Author Topic: WD TV  (Read 3505 times)

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Offline DaveR

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WD TV
« on: October 09, 2010, 06:39:41 pm »
I use WD TV a lot now, does anyone else?


Yorkie

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Re: WD TV
« Reply #1 on: October 09, 2010, 07:05:13 pm »
I have had a HUMAX with Foxstat for some time now.  When I was trying to make a decision this was recommended by my Son who is in the business.  Not cheap but does everything I want.     *&(
HDMI certainly improves things.


Offline DaveR

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Re: WD TV
« Reply #2 on: October 09, 2010, 07:49:00 pm »
I'd not heard of Humax before, so I took a look and yours is (I think) a combined Sat Receiver/HDD that receives FreeSat rather than Sky? I believe the picture quality is supposed to be very good. How many HD channels can it receive?

WD TV is a little different in that it is a Media Player (just like Windows Media Player on a computer than plays video content) that enables you to view films/tv shows that you have downloaded to your pc (legally, of course!) on your tv.

It connects to your tv via the HDMI socket. Also connected to the WD TV box is an external hard disk drive that contains the films/tv shows etc that you want to watch. So, to use it, you switch WD TV on, it looks on the hard drive and displays on your tv screen a list of all the films/tv shows stored on the hard drive, you then click on the one you want and watch it on your tv.

Basically, its the first step towards Internet TV - in a couple of years, the whole idea of watching tv via a satellite dish or freeview aerial will be obsolete - your tv will be hooked up to the Internet connection and all programmes will be streamed through there.

Offline Ian

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Re: WD TV
« Reply #3 on: October 10, 2010, 08:17:03 am »
Quote
Basically, its the first step towards Internet TV - in a couple of years, the whole idea of watching tv via a satellite dish or freeview aerial will be obsolete - your tv will be hooked up to the Internet connection and all programmes will be streamed through there.

This is the big gamble a lot of the major electronics people are taking. However, I suspect that sky, freesat  and the pretty good freeview system are here to stay - a least for a decade more.

We have Freesat, Sky, Freeview and internet streaming systems serving us TV and radio around the house and there are quite a few competing streaming systems available.  And they're in competition with Blu-Ray, the demise of which is being widely predicted by the biggest (and most successful) computer maker, which is why Apple TV is now in its third incarnation and iTunes continues its march towards world domination.

The fact remains, however, that streaming internet TV isn't catching on as they've been hoping. Partly, this is due to technology acquisition lag, whereby only the technophiles invest in the gear in the early stages and the vast majority wait until something needs replacing, at which point they amble out to Curry's or the like and get persuaded by the usually pretty uninformed sales staff to buy whatever gives them the biggest mark up.


Nothing is so firmly believed as that which we least know.  ― Michel de Montaigne

Si hoc legere scis, nimis eruditionis habes.

Offline Ian

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Re: WD TV
« Reply #4 on: October 10, 2010, 08:25:38 am »
Humax - one of the best and biggest mainstream decoder and HD video server makers - is rapidly developing its menu-driven access packages, which were its weakest facet in the early days and is regularly achieving 'best buy' status in Which repoirts. Samsung is pretty good and now Logitech has unveiled the Logitech Revue - the first product compatible with the Google TV service which will offer TV, applications and the web via a set-top box.


Perhaps predictably, the major manufacturers are splitting along their 'home' lines;  the computer people think internet streaming will win the day, while the DVD, Blu Ray and Home entertainment giants, such as Sony, feel that there's still a lot of life and value in Blu Ray, partly because of the 'extra features' included on discs.
Nothing is so firmly believed as that which we least know.  ― Michel de Montaigne

Si hoc legere scis, nimis eruditionis habes.

Offline Ian

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Re: WD TV
« Reply #5 on: October 10, 2010, 08:29:34 am »
Finally, if anyone's thinking of investing in new set-top Freeview, Freesat or internet- streaming boxes, I'll be happy to point you to the models which get best buy status in Which? and those to avoid.
Nothing is so firmly believed as that which we least know.  ― Michel de Montaigne

Si hoc legere scis, nimis eruditionis habes.

Offline Ian

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Re: WD TV
« Reply #6 on: October 10, 2010, 08:36:37 am »
Interestingly, (sorry about these stream of consciousness-type postings) two of our  Sony Bravias  have streaming internet facilities built-in, and we have a decent BB rate of 7.2 Mb, so we find streaming SD movies fairly easy.  We also have a couple of music servers, which operate through Airport, so we can stream music to every room in (and some out of) the house.  The music servers also serve images, so on each of the TVs we can call up our image and music collections from the servers.
Nothing is so firmly believed as that which we least know.  ― Michel de Montaigne

Si hoc legere scis, nimis eruditionis habes.