It's so damn confusing - WDTV or AC RYAN POHD? :(

[Karanboochra]

Hey guys..As you all know, i was buying a Nationite HDVP 1 player, but due to some glitches with it's FIRMWARE and other problems, i am not buying that..

Instead , i have increased my budget and now i am stuck up in a situation so please help me guys -
WDTV V2 ( *NOT* LIVE ) OR AC RYAN POHD? :huh:

AC Ryan POHD is good and all..but it's a bit too expensive..Getting it for 7.5k + Shipping which is quite expensive for me..
Though, it plays all the formats flawlessly and without any problems..right?

On the other hand is the VFM WDTV V2 ( NOT LIVE ) .
Getting it for 6.3k + Rs.300 for HDMI Cable . So total 6.8k WITH Shipping.
I am keen on buying the WDTV V2 but the WdTV forums have quite a few people complaining about NO DTS AUDIO , Messed up MKV Files, Sync Issues... etc?
Is it true that WDTV V2 is not able to play these files properly?

Also..I checked the WDTV forums..They DON'T Have a forum for FIRMWARES of WDTV V2..Though they have loads of firmwares for WDTV LIVE...So that's another problem..Or am i missing something and there are firmwares for the NON Live WDTV V2 Version also? :huh:

Guys please help me out..I am so damn confused

Also...Does the WDTV V2 ( NOT LIVE ) support DTS AUDIO?
And there's this Avatar Movie @ 720 p..It says - AUDIO - AC3 5.1 ...Can this be played through WDTV V2 without 5.1 speakers and through my LCD TV Speakers ?

Thanksss a lotttt

 

[Notorious_M]

hi karan

i too have got the same doubts whether or not it will play the ac3 files
hence goin for the wdtv live..also better firmware support as u say

its available for close to 7.5 ks so id suggest save up a lil more and get the wdtv live.

i think its a got a newer and better sigma chip in it also better than the realtek one in xtremer

i also noticed ur on TE too.
so just check the wdtv vs wdtv live thread fore more info.

 

[marsilians]

If the difference between 6.8K incl. shipping and 7.5k + shipping is so great for you to break your head, you may be better off prioritising your A/V purchases and not buying any till such time you are comfortable to be able to spend some money on these. Just a suggestion.

 

[gadgetcrazy]

AC Ryan POHD is good and all..but it's a bit too expensive..Getting it for 7.5k + Shipping which is quite expensive for me

if you are getting POHD and not mini at that price, I think it is a great deal

 

[Karanboochra]

Hmm...Is there a difference in the hardware of WDTV V2 and WDTV LIVE?
Also...there's this Avatar Movie @ 720 p..It says - AUDIO - AC3 5.1 ...Can this be played through WDTV V2 without 5.1 speakers and through my LCD TV Speakers ?

 

[sam9s]

@Karan, firstly WD TV and WDTV Live both does passthrough DTS audio and I have not faced any MKV issues neither any sync issues with WD TV.

Secondly if you are not going to play 5.1 and use LCD speakers, you should not be even bothered for DTS, DD support.

And who said there are no firmware updats for WD TV check this......

WD Support > Downloads > Home Entertainment > WD TV HD Media Player (Gen 2)

It might be possible that WD people are coming out with more firmwares for Live as that is latest, but that in no way effects the performance of WD Player.

Finally if you are getting POHD < 8K as @gadgetcrazy said it is an excellent price, as most of us got the same player for 12K a couple of months back......

 

[Karanboochra]

Hey Sam...
Thank you for the info..

Btw, I am looking forward to buy a 5.1 Speaker set for my LCD
So , i will be needing DTS audio....

The thing is that i don't need Network support..I just need a good player which supports everything and can play whatever i throw at it...

 

[sam9s]

Hey Sam...
Thank you for the info..

Btw, I am looking forward to buy a 5.1 Speaker set for my LCD
So , i will be needing DTS audio.... ..

That won't do, these media players do not have, 6 channel analog out, WD TV only had HDMI and optical out, you make sure what ever speaker set you purchase, has atleast an optical in or better HDMI.

BTW......playes "anything you through at it" has a wide range........and in that scenario POHD or xtremer pro suites the profile best.....

 

[Kittu]

@Karan, firstly WD TV and WDTV Live both does passthrough DTS audio and I have not faced any MKV issues neither any sync issues with WD TV.

