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Comment by fuzor | Hacker News Reader

I went from a HTPC to a WDTV and was pretty happy for awhile but decided to go back and build a HTPC/NAS box that runs 24/7.

XBMC, Sabnzbd, Sickbeard, Torrents, Hulu, Transcoding/Stream with AirVideo, on Iphone/IPad.

If your sole purpose is watching video, I think for most people a all in one device that's $70-150 is better suited.

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Seeing a comment on Jeff's blog, I was jut looking up the WDTV ( http://www.amazon.com/Western-Digital-Network-ready-Media-Pl... ) and tempted to try it out. I currently have XBMC on a classic Xbox and was wondering how this compares to XBMC (video formats, updates).

I've bought three of Viewsonic's VMP75s (http://www.amazon.com/Viewsonic-NexTV-VMP75-Network-Player/d...) and couldn't be happier. There are a few complaints in the reviews, especially regarding the UI, but most of these have been fixed by the latest firmware. The support for various container formats and codecs is excellent; the one feature it lacks that the WDTV supports is Pandora.

Interesting, thanks! This box looks so much slicker than the WDTV too. Since I watch quite a few foreign movies, one of the useful features with XBMC is the ability to adjust the subtitle display (add delay or speed it up by a couple of seconds) and also the ability to browse and pick a subtitle. I am curious if either WD or VMP has any additional options with subtitles. It is not a game-stopper by any means but I am still trying to decide whether to go with an XBMC capable box or these options which are also much cheaper.

if you go the WDTV route, make sure you get the latest one, WDTV Live Plus, as it also streams Netflix. The interface/remote is the biggest issue, I'd like to be able to control with iOS or Android device.

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