Customer review from the Amazon Vine Program As in Jack of All Trades :)
I want to begin by saying the 'I like' (but I don't yet fully 'love') WD's TV Live Hub and this earns it 4 (but not 5) stars. And I like it in spite of it lacking a few almost 'must have' features for a device in its class such as some storage redundancy (RAID-1 = disk mirroring) or at least a built-in backup utility or any significant security or, to a lesser extent (I'll explain) built-in Wi-Fi. And I like it even though bugs still exist such as the Hub's occasional failure to maintain/update its 'media library'. And I do like it even though the Hub's supported Web 'services' are few at this time because some of the 'major' ones are there.
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Note: (9/9/2011 update):
I am upgrading this to 5-stars because since the original writing of my review most of the bugs have been addressed and many important Web services and other features such as 'games' were added.
Because of its versatility, built-in storage, low power consumption and its ability to integrate with everything else the Hub is now the centerpiece (the true hub)of my entertainment center.
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WHY I LIKE IT
Some of the shortcomings duly noted above, I like the Hub because:
The Hub turns out to be a well connected, relatively easy to use and operate, low-power, physically small, versatile video/music/still photos player with the built in ability to store the equivalent of almost 200 DVD-quality movies on its built-in 1TB drive, expandable to many times more than that via an attached USB drive and capable to sync and play content from any accessible media server such as PCs, Xboxes or PS3s, Microsoft Home Servers or NAS (Network Attached Storage) devices.
The Hub can also go out on the Net and report the local weather, play YouTube videos, Netflix, Hulu Plus and Blockbuster movies, Podcasts and Pandora music (I compiled a list of supported Web services below).
I was able to add the TV Live Hub to my Harmony universal remote control setup and I was able to address the lack of built-in backup (running a scheduled Robocopy task off a Home Server) because the Hub's drive can be mapped and managed as any other computer drive through a PC.
The Hub plays content off existing media servers and it acts as a media server for other devices (PCs, PS3s, etc.) on the same network. It can be set to sync with whatever content it can discover on your home network and it supports iTunes (did not test iTunes support myself). And for the hard-core YouTube users, a USB-attached keyboard should allow for easy searching. Also, the Hub makes it easy to post content directly to Facebook and Flickr.
And, finally, the Hub is likely to do more and do it better tomorrow because WD is constantly updating the firmware and hopefully it will address some of the more annoying bugs soon and because there appears to be an active, lively, innovative, helpful and supportive user community. [Note: 2 firmware updates later, several new Web services were added and some bugs were fixed.]
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Here are the hub's features in a more organized format.
MEDIA PLAYER
Plays videos with full support for HD and multi-channel sound.
Plays music with support for playlists.
Plays movies/videos with filters for genre, rating and so on.
Displays photos, has slideshow capabilities.
Games section (added on 5/17/2011) has 'mind games' such as Sudoku, puzzles, memory games.
MEDIA HUB
Acts as a media server for other devices (PCs, PS3s, Xboxes). My PS3 'saw' the Hub and was able to play content off it as soon as it went online.
Plays content from other media servers on the local network. It saw 'everything' we were sharing as soon as we turned it on.
Plays content off NAS (Network Attached Storage).
Syncs with media found on PCs and has support for iTunes.
ONLINE SERVICES
Services availability is controlled by WD. As far as I know, you can't add or remove a service but that may change in the future.
Current selection is limited but 'big names' are supported: Netflix, Blockbuster, YouTube, Pandora, Flickr, Facebook, etc.
Grabs metadata (title, description, cover graphics) for music and movies.
Firmware is upgraded by WD remotely.
CUSTOMIZATION
Users can download or create their own themes and backgrounds.
Integrates with Harmony remotes.
Several styles of menus.
Additional storage can be attached directly through USB port(s).
Supports USB keyboards.
Supports certain Wi-Fi USB-connected devices (not tested by me).
SPECS
I/O ports: Optical, HDMI, Composite, RCA, 2 USB, gigabit Ethernet
Video (Full HD 1920x1080): AVI (Xvid, AVC, MPEG1/2/4), M2TS, MKV (h.264, x.264, AVC, MPEG1/2/4, VC-1), MP4/MOV (MPEG4, h.264), MPG/MPEG, TS/TP/M2T (MPEG1/2/4, AVC, VC-1), VOB, WMV9
Audio: (multichannel up to 7.1) AAC, AIF/AIFF, Dolby Digital, DTS, FLAC, MKA, MP3, OGG, WAV/PCM/LPCM, WMA,
Photo: BMP, GIF, JPEG, PNG, TIF/TIFF
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MY EXPERIENCE: SETUP
It was as easy as plugging in the unit, connecting to a network hub with an Ethernet cable (not supplied) and to a receiver through an HDMI (not supplied either) cable.
HDMI 1.4 is supported but composite (RCA), and component outputs are also available as well as an S/PDIF digital (optical) output. For best results, 'wired' network connectivity should be preferred. It's the only one supported out of the box and, if you expect to play or stream HD content, it's the only one that can support the load reliably.
