Here at the office we play a lot of games and while this can be entertaining, it's also nice to just sit down and enjoy a movie or listen to music whenever the chance arises.  With the advent of network streaming we’ve grown quite accustomed to the convenience being able to have all our media available instantly in the living room, and while the streaming and sharing functionality of gaming consoles are surprisingly competent there still leaves much to be desired in terms of ease and flexibility. In an attempt to make media streaming simple for everyone, Western Digital hopes to bridge the gap with their WD TV HD Media Player, which comes pretty close in providing the most simplistic solution to those with a very robust collection of videos, music, and pictures all without much compromise in doing so altogether.

Upon quick glance and ignoring the included remote control it would be very easy to confuse the WD TV as a very compact portable hard drive with it’s miniscule dimensions 125x100x40mm overall; hardly a surprise given its manufacturer.  That’s roughly half a DVD case long and two cases thick, a real achievement in small engineering and form factor itself. An even more surprising feat is that it boasts composite, digital audio output, and a HDMI port for well-rounded versatility. It might seem a bit odd at first but the WD TV doesn’t utilize a network-based approach, instead opting for complete USB connectivity, which works with almost any thumb drive, external HDD, or iPod family device.  Relying solely on external drives for playback may seem a minus for the more technologically-savvy user, but this eliminates the need for setting up networks or sharing files - to say nothing of helping Western Digital sell a few more external drives themselves.

Compatibility is a key word when describing the WD TV, and it would be an understatement to say that if you have a large number of formats in your library you can safely put your doubts to rest here. If any of these formats such as MPEG 1/2/4, AVI, MOV, WMV9, XviD, AVC, H.264, MKV, and even SRT subtitle files worked without fail and that’s only related to video. Its apparent that almost no format is left behind as MP3, WMA, OGG, WAV, AAC, FLAC, Dolby Digital, AIF and MKA audio formats along with playlist PLS, M3U, and WPL types are covered. It’s probably redundant, but JPG, GIF, TIF, BMP, and PNG support also make picture viewing just as robust in compatibility if you often view photos on the big screen and looked clear and sharp.

All of this seems great on paper, and when it actually works in front of you the WD TV doesn’t disappoint, especially if your not too picky about high-end performance. The interface is something like a scaled down version of Microsoft’s infamous Media Center that can be customized to view your collection in thumbnail or list form, which should please those with large libraries.  You can also index the device to load everything or hasten the process by having it organized specifically to file type category and of course sort the files to your liking.

It’s quite impressive to see how well the streamer itself works, as my large collection of movies and TV shows looked great in composite/RCA and even better in full HD display through the HDMI output.  For those with full HD (1080p) capable televisions, HDMI will be the only way to go as streaming HD content worked incredibly well.  This will be key for some, as other media streaming devices (i.e. game consoles, computers) can struggle with HD playback or streaming, but the HD TV handled them as advertised.

While streaming videos is quick and easy, the device (surprisingly) underperforms with music and photo viewing, as the experience seems to lag down quite a bit, making it not as ideal or responsive as one could hope for when bringing all of your media into one place.  Of course, the main attractive (judging from its name) is firmly with HD TV, and its performance there is so silky smooth and responsive that one could otherwise forgive the less-than-stellar music and photo playback.  Just make sure to keep the remote close to you, as it is the only tool that actually makes the unit operable in your hands.

On the very broad surface Western Digital and their WD TV HD Media Player is exactly what the majority of people have probably been praying for, a media streamer that is literally as simple as just plugging it up to your television and compatible USB device. It eliminates any confusion of manually setting up a network by just having everything inside an astoundingly small box that simply requires a everyday USB device for instant streaming, guaranteeing that nearly everyone can port media from their computer over to their entertainment center with little hassle.  Also, firmware updates from Western Digital promise even more features and formats in the future, so the experience is probably only going to get better.  Despite some performance and convenience quirks, it does the job without a hitch and without breaking the bank.