Recommend an Android Box that runs XBMC - [No copyrighted material]

dodzy

Big Nelly wrote: »

Just wondering did anyone buy the Pipo box? how is it working out? are you running Android or windows on it?

I am looking for another box and maybe might buy one. Is the wifi good on it?

Jasus Nelly, you have wayyyy too much free time on your hands

Big Nelly

dodzy wrote: »

Jasus Nelly, you have wayyyy too much free time on your hands

:P I wish, Want a box with good wifi to put into new playroom. It is in garage which I have converted so a few block walls between it and router....

I know some of the guys on here had recommended the pipo for good wifi so I was going to look at it.....

See it all makes sense well to me anyway :P

Also a new toy would be great :P

k123456

Big Nelly wrote: »

:P I wish, Want a box with good wifi to put into new playroom. It is in garage which I have converted so a few block walls between it and router....

I know some of the guys on here had recommended the pipo for good wifi so I was going to look at it.....

See it all makes sense well to me anyway :P

Also a new toy would be great :P

Try using a mains adapter, which carries Ethernet if wifi is poor

Big Nelly

k123456 wrote: »

Try using a mains adapter, which carries Ethernet if wifi is poor

I am aware of these adapters but I need a box first

Plan was to invest in box with good wifi performance anyway

michael999999

Big Nelly wrote: »

Just wondering did anyone buy the Pipo box? how is it working out? are you running Android or windows on it?

I am looking for another box and maybe might buy one. Is the wifi good on it?

I have one with about 3 months. Its a very well built box. Nice finish.

I have it running on windows, so I have Microsoft word. And also have my downloading set up. Kodi seems to work fine on it. I have it running through Ethernet so can't really say how the WiFi is.

Can't complain, it was a great investment for €100.

Invincible

caddy16 wrote: »

http://www.androidmxq.com/ or star box titan.
As I say a bit clueless so go easy on me if these are both rubbish!!!

That's costly at €79
If you look back on page 315 here, Allyall linked a Tronsmart MXIII with a $20 discount code, for a few dollars more, get the 2GB version.

styron

Not only is the "MXQ" costly, the 4K Ultra HD claims they're making for it are garbage - it's an A5 (S805) proc that's 1080p max - the MXIII are S802 and 4K2K

For any China purchases you should factor in 23% import VAT & €7 An Post handling as almost inevitable - very few are getting through undetected.

In spite the Euro being in the crapper Amazon UK have had good value MXIII's for a while eg. the 2GB version for £46/€68 (€64 + €3.95 parcel motel). Geekbuying are selling it for €72 *Ex-Customs* obviously ... just weird.

Big Nelly

I was looking at supplier from UK and I seen they are offering Mele boxes running Windows, just wondering has anyone any experience of these boxes?

They are not cheap, coming in around 165 plus shipping so wont see much change out of 170 but might be worth looking at if decent.

Quick google will find.....

Mele
2GB RAM + 32GB eMMC SSD. 64bit Intel Bay Trail chipset with Intel Gen7 HD graphics

rob223

Hi guys . . I have just bought a T8 box but for some reason I can't locate my efibre Eircom WiFi (even though I can see neighbours routers). . does anybody else have problems using T8 with router over wifi or what would I need to change on router settings ?

caddy16

Invincible wrote: »

That's costly at €79
If you look back on page 315 here, Allyall linked a Tronsmart MXIII with a $20 discount code, for a few dollars more, get the 2GB version.

Sorry to sound stupid but is the starbox titan way too expensive for what it does or am I missing something ?

Invincible

styron wrote: »

Not only is the "MXQ" costly, the 4K Ultra HD claims they're making for it are garbage - it's an A5 (S805) proc that's 1080p max - the MXIII are S802 and 4K2K

For any China purchases you should factor in 23% import VAT & €7 An Post handling as almost inevitable - very few are getting through undetected.

In spite the Euro being in the crapper Amazon UK have had good value MXIII's for a while eg. the 2GB version for £46/€68 (€64 + €3.95 parcel motel). Geekbuying are selling it for €72 *Ex-Customs* obviously ... just weird.

You can get the Tronsmart MXIII 2GB for less from Geekbuying using code MXIII20 as mentioned on page 315 by Allyall.

styron

Invincible wrote: »

You can get the Tronsmart MXIII 2GB for less from Geekbuying using code MXIII20 as mentioned on page 315 by Allyall.

