Adam Lenhardt
Senior HTF Member
REVIEW: WDTV Live Hub Media Center with 1TB Hard Drive
I purchased my current desktop with the idea of using it as an all-in-one media hub. It has an HD tuner card in the back, runs Windows 7 Media Center for DVR functionality, with VLC Media Player used for everything else. Ever since I perfected my setup, though, I've longed for a way to bring the content on my computer to the living room environment.
After spending the evening with the WDTV Live Hub (WDBABZ0010BBK-NESN), I'm becoming convinced that I've found my solution.
PART 1: Contents and Setup
This tiny box (only 6.1 inches wide, 7.8 inches deep and 1.25 inches tall) takes up hardly any space. Seated next to the household Wii, the two devices together take up less than half the space of the VCR that used to reside there.
On the front, the unit features a power button and a USB slot for jump drives and other removable media. On the back, the unit features an optical audio out, an HDMI port, a USB slot for external harddrives, an ethernet slot, composite video and audio out, and component video out.
Before plugging in the unit, I connected a $6 10-foot HDMI 1.3a cable I'd bought from Monoprice a while back and a 5-foot Cat5e patch cable I had lying around. The HDMI cable went directly into the television, while the patch cable was connected to a Netgear 5-port switch behind the television already feeding the internet to the Blu-Ray player and the Wii.
The unit sent a picture to my television immediately upon being plugged in. It found my router and established a network connection without prompting, putting a time and temperature stamp in the top right corner of the menu. The time was accurate to the minute, albeit on the wrong coast. I have no idea what area's weather it was reporting.
Before I had a chance to click on anything, the unit informed me that a new firmware update was available. It told me current version, the new version, and gave me the option to update or cancel. After selecting update, the firmware downloaded and restarted. After the WDTV logo came up, the firmware installed itself and then kicked me back to the menu.
I purchased my current desktop with the idea of using it as an all-in-one media hub. It has an HD tuner card in the back, runs Windows 7 Media Center for DVR functionality, with VLC Media Player used for everything else. Ever since I perfected my setup, though, I've longed for a way to bring the content on my computer to the living room environment.
After spending the evening with the WDTV Live Hub (WDBABZ0010BBK-NESN), I'm becoming convinced that I've found my solution.
PART 1: Contents and Setup
This tiny box (only 6.1 inches wide, 7.8 inches deep and 1.25 inches tall) takes up hardly any space. Seated next to the household Wii, the two devices together take up less than half the space of the VCR that used to reside there.
On the front, the unit features a power button and a USB slot for jump drives and other removable media. On the back, the unit features an optical audio out, an HDMI port, a USB slot for external harddrives, an ethernet slot, composite video and audio out, and component video out.
Before plugging in the unit, I connected a $6 10-foot HDMI 1.3a cable I'd bought from Monoprice a while back and a 5-foot Cat5e patch cable I had lying around. The HDMI cable went directly into the television, while the patch cable was connected to a Netgear 5-port switch behind the television already feeding the internet to the Blu-Ray player and the Wii.
The unit sent a picture to my television immediately upon being plugged in. It found my router and established a network connection without prompting, putting a time and temperature stamp in the top right corner of the menu. The time was accurate to the minute, albeit on the wrong coast. I have no idea what area's weather it was reporting.
Before I had a chance to click on anything, the unit informed me that a new firmware update was available. It told me current version, the new version, and gave me the option to update or cancel. After selecting update, the firmware downloaded and restarted. After the WDTV logo came up, the firmware installed itself and then kicked me back to the menu.