Western Digital TV Live Plus Media Player with Netflix Streaming

Taking a Closer Look at the WD TV Live Plus

When you compare the WDTV Live Plus and the WDTV Live side by side, you really wont be able to tell the difference when looking at their physical appearance. These two units are really identical twins.

From the physical size and color to the input and output ports, Western Digital has produced two identical units.

We took the bonnet off the WDTV Live Plus to see if there was a design update there.

The cover was easy to take off and after loosening a few connectors, we could examine the WDTVs PCB.

Even when you go underneath the hood, the layout of the WDTV Live Plus PCB is identical to that of the Live unit released last year. When the WDTV Live debuted, it came with a new chipset by Sigma Designs, the 8655. Using the Sigma technology gave the Western Digital players a huge leg up on their competition in terms of various codec while keeping the total cost of the WDTV just over $100. The Sigma 8654 chip included with the WDTV Live Plus has exactly the same functionality that the 8655 has.

The 8654 chip actually was supposed to give the WDTV Live Plus more of a leg up on its older brother, but with the release of the WDTV Lives latest firmware release in June 2010, both players now support DVD ISO menu navigation.

For those of you interested in using the player over a wireless network, the Sigma chipset as used in the WDTV Live Plus is compatible with a host of wireless-ready USB adapters. You can find the list here.