Allyall's code does actually work with both Tronsmart MXIII 1GB & 2GB versions - dropping the latter to €56.41 ... add on the customs duty (€12.97 + €7) = a likely €76.38 ... but your point is well made.

styron

caddy16 wrote: »

Sorry to sound stupid but is the starbox titan way too expensive for what it does or am I missing something ?

To me it very much does - with external antenna and dual band the Starbox's WIFI is likely superior, but the hardware compared to the Amlogic MXIII 2GB matches in all other respects. Not worth the huge difference - €175 compared to the €68 MXIII.

Droidstar's version of the MXQ is an even greater obscenity at €130 ... their MX8 a similarly painful €150

Another factor to consider is upgraded app and ROM development - as Allyall has mentioned in the past it's the popular ROMs that will attract the lion's share (eg. for MK808B's, MX's and MINIX's , etc). I really can't see obscure or cosmetically "boutique" boxes like the titan attracting a critical mass of modifiers/customisers to enhance stock ROMs to anything like the degree "mainstream" boxes will be ie. a greater risk of faster obsolescence and abandonment.

Big Nelly

rob223 wrote: »

Hi guys . . I have just bought a T8 box but for some reason I can't locate my efibre Eircom WiFi (even though I can see neighbours routers). . does anybody else have problems using T8 with router over wifi or what would I need to change on router settings ?

Could be firmware issue....do you have link to box you purchased?

rob223

http://www.ebay.ie/itm/Latest-Premium-T8-Quad-Core-Android-TV-Box-XBMC-Kodi-Fully-Loaded-Player-WiFi-BT-/171726721037?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_205&hash=item27fbb5d00d

looked a few things on line and found below today will give it a go this evening

Hi first post, and a big thanks to Droidsticks shop yesterday popped in 23/2/15 where they swapped my T8 because of poor WiFi due to faulty antenna, the new replacement is rock solid and gets great signal [thumb][biggrin]

Originally I first tried the T8 at my brothers place he has the same sky router I could connect with poor signal strength but at least i could connect.

Back at home, the problem i found when trying to connect the original T8 not only the poor signal strength i had but having the T8 sitting right next to my Sagem sky router the T8 was missing my Sky SSID it could not find it, i could see other sky routers broadcasting their presence but not mine how come???
I looked at all my other devices they all could see my Sky router SSID i could delete and re-add no problem.
Did a wifi scan using 'Acrylic WIfi scan' from my laptop it was there the signal strength of my router was great absolutely no problems whatsoever.

Opened Sky router settings, made sure SSID broadcasting was enabled (it was), temporarily removed all encryption so anything could connect to my Sky router, still the T8 could not detect, tried manually setting the SSID on T8 then tried a scan T8 reported not in range WTF!! [mad] the router is two foot from the T8. [confused][confused][confused]

The Answer, [smile]

Routers usually broadcast on channels 1-11 and can be set to Auto to scan and change between these frequencies, or in the case of Sky Sagem routers can be set to manual and you pick a number to permanently fix your WiFi channel to be on, lots of routers allow you to do this.

Sagem additionally can be manually set for two extra channels 12 and 13, because i'm a tinkerer i had mine set to channel 12, when i set my channels back to auto or between 1-11 the T8 could find my SSID without a problem apart from the poor WiFi signal strength of the original T8.

After getting a new replacement from the guys at Droidsticks i thought i'd see if i could replicate the same case as explained above so i reset my Sky Sagem router to channel 12 and tried the new T8 and bang straight away the SSID is missing[crazy] put Sky router back to Auto or fixed channel other than channels 12-13 and we were able to see and connect to the SSID no problem.

The problem i think is to do with the WiFi receiver in the T8's i think they're broadcom chips i suspect that the WiFi firmware is the fault here, because any other kit I've got (and its quite a lot) can see and connect to SSID broadcasting on 12-13 my only other thought is 12-13 are going into the range of the T8's dual WiFi of 2.5Ghz-5Ghz but not sure.

Rather long first post but may help someone down the line as I've no seen it mentioned before.

JP

rob223

Update . . T8 worked once not on channel 12 or 13

sunny2004

Time for the STUPID QUESTIONS haha

OK, like many I got to use one of these devices, now I'm hooked.
The actual device Android 4.2 MX Smart TV Box XBMC Media Player Dual Core Network Streamer, ran ok, keep in mind my interest was film/TV, seem to have an odd few titles that wouldn't load or would gitter on playback.. Connected by Ethernet cable not wireless..

So that got me thinking, always a bad thing for the wallet.. now I am looking at a few options and you guessed it, I'm turning to boards to set me straight..

