Western Digital TV Live Plus Media Player with Netflix Streaming

Final Thoughts on the WDTV Live Plus with Netflix

When we last checked in on Western Digitals WD TV Live Media Player, they were fighting a nasty case of Firmware Bricking. They have come a long way since then with many successful firmware releases for one of the most popular media players on the planet.

The release of the Western Digital WD TV Live Plus initially had us puzzled. Was this latest hardware release or an actual change in hardware? Why would a customer be interested in the Plus model over the regular?

It seems that the only functionality gained with this new unit is DVD menu navigation and Netflix integration. To be honest, these were underwhelming. I really like my high-def media content and consider myself a purist when it comes to viewing so when I saw the less-than-stellar quality of video being streamed by Netflix, I was turned off. I have friends, though, who swear by this functionality and would die without the freedom that Netflix brings to their home televisions and even on their iPad. To me, the picture quality was substandard and that outweighed everything else. The PlayStation 3 Netflix streaming seemed clearer than the WDTV stream. It was still lower quality than MKV rips or television broadcast, but was just slower to initiate than that of the WDTV Live Plus.

Many who have just purchased Western Digital Live might feel somewhat slighted and take offense to Western Digital launching their Live PLUS player with these new functionalities so early. Well, there has already been a firmware upgrade to allow the LIVE player to view DVD menus, one can only guess if the Netflix functionality will come to the LIVE via a firmware upgrade. My guess is no. I think that Western Digital wants to separate their PLUS player with the rest of their media player family. Right now, Netflix is the only difference between the players. Well, actually, there is still a price difference with the newer WD TV Live Plus carrying a price tag $15 more than its older brother. You can get the WD TV Live for $104.99 and the WD TV Live Plus for $119.99.

Legit Bottom Line:

The Western Digital TV Live Plus HD Media Player is a very solid set-top box that updates one of our favorite media players, the WDTV Live, and gives it the ability to stream Netflix and other internet media directly to your television.