WD TV

[Captain Picard's Hair]

For those stumped by the cryptic title, it's easily decoded as "Western Digital TeleVision." Western Digital is the company behind it, a company known as one of the largest makers of computer hard drives in the world (I think #2 behind Seagate at the moment IIRC) and "it" is a media player box for a television. The player connects to a TV via RCA compisite, HDMI or other format outputs depending on the exact model (I have an older CRT TV so I use the RCA Composite cable) and to an external Hard drive through USB, and can play back any media on the drive (pictures, video, and music in a good variety of formats). The one I got for Xmas works quite nicely with great picture quality, there are others with internet connectivity for streaming YouTube or Hulu or whatnot. Seagate has its own version, but with reportedly inferior range of media formats supported.

Just thought I'd introduce the topic for those with a technical bent or who are just interested in new home theater ideas. The box is quite small really and paired with a HDD -- it has no problem with a 1 TB which I'm using though I don't know the exact limit but it's more than enough space to replace a very much larger collection of DVD or Blu-Ray disks in a compact space (though you may need to spend time ripping those disks if you wish to transfer theg collection over). If you have home videos or pictures this would be a nice way to store those for playback on a TV also.

[Nickswitz]

There are quite a few out there that I have been following, none that have really excited me all that much. Although admittedly I have yet to try some of them, but I don't feel like putting down 200 for each one just to be disappointed because of my high standards, and desire for super-simplicity, which for the most part is not available for this kind of thing yet.

[Tyyr]

Yeah, never really be enamored with these things. Mostly it's the price. For just a bit more I can build a computer that will do all that and let me get on the internet and do whatever I want to through the computer.

[Captain Picard's Hair]

Yeah, never really be enamored with these things. Mostly it's the price. For just a bit more I can build a computer that will do all that and let me get on the internet and do whatever I want to through the computer.

Even an Atom-based nettop goes for a fair bit over $100 now

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... -_-Product

[Nickswitz]

The little atom based one we got was $200 refurbished, along with an extra 2GB of RAM than what usually came, so the computer itself was only about $150

[Captain Picard's Hair]

That's still half again the cost, and if all you're concerned with is video playback the WD unit is quite speedy enough. Also, would a nettop come with the needed connections for TV output? I'm running this on an older CRT with composite video...

[Tyyr]

Yeah, never really be enamored with these things. Mostly it's the price. For just a bit more I can build a computer that will do all that and let me get on the internet and do whatever I want to through the computer.

Even an Atom-based nettop goes for a fair bit over $100 now

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... -_-Product

Given that you need to pair it with a hard drive I'd say the true cost is closer to $200 once you pair it with a hard drive.

And yes, for a bit more than that I can build a computer that can not only do anything this can do but a whole lot more to boot. If you're not into computers or you only want to watch some video clips or the like off the home network that's fine, but personally I'd rather have a full function computer hooked up to it rather than this.

[Captain Picard's Hair]

Given that you need to pair it with a hard drive I'd say the true cost is closer to $200 once you pair it with a hard drive.

And yes, for a bit more than that I can build a computer that can not only do anything this can do but a whole lot more to boot. If you're not into computers or you only want to watch some video clips or the like off the home network that's fine, but personally I'd rather have a full function computer hooked up to it rather than this.

Guh, I'd forgot about the HDD. You've got me there.

I guess each has his own needs, but for me I have a powerful desktop system with a large full HD monitor so all I'm looking for here is a media player for the TV. This setup does do this one job well and in a simple manner with a nice little remone to control it. For the record I am into computers (and I build my own system also); I just wasn't looking for more in this case. Even with the HDD the costs wouldn't be too far apart I'd guess.

[Captain Picard's Hair]

Let me just add something to this old thread, since I have a new thought. At first a small HTPC wouldn't have worked (or at least would have required me to replace my TV as well) since I have an older CRT in my bedroom with limited connectivity and zero of the "modern" forms like HDMI: it only takes RCA composite in. Since no HTPC motherboard or video card I could find has this and some media boxes like the WD one I have do, that was the easiest option ATM. That old TV still works fine and has a good picture.

But, it is still a slight inconvenience to carry a separate DVD player and media box, particularly when I'd have to change the cable to switch between them. Eventually that TV will be replaced and at that point I'll have the chance to simplify and consolidate. At first I looked at my options for building a small HTPC box (I looked at AMD's new E-350 as a better performing alternative to Intel Atom in the small size and low power envelope) but then realized I already had it on my floor next to my desk! My current PC is a modern, powerful machine - with a video card that supports dual monitors, and lots of internal storage already. All I'd need is a long HDMI cable. That's what I'm looking at doing at some point in the not-too-distant future.