Option 1.
Xsbox S805 - Android Smart Tv Box Amlogic Quad-core 1g/8g 1080p Wi-fi Network Xbmc Kodi 14.0 H.265 Android 4.4 Tv Player Black
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Xsbox-S805-Android-Amlogic-Quad-core-xs805-uk/dp/B00OPX3XQ6/ref=cm_cd_ql_qh_dp_t

Option 2
New Version] VicTsing Newest Android Smart TV Box Media Player - Amlogic Quad-core 2G/8G 1080p HD Wi-fi Network XBMC Streaming Android 4.4
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Version-VicTsing-Newest-Android-Player-Smart-TV-Box/dp/B00SKVN79M/ref=dp_ob_title_ce

Option 3
MX3 Ultra Android Quad Core TV Box 2Ghz 8GB 4K KitKat 4.4 M8 Fully Loaded Wifi
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MX3-Ultra-Android-Quad-Core-TV-Box-2Ghz-8GB-4K-KitKat-4-4-M8-Fully-Loaded-Wifi/171548815309?_trksid=p2047675.c100009.m1982&_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIC.MBE%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D30989%26meid%3D482492dea26e49c7ab9620a8d93c9b67%26pid%3D100009%26rk%3D4%26rkt%3D10%26mehot%3Dpp%26sd%3D191561291551

option 4
Latest Premium T8 Quad Core Android TV Box XBMC Kodi Fully Loaded Player WiFi BT
100% GENUINE! ANDROID 4.4.2! FULLY LOADED! ALU CASE!
http://www.ebay.ie/itm/171726721037?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&fromMakeTrack=true

I have no interest in the likes of Skype, or for that matter anything I would normally do on a pc.. but I like the idea of a stand alone box for movies.

Any advice appreciated, or any alternatives appreciated..

One last thing, I noticed when using the first box that imputing text for searches was a pain so a wireless keyboards would be nice...

dahat

Anyone got a link for Open Elec for MX3 in .tar format? Looking to update 5.0.0 to 5.0.8.

Also to transfer a set up just copy Userdata folder across yeah? Or isnit GUI settings as well?

Big Nelly

Got email this morning the seen this box as part of offer...there was 10 doller voucher in email as well so just coming in at 89 dollers

http://www.geekbuying.com/item/Wintel-W8-Intel-Atom-Z3735F-64Bit-TV-Box-Windows8-1-Android4-4-Dual-OS-Quad-Core-HDMI-2G-32G-802-11-a-b-g-n-LAN-BT4-0-343918.html

Anyone any experience?

Skippy along

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B00OPX3XQ6?vs=1

Ordered yesterday through Amazon UK and delivery via parcel motel €59 delivered but its coming via China post will I have any issues with customs I have ordered stuff before from gearbest and got stung by customs but that was delivered directly to me

styron

Skippy along wrote: »

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B00OPX3XQ6?vs=1

Ordered yesterday through Amazon UK and delivery via parcel motel €59 delivered but its coming via China post will I have any issues with customs I have ordered stuff before from gearbest and got stung by customs but that was delivered directly to me

Parcel Motel don't deal with customs charges at all - they'll refuse to accept the parcel if it's stopped and duty attached. The upside is the odds are smaller than here, given our customs appear to detect the vast majority of boxes.

Skippy along

styron wrote: »

Parcel Motel don't deal with customs charges at all - they'll refuse to accept the parcel if it's stopped and duty attached. The upside is the odds are smaller than here, given our customs appear to detect the vast majority of boxes.

Had a idea that was the case, would have bought it directly from China myself and pay the customs if I had known.
Thanks for the reply

Heraldoffreeent

Big Nelly wrote: »

Got email this morning the seen this box as part of offer...there was 10 doller voucher in email as well so just coming in at 89 dollers

http://www.geekbuying.com/item/Wintel-W8-Intel-Atom-Z3735F-64Bit-TV-Box-Windows8-1-Android4-4-Dual-OS-Quad-Core-HDMI-2G-32G-802-11-a-b-g-n-LAN-BT4-0-343918.html

Anyone any experience?

