has some problem along the way.

I'm gonna go take my computer equipment outside now and light it all ablaze. ;)

[spacepower7]

Got mine in the mail today. The audio works great with a DVI only input tv as long as you connect the audio through the composite cables. Although, now I'm having trouble with my journaled 500GB external drive. I have a ton of media on there (200GB) and I don't want to erase the drive in order to reformat it. I'm trying to create a new partition in the empty space and make it a non-journaled format, but it keeps failing the partition saying that there isn't enough room for the partition. Which is BS. So I'm erasing all the free space on this drive and see if that helps. But so far this little box works pretty damn well! :)

You can just turn off journalling, there is no need to reformat.
Use Disk Utility, select the hard drive in the left column, hold down the "option" key then click on the File menu, then there will be an option to "Disable Journalling."

[TuckBodi]

New Post~
---------------------------------------
So after using this thing for a day I've actually done a 180. I'm seeing more and more issues. As I posted on another post I thought I throw them on here to let people know what's happening. I'm going to wait for the next firmware update due in Jan to see if things improve but I'm really thinking of returning this thing.

---
I have both an TV and a WDTV and I can tell you they're like night and day. The only thing WDTV has going for it is its Sigma chip can play hi-def 1080p rips and the thing plays on both widescreen and 4:3 TV's. Beyond that it has quite a bit of lacking features and/or bugs. It really feels like a beta to me.

- navigating my music (large library) takes 30 sec on average to jump around (say from artist to album and drilling in)
- scrolling caches 3 rows then you sit for 20 sec until you can scroll again
- cover art is limited to only the metadata so you don't see artwork on albums (i.e. can't see external JPEG files for cover art)
- navigating into an artist and album to the songs, there's no listing of who or what you're looking at other than the song names (say you walk away and come back a few hours later and you don't remember who you were looking at)
- cannot play .mv4 videos so your TV collection is unusable unless you rename them as .mp4 and then your TV can't play them
- can't play the Hanbraked AC3 + AAC movies correctly as it ignores the AC3 file
- no video genre navigation
- no network access so to add/change stuff you have to unhook and move it to another machine
- and when you rehook the drive back up it takes about 10 min before it recognizes it
- I don't use subtitles but it can't use external subtitle files from what I hear

--------------------------------------------------------
Old Post~
Got my WDTV a day ago and spent some time playing with it tonight. My first impressions:

- Works great with most formats.
- I don't have a DTS capable receiver so I have to convert those using Popcorn Audio Converter. I've also run into a few issues with older .mov files.
- But my biggest issue is the WDTV cannot read my :apple:TV formatted .m4v files and I have to change the extension to .mp4 (and now my :apple:TV can't see them). I hope this gets added/fixed in a firmware update.
- And my :apple:TV files are Handbraked to the :apple:TV preset of AC3 + ACC yet the WDTV cannot see the AC3 and can only play stereo (even hitting menu & audio doesn't let me switch it). This is a big bummer as I need both and I hope this can be fixed.
- I also saw this same issue where I used PAC to convert a MKV DTS track to both AC3 and stereo. Again, only saw stereo and I had to set it to AC3 only.
- Haven't watched to whole video but 1080 looked and played great!

So far pretty happy!

[TheZA]

A few responses to the last post-

I use it differently than others. I don't own an AppleTV, and now probably never will. When I was looking at an AppleTV, I didn't like that it was limited to particular files types. WDTV, I get it on there any which way, it works. So renaming files between m4v and mp4 = no drawback. That is a drawback of AppleTV.

Music file cover art - I don't care at all. Music is something I don't use WDTV, or my computer for, other than organizing for loading into an iPod. If I were going to play music from my computer or TV, I would use the computer and get Airport Express and some speakers, or I suppose something to hook up to the iPod. I don't keep all my music in that format. I'm still largely a CD keeper, loading select songs into iTunes and on to my iPod. Music on WesternTV is an afterthought.

I've gotten my work flow down such that I'm not often disconnecting the hard drive and taking it over to the computer. I gradually rip and convert stuff and keep it on the external over at the computer, and then once in a while go over and load it on to the portable that goes with the Western TV in a batch. At the beginning where I didn't have much on the portable drive, I was constantly updating it. But now it is a gradual/batch occassional thing.