Secondly if you are not going to play 5.1 and use LCD speakers, you should not be even bothered for DTS, DD support.

And who said there are no firmware updats for WD TV check this......

WD Support > Downloads > Home Entertainment > WD TV HD Media Player (Gen 2)

It might be possible that WD people are coming out with more firmwares for Live as that is latest, but that in no way effects the performance of WD Player.

Finally if you are getting POHD < 8K as @gadgetcrazy said it is an excellent price, as most of us got the same player for 12K a couple of months back......

Sam,

Only play on mini is < 8k the regular one is still above 10k .

Kittu.

 

[Karanboochra]

Sam - Ohk..I'll keep that in mind while buying the speakers...

Uh sorry, that was a wrong statement I made..By 'throwing' i meant it should play all the popular formats without hiccups..like h.264 @ 720p , .mkv , all containers of .avi ...and play subtitles files..

I know the WDTV can do all these things..but i was just asking that does WDTV play all these things flawlessly?

Also....Is the hardware of WDTV LIVE and WDTV V2 SAME or different?
The thing is , i don't want NETWORKING in my media player..SO i ain't buying the WDTV LIVE..I am looking forward to buy a WDTV V2 ..

And it doesn't include HDMI Cable right? Can i get good quality with a low costing HDMI cable ie , less than Rs.500 ?

Kittu - Oh ! My bad!

 

[sam9s]

Sam - Ohk..I'll keep that in mind while buying the speakers...

Uh sorry, that was a wrong statement I made..By 'throwing' i meant it should play all the popular formats without hiccups..like h.264 @ 720p , .mkv , all containers of .avi ...and play subtitles files..

I know the WDTV can do all these things..but i was just asking that does WDTV play all these things flawlessly?

Also....Is the hardware of WDTV LIVE and WDTV V2 SAME or different?
The thing is , i don't want NETWORKING in my media player..SO i ain't buying the WDTV LIVE..I am looking forward to buy a WDTV V2 ..

And it doesn't include HDMI Cable right? Can i get good quality with a low costing HDMI cable ie , less than Rs.500 ?

Kittu - Oh ! My bad!

Yes WD TV V2 plays all flawlessly (atleast I did not fact any problem). It does not include HDMI (POHD includes an HDMI) and a decent quality HDMI would not come less than 1500/-.

 

[sivakuru]

Here is my first post.

I was in a similar position couple of weeks back. I was confused between
xtremer, PlayOn, WDTV. I did not consider other players such as popcorn
hour or Tvix etc due to their price.

Xtreamer was ruled out because it did not have component outputs. I have
an old rear projection HD ready (720p, 1080i) sony TV which has only
component outputs. So out was xtreamer.

PlayOn and WDTV (and Live) have component outputs.

WDTV was ruled out because I read few reviews that it cannot give a
true DVD like experience (with respect to displaying menus etc) and
also lack of support for few subtitle formats.

WDTV Live has the sigma chipset and PlayOn has the RealTek. Some
reviews claim sigma is superior while other reviews say both have
similar performance.

PlayOn seem to have good support with respect to firmwares etc
and ACRyan had been into computer mod business for quite some time,
so they should have good/knowledge staff to meet current and future
media player requirements. That said, WDTV has been there for quite
a long time and they should also understand and know the current and
future media player requirements and provide firmware updates/upgrades.
AFAIK, WDTV also have a very good support in place.

From the reviews I read PlayOn did play most of the widely available
formats flawlessly. There could be a few file formats that it could not
play but it should not be a showstopper. If I keep waiting for THE
player that would play all possible formats at the price I want, I know
I would never be able to buy one.

Anyways finally it was between the PlayOn!HD and the PlayOn! mini. I
chose the mini because of the price, portability it offered as I know I would
be switching it between multiple rooms besides ACRyan's promise to make
every feature supported on the HD to eventually make it to mini.

 

[Kittu]

Karan,

I agree with Sam on HDMI cable. But the cable which I got with my Playon is 100 times better than the one I got with my Sony LCD. Dont mind me asking where do you live ???? if you are so confused better see some if someone using it and request them for a demo..... and then buy it

"Seeing is believing" :clapping:


Kittu....