I was looking at that, haven't bought it so can't say much but it looks interesting, as does this:
http://www.geekbuying.com/item/VX2-Celeron-J1800-Windows-8-1-Mini-PC-Intel-Dual-Core-500GB-802-11ac-Gigabit-LAN-Bluetooth-4-0-VGA---White-343475.html?sc_eh=ef62adc283f368211&sc_llid=241826&utm_campaign=DMEMS_2015-05-14+08%3A58%3A00_Crazy+Thurdsay%3A+Iocean+X1+%2469.99+%26+Iocean+M6752+Rock+%24159.99&sc_lid=1517936&utm_medium=EDM&sc_src=email_62507&sc_uid=807372001&utm_source=newsletter

Its got an intel Valleyview processor, which is an upgrade on the Baytrail in the box you listed, and its also got 500Gb ROM, Apart from the 2Gb of Ram its pretty similar to a lot of entry level laptops.
Price wise its on the high side at around €179, but then again its a much higher spec than the Minix Win/Android Z64, which has a similar price.

Big Nelly

Heraldoffreeent wrote: »

I was looking at that, haven't bought it so can't say much but it looks interesting, as does this:
http://www.geekbuying.com/item/VX2-Celeron-J1800-Windows-8-1-Mini-PC-Intel-Dual-Core-500GB-802-11ac-Gigabit-LAN-Bluetooth-4-0-VGA---White-343475.html?sc_eh=ef62adc283f368211&sc_llid=241826&utm_campaign=DMEMS_2015-05-14+08%3A58%3A00_Crazy+Thurdsay%3A+Iocean+X1+%2469.99+%26+Iocean+M6752+Rock+%24159.99&sc_lid=1517936&utm_medium=EDM&sc_src=email_62507&sc_uid=807372001&utm_source=newsletter

Its got an intel Valleyview processor, which is an upgrade on the Baytrail in the box you listed, and its also got 500Gb ROM, Apart from the 2Gb of Ram its pretty similar to a lot of entry level laptops.
Price wise its on the high side at around €179, but then again its a much higher spec than the Minix Win/Android Z64, which has a similar price.

Looks a good option but big high cash wise for me as just using as TV box....

Looking at the box and the spec is similar to the Pipo X7

I dont really need it Dual Boot, is it east to uninstall android?

coldfire1x

@sunny2004 - Price and spec wise I will go with the third option.

coldfire1x

Heraldoffreeent wrote: »

I was looking at that, haven't bought it so can't say much but it looks interesting, as does this:
http://www.geekbuying.com/item/VX2-Celeron-J1800-Windows-8-1-Mini-PC-Intel-Dual-Core-500GB-802-11ac-Gigabit-LAN-Bluetooth-4-0-VGA---White-343475.html?sc_eh=ef62adc283f368211&sc_llid=241826&utm_campaign=DMEMS_2015-05-14+08%3A58%3A00_Crazy+Thurdsay%3A+Iocean+X1+%2469.99+%26+Iocean+M6752+Rock+%24159.99&sc_lid=1517936&utm_medium=EDM&sc_src=email_62507&sc_uid=807372001&utm_source=newsletter

Its got an intel Valleyview processor, which is an upgrade on the Baytrail in the box you listed, and its also got 500Gb ROM, Apart from the 2Gb of Ram its pretty similar to a lot of entry level laptops.
Price wise its on the high side at around €179, but then again its a much higher spec than the Minix Win/Android Z64, which has a similar price.

Looks interesting. 500gb ROM, is there a hard disk inside? If there's one then factor in the price, it will probably be the same.

Big Nelly

coldfire1x wrote: »

Looks interesting. 500gb ROM, is there a hard disk inside? If there's one then factor in the price, it will probably be the same.

I was wondering about that, I guess that is typo and it is not ROM and must be standard hard drive. Unless they have changed the meaning of ROM from Read Only Memory.

dodzy

coldfire1x wrote: »

@sunny2004 - Price and spec wise I will go with the third option.

Not a bad choice but price wise, it'll be close to €100. The XS (1gb) will be landed for just over 50€ (if money is tight) and will be more than adequate for your needs. I've been tinkering with one for the last week, mainly with Kodi and UI mods and its a grand piece of kit for the price. Whatever you choose, get a keyboard ( have a look at the backlit Rii i8 for less than €20 ) because the included remote will wreck your head with the vast majority of these units.

Kristopherus

coldfire1x wrote: »

@sunny2004 - Price and spec wise I will go with the third option.

Looks good, but I'd steer clear of the .co.uk websites as the sterling conversion rate is off the wall at present. There may be better value in the .de, .fr & .es variants of those websites.

dodzy

Kristopherus wrote: »

Looks good, but I'd steer clear of the .co.uk websites as the sterling conversion rate is off the wall at present. There may be better value in the .de, .fr & .es variants of those websites.

You'll find the savings to be relatively insignificant at this price point.