Western Digital WD TV Live Hub Review
Conclusion
Performance Summary: The WD TV Live Hub isn't just the best media player in Western Digital's lineup, it's arguably the set-top box to beat out of the entire field. There's not much the Hub can't do, whether you're trying to tap into your movies and videos shuffled all over your home network and beam them to your living room with little fuss, or login into Facebook and post a spoiler on that streaming Netflix video you just watched. And we can't say enough about the inclusion of a 1TB hard drive, which adds both value and utility to an already flexible set-top box. All this comes wrapped in a responsive UI dubbed Mochi, a notable upgrade over previous WD TV Live products that should pass most WAF tests.
Western Digital's latest media box sports a 1TB hard drive a much improved user interface.
Even though Western Digital isn't new to the set-top box market, the WD TV Live Hub feels quite a bit different from previous versions, and mostly in good ways. On the downside, this latest release isn't as hacker-friendly as before, and the half-baked Netflix app isn't up to snuff with other media players (where's the freakin' Search option?). But that's really where our complaints end and our praises begin.
We can't decide which we like more, the capacious 1TB hard drive nestled inside or the fantastic Mochi UI. The list of positives is long, from the easy-to-use remote to the connectivity options, including a pair of USB ports which can used to transfer and/or playback content from external sources or to hook up a USB keyboard or Wi-Fi dongle. It has Dolby Digital support, it can recognize a boatload of file formats, and the auto-mated sync option relieves you of having to keep track of your files.
Minor flaws aside, the WD TV Live Hub is stylish, functional, and affordable, which is the second best threesome we can think of.
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