The biggest selling point for me: the WDTV is pretty cheap and now I'm not burning a bunch of DVDs all the time. And it is a hell of a lot easier to get something on to the WesternTV that will play and look nice than it is to get something to burn. Backing up a DVD on to another DVD, you're only have way there until you get it burned. And I'm not filling my computer's hard drive up, or the drive of an Apple TV. Just the dedicated drive for the WDTV, and I could always just get another one (I suppose you could just always use an external at the computer to stream to your AppleTV).

Biggest issues with WDTV: (1) You can't skip ahead chapters, (2) sometimes when I power it off, it won't come back on unless I unplug/replug - I think this is when I power it off if it is still playing a video, and (3) the menu could use some improvements that are minor and I won't go in to.

[danny_w]

I almost bought a WDTV today at Best Buy just to give it a try, but eventually decided against it because the WDTV only has Composite and HDMI outputs, but no S-Video or Component. Since I don't own an HDTV I would be limited to composite, which kind of stinks.

[jtbell]

My main interest in the WD TV is in playing back HD programs recorded from over-the-air broadcasts (US ATSC) using EyeTV. Neither of my Macs can (at least not yet) use my 32" LCD TV as a display.

So far the biggest drawback is that the WD TV cannot display the closed captions in a Quicktime .mov file exported from EyeTV. I haven't yet found a way to export the closed captions into .srt files which the WD TV apparently recognizes.

[PM Smith]

I'm trying to get EyeTV HD recordings (BBC HD) to play on the WD TV, but have had no luck yet. I've remuxed the .mpg files to .m2ts in windows using Tsremux, but they still won't play. Can anyone help me out? Thanks in advance, Philip.

[jtbell]

Have you tried exporting from EyeTV to a Quicktime movie? Both the default MPEG-4 compression and H.264 (use the "Options" button) work for me, although I get a better picture with H.264. MPEG-4 is too dark.

Your experience may of course be different from mine because of our different broadcast video standards.

[PM Smith]

Cheers Jt, I've just got back into using a Mac after years with a PC, so I'm just finding my way. I managed to find out yesterday that the Eyetv HD files will play on the PS3 without any conversion etc- the only thing is that I have to split files above 4GB. I've managed to find a program that will split files in windows, but I'd prefer one for the Mac.

[TheZA]

There is a firmware update available on Western Digital's web site. Looks like it fixed my problem with it needing to be unplugged/plugged back in sometimes to start up. Lots of other fixes/features.

[awr]

There is a firmware update available on Western Digital's web site. Looks like it fixed my problem with it needing to be unplugged/plugged back in sometimes to start up. Lots of other fixes/features.

Thanks for the info - can't wait to update tonight . . .

anyone else notice any changes with new firmware?

[TheZA]

The firmware update provides chapter support for mkv files. Problem is, I've been converting everything to some flavor of mp4. Any comments on how the chapter selection is working for folks with mkv files. Also, you think they will add chapter support for mp4s in the future?

Thanks.

[mcwattc]

The software that can with my WD TVis for PC's only. WD says to check with Apple for help, but that's not working. the posts on this site suggest that you have solved this "issue".
What's the solution? Is software even needed.:confused:

[butchseaman]

Too limited. It doesn't have network capabilities, plus no component output (no HDMI here).
It shows some promise, though.

will the mac mini do component...?

[TheZA]

The software that can with my WD TVis for PC's only. WD says to check with Apple for help, but that's not working. the posts on this site suggest that you have solved this "issue".
What's the solution? Is software even needed.:confused:

Translation:
"The software that came with WDTV is for PCs only."
Yes, that is true. I can't even remember what that software was for. There are several free and readily downloadable programs I use for putting things on a harddrive for playing on WDTV: Handbrake is the main one, which I use to convert to MP4s, and sometimes for ripping. For tagging MP4s I use MetaX. I also often use iSquint, MPEG Streamclip, and Mac The Ripper (essentially, not free). Rarely I use iTunes for meta data editing. Further explanation is beyond the scope of this site. You have some Googling, surfing, and reading to do.

