Review: Western Digital TV Live Hub

It all started with Netflix. As the DVDs-by-mail service began its move into internet streaming, it quickly realized people didn't want to sit in front of a PC to watch videos. So, Netflix teamed up with Roku to develop the first Roku box, a small Wi-Fi enabled set top box that streamed Netflix videos (along with other streaming content) to TVs. As bandwidth to the home mushroomed, Roku boxes began streaming video in 1080p HD about a year later.

Compared to contenders like dLink's Boxee Box and Apple TV, Roku's latest offering, the Roku 2 XS remains the strongest (in price and performance) and most successful among the set-top boxen.

Western Digital, best known for its hard drive chops, entered the fray in 2010 with two media streamers, the WD TV Live Hub and the WD TV Live Plus.

But now the company has refreshed its streaming program, and has released two new boxes with improved capabilities that seem intent on out-Rokuing Roku.

We tested both boxes: the new WD TV Live device ($100) which, like Roku, streams internet video and audio "channels," and the WD TV Live Hub ($200), which does the same thing but also comes with a built-in 1TB hard drive.

Both boxes also integrate into your home network, making all the video, photos, music and everything in your iTunes library on your PC or Mac available to stream to your television.

When testing the WD TV Live, I found setup to be a no-brainer. You'll need an HDMI cable (Why the hell isn't there one in the box?) to hook it up to the TV if you want HD. Otherwise, composite or component cables will do.

I do have one pet peeve about the on-screen setup procedure: All the authentication data is entered using the super-simple remote control. You have to scroll around to each individual character on the on-screen keyboard, press OK on each character one at a time. First you do your network settings, then your ID and password for each of your subscription services – Netflix, Hulu Plus, Spotify, Blockbuster, Pandora and so on. It takes forever, and it's maddeningly repetitive.

This is a common headache with these systems. Luckily, there's a way to avoid the hunting and pecking: Insert any wired USB keyboard into one of the two USB ports and type like a normal person.

Those USB ports can also be used to sync files on USB flash drives and external hard drives. On the WD TV Live Hub, a mirror image of your flash drive can be stored on the internal 1TB hard drive. On the wireless WD TV Live box, only playback from the USB media itself is possible.

Western Digital says the WD TV Live and WD TV Live Hub can handle some two dozen media formats for video, music, photos and subtitles. I tried AVI and WMV formats, some MKV files (common on BitTorrent), and raw VOB files (from a DVD). The WD TV Live boxes played whatever I threw at them.

Connection to my home network was mostly easy. I had no problem with Ethernet connections to the network, but getting the wireless to work had me going to the router management page to enter MAC addresses. I also had to reboot the router once or twice.

Once connected, it played back the videos on my PC's hard drive as smoothly as if they were on the PC, even though they were now streamed in full HD on the 42-inch HDTV in my living room. All I had to do was select the "Network Share" source option on the WD TV Live box and I was able to stream videos from any of my computers on the home network. There are no special apps to install, and you can stream from both Windows PCs and Macs.

While Roku and Boxee now feature some 100 "channels," the Western Digital boxes have, at present, just 19 channels. But the ability to stream all forms of media from any networked computer makes WD's boxes compelling choices. The price is certainly right.

WIRED Small media-streaming TV set-top boxes centralize online streaming services as well as all media on your home network. Plays well with USB drives and game consoles. Surprisingly easy to use.

TIRED Remote is a bit simplistic. Setting up services is repetitive and slow. Connecting to your home network can be trying. Not as many services to choose from yet.