Is the Internet "FTA"???

[Dishman Dan]

better check your ISPs fine print for any bandwidth caps

I have Time Warner for my ISP and I will look into this. I am the second to the last customer on a branch circuit that terminates just past my house. Could this pose a problem for my needs if someone before me on the cable hogged up all the bandwith??? Or since no one is past me online then is what I get is what I will get???

 

[marco916]

Digiblur, just picked up one of these Western Digital Media Players from Best Buy last week, $130 bucks after tax. The new model from Western Digital lets you stream Netflix, Pandora, and Youtube videos, and also supports all types of Codex from .Avi to Mkv files. I can even playback some .ISO files. One of the main reasons I bought the Wetern Digital Media Player is to play back files off of my VisionSat box.

Marco

Yep, saw a Netflix capable Blu-Ray player at Wal-Mart the other day for around $180.

The Roku has a few other pluses to it... they are constantly working on adding "channels" to the Roku. It currently has Netflix, Amazon, and MLB. Plus it is very small and portable.

 

[Tron]

I have the WDTV HD original box, and the new "Live" model is in the mail on its way to me. These are great devices, but just be sure to keep up with the firmware updates. If the new model requires as much firmware tweaking as the old one did, there will be many updates. One interesting feature on the new "Live" model is its ability to act as a NAS, offering the contents on the attached drive(s) to other computers on the network (basically working backwards)...

 

[marco916]

You will like the new model

Tron, I have the 1st model also, as a matter of fact, I'm using the re-worked firmware that allows for wired LAN through USB. Actually using the LAN dongle from Apple. You will really like the new model, allows for firmware updates automatically when connected to the net. I've been using mine with the PlayOn media server as well. I'll have to check out the NAS capability, thanks for that info.

I have the WDTV HD original box, and the new "Live" model is in the mail on its way to me. These are great devices, but just be sure to keep up with the firmware updates. If the new model requires as much firmware tweaking as the old one did, there will be many updates. One interesting feature on the new "Live" model is its ability to act as a NAS, offering the contents on the attached drive(s) to other computers on the network (basically working backwards)...

 

[Tron]

The NAS-like capability is not advertised, but many forums have posts confirming that this works. It wouldn't be the fastest NAS around at 10/100, but it's nice that it can do that.

 

[Dishman Dan]

Best Buy has a Insignia brand Blu-ray player with streaming capability for $99.99!

I was looking at this model last week since Best Buy does not sell the Roku boxes and this is what the GEEK suggested to try. He also says that this model is made by Samsung and it has quite a few features and reliability. Would the firmware be upgradable for other streaming "channel" services??? Are these type of devices (including Roku) able to stream most anything or just the pay services?

 

[Dishman Dan]

Would the firmware be upgradable for other streaming "channel" services??? Are these type of devices (including Roku) able to stream most anything or just the pay services?

Got the Insignia player and Netflix is quite impressive!!!

As for upgrading to other streaming channels, the Geek says no. According to him different manufacturers have different contracts but this Geek was not sure who made this device for Best Buy. I will be playing around to learn more. The Geek was wrong about using a Netflix giftcard, he said that no credit card is necessary with this card. He was wrong and maybe he is wrong about the firmware upgrades too!

This morning I was trying to impress the wife with this thing that has a cat 5 cable stung across the house. (temporarily! ) If I bought a more expensive unit it would have wifi and I could cut the cord, however she did not fall for that one! The movie did cut out totally about half way through and the unit said the internet connection has to be reconfigured. I shut the unit off for a few minutes and it was back. I wonder if this has to do with my ISP more than the Netflix server??? Other than that it is great!