Western Digital HD Player

Brandon Fraley · 02-02-2009, 06:33 PM

http://www.amazon.com/Western-Digita...3628238&sr=8-8

Anyone tried one of these? I also know there are other companies making similar devices? Anyone recommend one over another?

THANKS! :)

Brandon Fraley · 02-03-2009, 11:51 AM

No thoughts?

martinnoweck · 02-03-2009, 12:10 PM

not the same product, but similar:

http://www.amazon.de/Siemens-Set-Top.../dp/B00067AHMS

sorry, the link is only german - i don't know if its hdready at all, but the funny thing is, that i sold it after a couple of weeks because the boot time took forever and ever ...

your post reminded my of this siemens box - and now i read in the amazon reviews that Siemens improved their box by new firmware upgrades .... sounds familiar?

regards,
martin

p.s. found an english link:

http://gigaset.com/shc/0,1935,hq_en_...rNrNrN,00.html

Paul Cronin · 02-03-2009, 01:25 PM

Brandon I have one. I have been using it with clients for the last two months. Works great with thumb drive. I have not put Red QT footage on it yet just from the XDCAM EX1 on large HDTV screens and very nice picture.

Andrew clemson · 05-03-2009, 02:29 AM

We've got one hooked up in our lobby looping showreels and finished projects and one that goes out on pitches and client meets (pretty much everyone in the office has one at home too!) . Its amazing, especially for the price. (about $125 here)

It'll play almost anything you can throw at it. (although has a few audio issues. The "Shot on RED" reel for example, has an audio playback error. How appropriate!)

We play RED 4K footage mastered as a 2K Mp4 .H264 @20mb/s. And it looks great.

Doesn't play the QT proxies, if that's what you were asking. But I guess thats cause they need the .R3D to work, right?

Mark L. Pederson · 05-03-2009, 04:49 AM

Good cheap, simple product. Great to give clients for watching H264 dailies. I can throw one in my bag and use it to screen at a presentation, etc.

If only Apple TV was 1080 and Steve Jobs was smart enough buy Boxee ...

Thom Steinhoff · 05-03-2009, 09:40 AM

I know this space pretty well as I've had a variety of hard disk players for many, many years now.

If I was going to buy one--I would buy one that also plays ISO files directly with full DVD control (menu, chapters, etc) AFAIK Western digital doesn't play ISOs

Popcorn Hour is good (popcornhour.com) also the older tVisto & MVisto are good, the new tVisto pro is a bit buggy.

Just as an example: I could put the 720P file Jarred created directly into the popcorn hour and play it directly. I have all popcorn Hour, tVisto, MVisto as well as TVisto pro so I've gotten to know them pretty well :) I never got the Western Digital or any others like it because they don't play ISO files -- a deal breaker for me.

Also, you could get an Apple TV and hack it with Boxee to play networked content as well as a variety of web content (including Hulu) directly on the box. The hack is getting easier and easier to run the hack, but it still isn't quite ready for prime time and took quite a few tries to get the memory stick right. Boxee is pretty cool once you get it going though--you can read about it at boxee.tv

One last thing on popcorn hour that is great is you can plug in USB drives to it or even memory sticks with MP4s, WMV, or ISOs and they play just fine.

Best Regards,

Thom

Steve Freebairn · 05-03-2009, 09:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mark L. Pederson

Good cheap, simple product. Great to give clients for watching H264 dailies. I can throw one in my bag and use it to screen at a presentation, etc.

If only Apple TV was 1080 and Steve Jobs was smart enough buy Boxee ...

Oh, how I wish the ATV would be updated and also made to be able to sync with other ATV's, not to mention add remote desktop support. Come on Apple.

Thom Steinhoff · 05-03-2009, 09:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mark L. Pederson

...Steve Jobs was smart enough buy Boxee ...

Haha, that would be great. Maybe he's smart enough to let them work in a "studio pressure free" zone with other people's money until they finish.

I'm afraid, however, If apple brought them they'd have to shut down all that was cool about it under pressure from the studios.