Once the box is turned on it quickly updates itself and it's ready to use. Literally 5-10 minutes after powerup we were watching YouTube videos. Of course, additional setup is needed to fully customize it but the Hub can make itself useful quickly and there's no need to rush. Some of the Web services such as Pandora or Netflix require that you have an account but the Hub makes it easy to set yourself up if you don't have one. On the local network, as I mentioned already, the Hub became immediately visible and it was able to see and use the other active media servers running. From a PC it's easy to connect the Hub's drive and upload content. It's also the only way you can back it up.
MY EXPERIENCE: OPERATION
I've been using the hub to store and play DVD and Netflix movies and occasionally music. I've already uploaded several thousand photos, home videos, backed up lots of DVD movies and TV shows and some 700 songs and there's plenty of room for more. Video play off the local disk or from a Microsoft Home server we keep on our network was flawless. I prefer the Hub to PS3 playback because, the Hub lacking big fans, there is no audible 'hum' during playback. Music playing is okay, both off the disk or off Pandora and so are the photo slideshows. Some of the 'radio' and other content services don't look/sound so good but, since I've experience flawless HD playback on Netflix and music on Pandora, I'm blaming 'them' for the low quality.
As far as the other Web services, I don't have major complaints but it's annoying that YouTube recognizes the Hub as something that's attached to a TV and will NOT let you to see anything that's 'big media' produced. Netflix is okay and the latest firmware upgrade brought in the same great interface (Netflix 3.0?) I have on the PS3.
The Hub can make media watching and organizing as easy or as complicated as you are prepared to allow it. It has the ability to consolidate everything it sees on its local storage and on the network around it into a big pile of 'stuff' and the 'media library' will then show you all sci-fi movies you have (an example) regardless of where they are. Or, if you want things arranged in a certain way, you can create your own folders, name them any way you want and navigate to your favorite movies/shows yourself.
From a PC you can easily stream music off the Hub but, because all the movies I keep on it are at the highest resolution, DVD movies streaming can be a little jittery over Wi-Fi and HD doesn't work at all. The Hub works best when playing off its own disk or accessing/serving content over 'fast' wired connections. My home is not wired for Ethernet but I'm using a Western Digital WD Livewire Powerline AV Network Kit to pipe Ethernet over the power lines. It works.
I should also mention that the online manual is VERY well written, very well organized and very helpful. It comes with links to other online resources, including the very active Hub community board where you can find a lot of good advice concerning enhancements and bugs.
BUGS
On 'day one' after uploading some 5000 photos, a message informed me that the Hub was compiling its media library. It was still compiling on 'day two' and it didn't stop until I told the Hub to drop the library and then rebuild it. Rebuilding the library can take 10-15 minutes but it's annoying and I hope that the next firmware update will take care of it. Meanwhile, I learned to be careful as in "don't try to do something else while the media library is being rebuilt" and I only had once similar incident in the past month. I'm not sure whether this was because of the firmware updates or because I'm more 'gentle' when interacting with the Hub.
Another bug seems to be the 'queue'. You have the ability to drop movies or songs into a queue to play them later but it does not always work that way, the Hub reporting that the content couldn't be found. I'm not using the queue feature any longer because it sometimes seems to trigger the never-ending media library recompilation (see above).
I can't think of any other significant bugs other than the Hub rebooting itself a couple of times.
On the WD discussion board I learned that quite a few users had issues with the power button. Apparently it can cause the Hub to constantly reboot, making it unusable. I haven't experienced this problem but I never physically 'touch' the Hub except to dust it off. All operations can be done remotely and, since I've read about that problem, I am somewhat reluctant to physically interact with the Hub.
EVALUATION
I already announced in the first paragraph that this is a '4 stars' to me because 'I like it' and it's not a '5 stars' because I don't love it yet: bugs, not a lot of Web services. My PS3 does almost everything that the Hub does and some of it it does better AND it plays movies and music off discs and it plays games but I can't afford to keep my PS3 always on because it burns a lot of electricity and its fans aren't silent and you can't have 1TB worth of storage on it. The PS3 can also cost $100-200 more. In other words, the Hub has its place and even with a sophisticated machine such as a PS3 or a Microsoft Home server around it's going to see its share of use and playtime. I see how the consecutive firmware upgrades are making the Hub an increasingly versatile device and I won't be surprised if the bugs are addressed and more functionality becomes available.
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NOTE:
The latest firmware upgrades added a number of great Web services and the new additions have enough depth to satisfy me. This is what was available at the time I wrote this:
AccuWeather
Blockbuster
CinemaNow
DEEZER
facebook
flickr
flingo
Hulu Plus
LIVE 365
Mefdiafly
NETFLIX
PANDORA
Picasa
tunein
SHOUTcast
YouTube
NOTE March 25, 2011
I tried a 'stress test' the other day. Playing an HD video on the HDMI-connected TV while, at the same time, playing a DVD-quality movie on a laptop which had a drive mapped directly into the Hub Hub has an Ethernet wired connection to the router, the laptop on 802.11n Wi-Fi. Output was flawless on both.
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>> Brush your teeth, it's the law!
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