I think WDTV live is the cheapest with a big brand name.

The goods:
1. fanless - no noise at all
2. powerful - play almost all files
3. user friendly interface, direct and intuitive, no need to figure out what an icon is for - everyone in the family can use it
4. bitstream TrueHD, downmix MasterAudio

THe lacks:
1. NMT applications such as BT dowload
2. RMVB support
3. iso menu support
4. internal hdd support

won't talk about PQ as it is too subjective.

bUt I guess if the purpose of buying WDTVlive is to watch files, WDTVlive should not disappoint you - well even if you thought that you have made a mistake... it is relatively easier to recover the cost. If it is to "play around with" the player (want a player that has a lot of other functions), you can go NMT or realtek based.

oh hell no... not the same outcome i got after testing though.
both HDX-BD1 and WDTVlive handle TrueHD very well. BD1 outputs (bitstream) DTSMA well too and WDTVlive would downmix it to DTS. both are using the same chipset you mentioned. Even the old HDX1000 (older sigma chipset) bitstreams both HD audio format very well. My amp lights up both HDaudio all the time. If you have tested BD1 and found it can't bitstream HD audio, do post your screenshot and mediainfo here so that we can help verify (well, sometimes, when the filename displays HDaudio it doesn't mean the file contains HDaudio stream) yeah.

This post has been edited by wuanzi: Mar 24 2010, 11:48 PM

wow , the design is sure sleek!!!
I see that chinese brands are really catching up fast - be it in quality or design.

is it Hyundai's player? that day I saw one very similar to this, the interface is quite neat - I think can watch files "online" (streaming just like realplayer).