 

[Karanboochra]

Yes WD TV V2 plays all flawlessly (atleast I did not fact any problem). It does not include HDMI (POHD includes an HDMI) and a decent quality HDMI would not come less than 1500/-.

Oh..But someone told me that HDMI cables carry digital signal , so the quality of them doesn't matter MUCH...
Is that true? Also , if I buy a cheap HDMI cable, will the quality suffer ALOT? or the difference would not be much?

 

[gadgetcrazy]

But the cable which I got with my Playon is 100 times better than the one I got with my Sony LCD.

True. The playon HD HDMI cable is really good

 

[Karanboochra]

True. The playon HD HDMI cable is really good

Hmm..But if i buy a cheap HDMI cable, will the quality suffer?

 

[gadgetcrazy]

I havent compared. Maybe someone else can tell

 

[KonfuSed]

You can MX HDMI cable for 600Rs only and that cable is as good as any of those fancy highly priced cables. You'll find many member here who have used MX and quite happy with it. Even What Hi-Fi, who is normally very snobbish about High quality and higher priced cable have found no difference between MX and some expensive Monster cable.

 

[Karanboochra]

Can the WDTV V2 Play these files ? ----

First - Entourage Season 4

General

Format : Matroska
File size : 550 MiB
Duration : 27mn 28s
Overall bit rate : 2 798 Kbps
Encoded date : UTC 2009-05-06 14:12:21
Writing application : mkvmerge v2.4.1 ('Use Me') built on Dec 5 2008 18:30:05
Writing library : libebml v0.7.7 + libmatroska v0.8.1

Video
ID : 1
Format : AVC
Format/Info : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile : [email protected]
Format settings, CABAC : Yes
Format settings, ReFrames : 4 frames
Muxing mode : Container [email protected]
Codec ID : V_MPEG4/ISO/AVC
Duration : 27mn 28s
Bit rate : 2 297 Kbps
Width : 1 280 pixels
Height : 720 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 16:9
Frame rate : 25.000 fps
Color space : YUV
Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0
Bit depth : 8 bits
Scan type : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.100
Stream size : 463 MiB (84%)
Writing library : x264 core 54 svn-635M

Audio
ID : 2
Format : AC-3
Format/Info : Audio Coding 3
Mode extension : CM (complete main)
Codec ID : A_AC3
Duration : 27mn 28s
Bit rate mode : Constant
Bit rate : 384 Kbps
Channel(s) : 6 channels
Channel positions : Front: L C R, Side: L R, LFE
Sampling rate : 48.0 KHz
Stream size : 75.4 MiB (14%)

Second - 300 Movie @ 720p

Video
Format : AVC
Format/Info : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile : [email protected]
Format settings, CABAC : Yes
Format settings, ReFrames : 8 frames
Muxing mode : Container [email protected]
Codec ID : V_MPEG4/ISO/AVC
Duration : 1h 56mn
Bit rate : 4 508 Kbps
Nominal bit rate : 4 727 Kbps
Width : 1 280 pixels
Height : 528 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 2.424
Frame rate : 23.976 fps
Resolution : 24 bits
Colorimetry : 4:2:0
Scan type : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.278
Writing library : x264 core 55 svn-656
Language : English

Audio
Format : AC-3
Format/Info : Audio Coding 3
Codec ID : A_AC3
Duration : 1h 56mn
Bit rate mode : Constant
Bit rate : 640 Kbps
Channel(s) : 6 channels
Channel positions : Front: L C R, Surround: L R, LFE
Sampling rate : 48.0 KHz
Language : English

Thanks

 

[sam9s]

You can MX HDMI cable for 600Rs only and that cable is as good as any of those fancy highly priced cables. You'll find many member here who have used MX and quite happy with it. Even What Hi-Fi, who is normally very snobbish about High quality and higher priced cable have found no difference between MX and some expensive Monster cable.

Well not sure about MX, but HDMI cables does make a difference.......even for the same value. bandridge is a well known brand isnt it, I got one from bandridge, within few weeks for usage, the display was gone why coz the connection at the AVR end became loose, for what ever reason, may the cable was fake I dont know. Then I got a panasonic HDMI for 2000/- and boy not only the firm connection....... I could easily make out the better picture quality than the "fake" bandridge was giving. I tossed the same cable right into the garbage box the very same day.......