[mddharma]

and we are very happy with it. We have a 42" 720 Samsung and we have 2 WD harddrives set up with it. The harddrives are formatted in Mac Extended (not journaled) as if the harddrive was in the journaled format we had problems and the FAT32 would not recognize file sizes over 4GB. We started off making backups of our library with ripping the discs then converting them with handbrake to a MKV file - it took forever. We now use MakeMKV which has a Mac version. The MakeVKV is lossless and takes a fraction of the time as our old method. We simply put a disc in and within about 25 minutes EVERYTHING is done! Larger file sizes obviously, but they look so much better. With the price of harddrives now, we think it is the only way to go.

[danny_w]

and we are very happy with it. We have a 42" 720 Samsung and we have 2 WD harddrives set up with it. The harddrives are formatted in Mac Extended (not journaled) as if the harddrive was in the journaled format we had problems and the FAT32 would not recognize file sizes over 4GB. We started off making backups of our library with ripping the discs then converting them with handbrake to a MKV file - it took forever. We now use MakeMKV which has a Mac version. The MakeVKV is lossless and takes a fraction of the time as our old method. We simply put a disc in and within about 25 minutes EVERYTHING is done! Larger file sizes obviously, but they look so much better. With the price of harddrives now, we think it is the only way to go.
That's great to hear. I didn't realize that WDTV supported any disk format other than FAT and NTFS. And I'l have to check out MakeMKV.

[TheZA]

will the mac mini do component...?

The current version offers composite or HDMI, no component. But...

I just read a review of Version 2 to be coming out that does offer component and networking via ethernet.

[TheZA]

Or there is the WD mini, available now with composite and component, but no HDMI. $99 from NewEgg:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136416&Tpk=western%20digital%20media%20player

[fireshot91]

Or there is the WD mini, available now with composite and component, but no HDMI. $99 from NewEgg:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136416&Tpk=western%20digital%20media%20player

Or you know. This:

http://www.amazon.com/Western-Digital-WD-Media-Player/dp/B001JZFQU4

[danny_w]

Or you know. This:

http://www.amazon.com/Western-Digital-WD-Media-Player/dp/B001JZFQU4
That one can only do composite and HDMI though. TheZA was talking about composite and component.

[TuckBodi]

Yeah, and I'd avoid the WDTV. I have one and I barely use it. Their updates have been few and far between. I think their navigation sucks, you have to convert your .m4v's (iTunes compatible) to .mp4's (for me to get audio) and your cover art has to be real small (then why have hi rez TV's?). And did I say the navigation sucks? So while it can play most formats (including most MKV's, but not all) it cannot play the the default AppleTV format, which I also have. It also does not display all my metadata and I could go on & on. Yeah, $99 is cheap but you get what you pay for.

[danny_w]

Yeah, and I'd avoid the WDTV. I have one and I barely use it. Their updates have been few and far between. I think their navigation sucks, you have to convert your .m4v's (iTunes compatible) to .mp4's (for me to get audio) and your cover art has to be real small (then why have hi rez TV's?). And did I say the navigation sucks? So while it can play most formats (including most MKV's, but not all) it cannot play the the default AppleTV format, which I also have. It also does not display all my metadata and I could go on & on. Yeah, $99 is cheap but you get what you pay for.
Not everybody has the default :apple:TV format files, or wants to bother with all of that conversion (I have a few in .m4v format, but I certainly don't relish wasting time converting all of my other movies). I have an :apple:TV but it leaves a lot to be desired IMHO (why can't it play VIDEO_TS folders for example). I don't have a WD TV but I may just get one when I get a new TV.

[gugy]

I am seriuosly considering the new WDTV that will soon be coming. Even though is far from a perfect product it address 3 of the most important features that AppleTV lacks for me:
1080p
support for external drives
support way more codecs

Finally it seems it also will offer support for hulu, boxee and netflix. For maybe $99 bucks it doesn't really hurt.

I just hope Apple will finally take care of the lack of interest they are putting on AppleTV. Let's see if something might happen on this possible special event September 9th.