This is a fantastic product.
Only two simple things need to be done after you have plugged everything in.
Read the manual provided online. It is very informative and explains everything in detail.
Download WD Discovery. Link for it is provided in the online manual.
You can then map the hub as a hard drive and it'll function just like any other hard drive you might have used.
Just drag any content you want into it and you are done.
My dad who isn't technologically savvy has started using it as well which tells you a lot.
It really is that simple to use. Western Digital WD TV Live Hub 1 TB Media Center
This thing does what it suppose to do in addition having 1TB HD it's a big plus. I can honestly say this is the best $200 that I've spent in a long time. It plays every possible movie format that I have and that's the main reason I bought it. Couple of things that I'm not really thrilled about (that's why I'm giving 4 stars)...first no built-in WI-FI, you have to get one of those USB Wi-Fi adapters..... and the second online content is very limited but I hope this will change with future firmware update
Set up was easy (I used a wired connection because it was convenient for me and the WIFI is not integrated). It connects as a NAS, but the copy speed was painstakingly slow. In the end it is much faster to use the USB connection to copy in your media files.
The main menus are easy enough to use, the setup was not complex, but it took several tries to get the media library compiled. I had to clear it and re-compile it several times before it found everything. Sorting and categorizing is ok, but weak, allows no cover art (don't think iTunes-like here...), no descriptions.
The remote is adequate but is missing a few things users take for granted, notably no slow-motion (forward or back), and video control is very imprecise. The remote control buttons are confusingly placed and make it awkward in a dimly lit room. Using the on-screen keyboard with the remote is not at all a positive experience.
It has an automatic firmware update feature, but the WD Support site is full of horror stories of firmware updates that totally or partially disable the unit. Note that their site is also full of complaints about their generally unresponsive support. Not a good thing.
I do like it for streaming and watching NetFlix but that's available on my TV and DVD player as well (again, the remote is awkward here, sometimes unresponsive too). The YouTube interface is not so easy to use (the remote...), but Pandora is just fine.
I bought this and am very happy with the "playing movies" off the internal harddrive part of it. The interface is good and pretty easy to get around. The whole box is amazingly small and quiet.
The only issue I've had the last couple days is getting it to see the internet and my computer through the router...and I'm running a cable to the router-I'm not wireless.
I could plug the WD straight into my modem and get netflix fine but when it went through my brand new netgear wpn824N-100NAS router, I couldnt get on or network with my computer. I've tried everything, read every troubleshooting forum on the web...but no joy. The router works for my computer...I get the internet on it just fine, but not on the Live Hub.
Called WD today. after an hour of resetting router,resetting Live Hub, going through networking on my computer--all of which I'd tried already, he finally asked me what router I used. Then said it wasnt compatible with the Live Hub. I'm sort of questioning if it's just an excuse, but going to try a different router tomorrow. Most on the list he sent were actually difficult to find at a bestbuy.
I caution everyone to make sure they have a approved router before attempting this. very frustrating to spend days trying to figure it out.
***UPDATE***after being told by WD that my router wasn't compatible and being told by NetGear that the HUB was at fault...I went and bought a E2000 lynksis router instead. Set it up, plugged Live Hub into router, clicked on Network Setup...Boom! computer see's the hub, Hub see's the internet and Netflix streams flawlessly! After two weeks of heavy frustration, I really enjoy the Live HUB.
I have an external USB hard drive loaded with media: many years of Photos, Music and Movies. I was excited to learn I could now enjoy them on my HD TV rather than just my PC. I was not interested as much in Internet connectivity, as I also have a ROKU internet media player. Despite all the hype in the reviews, I was quite disappointed by WD TV Live Hub.
My review is for media on my portable hard drive, attached via the USB port. I did not transfer the files to the hard drive built-in WD TV Live Hub. They appeared as "Local USB" instead of "Local Internal". I downloaded the latest firmware before starting my evaluation. I used an HDMI cable to connect to the TV, and configured the box for HD 1080p.
WD TV Live Hub took 30+ minutes to compile all the media content on my portable drive. This is a one time deal and thus not a big issue. But do not expect to attach stored media and play it immediately.
My biggest disappointment was the low quality rendering my photos on the HD TV.
My photos are sharp, high resolution jpegs, 4K*3K pixels, compressed to about 4 MB. When streamed via WD TV Live, they look as poor as the 0.5 MB sample pictures provided in the box. My 55-in Samsung HD TV, which has a USB port, renders them much better than did WD TV Live hub. For example, I could not read car license plates when rendered with WD TV Live Hub while they were clearly readable using the Samsung TV built-in USB port. WD TV Live Hub does not do a very good job downscaling a 4MB jpeg image, and it takes 17+ seconds to do it (time to display the next image). Using 12 bit rather then default 8 bit color depth made no difference.
The video quality of playing stored movies was acceptable. Maybe because image sharpness is less critical when you have motion. And I do not have blue ray discs to compare. I only tried to play VOB/ISO movies. One nice feature is that WD TV Live supports the original menu system, but there is not such thing as a "Menu" button on the remote.
Search has been a touted as a feature of this device. WD TV Live Hub lets you search for movies stored based on title words, director and primary actors. Unfortunately it does not work. First it is cumbersome to key-in the letters with the UI. What was most frustrating, however, is that in my 15 attempts and just using the 1st word in the title, search succeeded only once. And even then, it found only the 2nd of three movies whose title started with the same word. The movies where all there, scrolling down the folders,but were not found using 'Search'. This is totally unacceptable.
For songs, the UI is quite primitive as well. I am used to iTunes and Window Media 9 interfaces, and WD TV Live hub is a long way from that.
Media players are evolving and improving. WD TV Live Hub claims to be 4th generation. I found it is not yet suitable for my particular needs. - Western Digital - Streaming - Wd Tv - Wdtv'
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