Roku 3 or wdtv live


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FireTV or Nexus Player

This. Both can run Plex or XBMC, and well as well as having wider app capability.

I have the Nexus Player (

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  • 2 weeks later...

WD TV live user here - love the little box.

Does exactly what I want - access files from NAS\windows shares and plays them true 1:1, instead of applying crappy colour filters, and doing other useless ######. 

 

It does the job perfect for what I want, I don't use any of the other features. If I want Netflix or Youtube, I use the Apple TV\PC. 

 

Best firmware to use is - wdtvlivegen3_rollback_2.01.86

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WD TV live user here - love the little box.

Does exactly what I want - access files from NAS\windows shares and plays them true 1:1, instead of applying crappy colour filters, and doing other useless ######. 

 

It does the job perfect for what I want, I don't use any of the other features. If I want Netflix or Youtube, I use the Apple TV\PC. 

 

But then you are using a different input, different remote/mouse and its no longer a congruent experience.  Even if you use an all in one remote it doesnt change the fact you have to use everything slightly differently and make some buttons not match what they say to get the functionality.  With Roku or Fire TV with Plex you get basically everything in one box with one remote, one input design.

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I bought a Roku2 last month and we have used it more than any other device in the house for streaming . Much faster than our BluRay player that took at least 1 minute to load Netflix, another 30 seconds to load the profiles and then stream.  Roku is almost instant.  With that said, if you like a lot of diverse channels, Roku is a good way to go in addition to your tradtional flair.  Netflix, Amazon Prime, SlingTV, Pandora, Rdio among others are built in to it. With Roku 3, I know you get voice control and a few other goodies with it, so that is an advantage if you prefer. 

 

I am not sure about WDTV, but Roku also allows you to control it via your computer, or smartphone/tablet.  This comes in handy quite well.  I have my cell phone respond to a voice command to pause Roku for example and it pauses it.  I also can control my Roku with linux box connected to my network with a curl command so I can easily pause or control it.  (If the remote is lost in the couch cushions, or you want to troll your kids etc).   One thing to be aware of with Roku though, is there are a lot of meidocre channels out there with okay content.  There are some quality ones as well, but I have found that some programmers think it is a good idea to stream their content at one volume, and then triple the volume on commercials they force on you in their app making you scramble to turn the volume down.  8active is one of them that does them.   Other apps are great for "B" movies or older movies that you may wish to watch if you are into that thing. 

 

 

 

We also have a Chromecast.  Someone earlier menitoned that and it is not exactly a contender in the HTPC Market, as it more of a device that mirrors what is on your phone or PC. 

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  • 1 month later...

I use the WDTV but the thing is slow as hell and very frustrating to use. Crashes sometimes. The only thing I need is DTS decoding which no other unit provides and my NAS isn't compatible with Plex. I really like to be able to browse files as well. I've always hated libraries.

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