Mark L. Pederson · 05-03-2009, 09:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Thom Steinhoff

I'm afraid, however, If apple brought them they'd have to shut down all that was cool about it under pressure from the studios.

You are correct. Maybe RED should buy Boxee .. make it a front end for a RedRay Media Center ... hmmmmmmm .....

02-02-2009, 06:33 PM	#1
Brandon Fraley Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Bay Area, Ca. Posts: 2,123	Western Digital HD Player http://www.amazon.com/Western-Digita...3628238&sr=8-8 Anyone tried one of these? I also know there are other companies making similar devices? Anyone recommend one over another? THANKS! :)

02-03-2009, 01:25 PM	#4
Paul Cronin Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2008 Posts: 208	Brandon I have one. I have been using it with clients for the last two months. Works great with thumb drive. I have not put Red QT footage on it yet just from the XDCAM EX1 on large HDTV screens and very nice picture. __________________ Cheers, www.whitecapvideo.com

05-03-2009, 04:49 AM	#6
Mark L. Pederson OffHollywood Join Date: Dec 2006 Posts: 4,063	Good cheap, simple product. Great to give clients for watching H264 dailies. I can throw one in my bag and use it to screen at a presentation, etc. If only Apple TV was 1080 and Steve Jobs was smart enough buy Boxee ... __________________ Mark L. Pederson Offhollywood Get the BUZZ http://twitter.com/offhollywood

05-03-2009, 09:40 AM	#7
Thom Steinhoff Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2006 Posts: 767	I know this space pretty well as I've had a variety of hard disk players for many, many years now. If I was going to buy one--I would buy one that also plays ISO files directly with full DVD control (menu, chapters, etc) AFAIK Western digital doesn't play ISOs Popcorn Hour is good (popcornhour.com) also the older tVisto & MVisto are good, the new tVisto pro is a bit buggy. Just as an example: I could put the 720P file Jarred created directly into the popcorn hour and play it directly. I have all popcorn Hour, tVisto, MVisto as well as TVisto pro so I've gotten to know them pretty well :) I never got the Western Digital or any others like it because they don't play ISO files -- a deal breaker for me. Also, you could get an Apple TV and hack it with Boxee to play networked content as well as a variety of web content (including Hulu) directly on the box. The hack is getting easier and easier to run the hack, but it still isn't quite ready for prime time and took quite a few tries to get the memory stick right. Boxee is pretty cool once you get it going though--you can read about it at boxee.tv One last thing on popcorn hour that is great is you can plug in USB drives to it or even memory sticks with MP4s, WMV, or ISOs and they play just fine. Best Regards, Thom __________________ Thom Steinhoff

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02-03-2009, 11:51 AM	#2
Brandon Fraley Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Bay Area, Ca. Posts: 2,123	No thoughts?

02-03-2009, 12:10 PM	#3
martinnoweck Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2007 Posts: 488	not the same product, but similar: http://www.amazon.de/Siemens-Set-Top.../dp/B00067AHMS sorry, the link is only german - i don't know if its hdready at all, but the funny thing is, that i sold it after a couple of weeks because the boot time took forever and ever ... your post reminded my of this siemens box - and now i read in the amazon reviews that Siemens improved their box by new firmware upgrades .... sounds familiar? regards, martin p.s. found an english link: http://gigaset.com/shc/0,1935,hq_en_...rNrNrN,00.html

05-03-2009, 02:29 AM	#5
Andrew clemson Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2008 Posts: 481	We've got one hooked up in our lobby looping showreels and finished projects and one that goes out on pitches and client meets (pretty much everyone in the office has one at home too!) . Its amazing, especially for the price. (about $125 here) It'll play almost anything you can throw at it. (although has a few audio issues. The "Shot on RED" reel for example, has an audio playback error. How appropriate!) We play RED 4K footage mastered as a 2K Mp4 .H264 @20mb/s. And it looks great. Doesn't play the QT proxies, if that's what you were asking. But I guess thats cause they need the .R3D to work, right?