WD TV Mini loses Full HD, but remains a handy Media Player

While we wait excitedly for Western Digital to update its HD Media Player, the company has decided to add another, value-minded product to its media player range. Working along the same lines as the HD unit, The WD TV Mini serves as a conduit between your TV set and USB-connected storage -- whether it be a camcorder, an external HDD or a humble flash drive -- and plays back a vast array of digital media formats. The Mini part to its name refers to its diminutive 91 x 91 x 22 mm footprint, but being the younger sibling also means it loses a couple of the premium features, namely HDMI and full 1080p, though that drop-off isn't too steep with 1080i and composite plus component outputs serving as alternatives. It's available now for $99.

[(Unverified) Posted Aug 18th 2009 12:19PM]

Not very enticing considering the WDTV HD is frequently on sale for $99 at retailers.

[(Unverified) Posted Aug 18th 2009 12:50PM]

I got my WD HD Media Player at Newegg for $90 including shipping when it was on sale.
Yes, it is not very enticing at all because 1080p output is spectacular.

[(Unverified) Posted Aug 18th 2009 1:25PM]

I have to disagree. 1080i is pretty much exactly the same as 1080p, and 91mm, that's like three or four inches. That's cool.

[(Unverified) Posted Aug 18th 2009 1:30PM]

The lack of 108- may not make a big deal to a lot of people, but if there is no difference in price then why bother. I mean if Panasonic was selling two tvs and one was 1080p and the other was only 1080i but both were the same price, which would you buy?

[(Unverified) Posted Aug 18th 2009 1:44PM]

The WDTV HD itself is pretty minuscule. It's the same length and width as the WD Passport portable hard disk and is 1 3/4" tall. I can't imagine having too little of space for something that small.

BTW, http://wdtvforum.com/main/

"The" place for updates, modified firmware, and etc.

[(Unverified) Posted Aug 19th 2009 8:22AM]

If the WDTV HD is frequently $99 at retailers, then presumably a box WD has an MRRP of $99 is going to cost significantly under $99. So I'm a little baffled the street price of the HD is seen as a negative against the Mini.

Seems a shame it doesn't have HDMI but otherwise it doesn't seem a bad spec. And yeah, 1080i = 1080p, for pretty much all real world applications. Or should, excusing the fact some TVs aren't very good at reverse pull-down.

[(Unverified) Posted Aug 19th 2009 9:53AM]

The HD version is $90-99 because it is making way for the new model already announced.
This is to fill the $100 price point in a few weeks/ months when the HD2 comes out and goes back to the $199 pricepoint and the HD does its disappearing act from retail shelfs.

[(Unverified) Posted Aug 18th 2009 7:58PM]

Until Western Digital gets their firmware issues ironed out, I wouldn't buy one. I've been encoding my own MKV files, and the last several firmware updates have major audio sync issues. Maybe you'll have a fortunate file mix and squeak by, but I'm looking at a $130 box that isn't worth plugging in--unless of course you don't mind throwing around another 500 hours of encoding time to pick another format.