Streaming Netflix and watching local media (on NAS)

[Shaitan00]

I used to have a WD Live which worked perfectly, but it died last week... and since then I have been looking to buy a replacement, my requirements are:
- Streaming Netflix
- Playing local media off my WD MyBook Live (NAS)

From what I have been reading it sounds like the best solution (for the price) would be an Android TV box. But before I buy one I wanted to confirm (never perfectly clear) that it can:
- Stream Netflix like my WD TV Live could
- Access my WD MyBooks Live (NAS) without the need of a media server (like Plex or something), this is what worries me the most, with the WD I would just browse the Windows Share on the NAS and could play any of my media in pretty much any format

Right now I am was looking at either an MXQ Pro or M8S Plus...
Does anyone own either, if so can they confirm it will be a suitable replacement, otherwise if there are any suggestions?

Thank you for your time.

 

[JeffMD]

Looks like android tv runs android apps.. so you would access nas shares like any mobile phone, and use the same players even.

 

[npaladin-2000]

A Nexus Player or SHIELD Android TV device will do the trick. Install the Kodi app to play from your NAS.

 

[Shaitan00]

A Nexus Player or SHIELD Android TV device will do the trick. Install the Kodi app to play from your NAS.

Why that over the the Android boxes? Aren't they both much more expensive? Is there an actual advantage or is this just about quality system? I am sure Nexus or SHIELD are better then Chinese knock-offs .. but also the Nexus and Shield will get locked down (if they are not already) like the FireTV has been... I would rather not get stuck in that situation.

 

[npaladin-2000]

Nexus Player can be had for pretty cheap actually. And I don't get what you mean by locked down? They're Android TV devices. They run Netflix and Kodi. Are you afraid someone will disable sideloading or kick them off of the Play Store?

 

[Kartajan]

look here a description of the difference between "Android TV" and "Android TV box":

http://www.bestandroidtvbox.net/

 

[Shaitan00]

Nexus Player can be had for pretty cheap actually. And I don't get what you mean by locked down? They're Android TV devices. They run Netflix and Kodi. Are you afraid someone will disable sideloading or kick them off of the Play Store?

Didn't they just lockdown the firmware on the FireTV? That was what I was worried about.

 

[npaladin-2000]

Didn't they just lockdown the firmware on the FireTV? That was what I was worried about.

Most devices have locked down firmware to some degree. I don't understand why you're worried about it?

 

[Kartajan]

I can't speak with authority on that (I don't have a Fire), but a cursory glance on the Kodi forums doesn't appear to present issues.. The only thing I see is people having problems with JAILBREAKING, which is not needed to do anything you were mentioning. (sideloading does NOT require "rooting" or "jailbreaking")

 

[Shaitan00]

Nexus Player - Currently out of stock .... darn ....

 

[Kartajan]

re: NP OOS
several others on the hunt have tried using online tools/ stock check to find them and failed, but occasionally got lucky in the actual stores... more of a "when in the area anyway" than a regular online buy...

 

[Captain_WD]

~snip~

Hey Shaitan00,

I'm sorry for the troubles with the old WD one. You can check the newer ones, WD TV in particular, as it should be able to cover everything you listed. Here's more info on that: http://products.wdc.com/support/kb.ashx?id=79OMAl

The WD My Book Live should be accessible from pretty much any device that can view files on a network drive and I guess most TV sets can do that so you shouldn't have problems with that. If you have your doubts I would contact the manufacturer if a specific one that you have chosen beforehand and ask if the device can play media from a network folder and possibly ask specifically about the WD My Book Live. I doubt there would be problems.

Feel free to ask if you happen to have questions!

Captain_WD.

 

[Kartajan]

the problem is that the OP wants Netflix is the same box, the WD TV doesn't.

"File Formats Not Supported: Does not support protected premium content such as movies or music from the iTunes Store, Movielink, Amazon Unbox, and Vongo"

Also, Netflix is NOT on the list of available apps for WD TV.