Kodi Android TV Streaming Box [Livingsocial + wetek group]

Klingon Hamlet

Available through LivingSocial. Seems a good deal. My family's chrome cast stopped working for some reason so this seems like a cheap easier to use (for non technophiles) alternative.

Apologies for no link the boards mobile site doesn't seem to accept copy and pastes ???

DERICKOO

Can this box be updated
An Over The Air (OTA) update applies to the manufacturer’s firmware version and simply means that new versions can be downloaded to the device via the internet. Not all manufacturers offer this facility but it is a good sign when they do that the device will be well supported throughout its life-cycle.

Tom Cruises Left Nut

DERICKOO wrote: »

Can this box be updated
An Over The Air (OTA) update applies to the manufacturer’s firmware version and simply means that new versions can be downloaded to the device via the internet. Not all manufacturers offer this facility but it is a good sign when they do that the device will be well supported throughout its life-cycle.

Kodi apps auto update, you need to drop new firmware on the box to update the system itself

I just run it on my mac and airplay it, no box needed then

dodzy

DERICKOO wrote: »

Can this box be updated
An Over The Air (OTA) update applies to the manufacturer’s firmware version and simply means that new versions can be downloaded to the device via the internet. Not all manufacturers offer this facility but it is a good sign when they do that the device will be well supported throughout its life-cycle.

Its a basic MXQ. 30€ on Aliexpress. The usual ridiculously over exagerrated RRP. It's fine for kodi / showbox and the like. Dont put openelec on it though. If you're going to take the plunge, then I'd advise getting the Rii keyboard also - currently €15 on LS.

groom

I've had a few streaming boxes. Some that run XMBC / Kodi. Alot of them are really clunky. They felt thrown together and you are constantly hacking them and trying to get controllers to work.

If you're in the market for one the Amazon Fire TV and TV Stick are superb. They'll probably be discounted coming up to Black Friday. I got them last year for £49 (Fire TV) and £25(TV Stick) with Amazon Prime.

maximoose

I bought the exact same box last month for €31 here

dodzy

groom wrote: »

I've had a few streaming boxes. Some that run XMBC / Kodi. Alot of them are really clunky. They felt thrown together and you are constantly hacking them and trying to get controllers to work.

If you're in the market for one the Amazon Fire TV and TV Stick are superb. They'll probably be discounted coming up to Black Friday. I got them last year for £49 (Fire TV) and £25(TV Stick) with Amazon Prime.

These cheapos are fine for what they are / cost. No need to hack them. People are obsessed with meddling with FTA boxes, Android boxes, updating FW, etc and in many cases there's absolutely no need.

muloc

groom wrote: »

I've had a few streaming boxes. Some that run XMBC / Kodi. Alot of them are really clunky. They felt thrown together and you are constantly hacking them and trying to get controllers to work.

If you're in the market for one the Amazon Fire TV and TV Stick are superb. They'll probably be discounted coming up to Black Friday. I got them last year for £49 (Fire TV) and £25(TV Stick) with Amazon Prime.

+1 You can get the fire stick for £35 currently which works out cheaper than €51

groom

My point is that the Amazon devices are in and around the same price (sometimes / Black Friday) and they have a far superior build quality. They are proper end user products.

DERICKOO

Tom Cruises Left Nut wrote: »

Kodi apps auto update, you need to drop new firmware on the box to update the system itself

I just run it on my mac and airplay it, no box needed then

Have Kodi 15.2 on my laptop hooked up to LG Smart 3d tv, but was thinking this for bedroom and what you said rattled my memory have an old dell Inspiron 17inch only sitting there, really would be wasting my money.

Klingon Hamlet

What would the customs charge be...
A workmate got one and said it came with showbox pre installed I doubt Amazon Fire would do that

brightkane

Klingon Hamlet wrote: »

What would the customs charge be...
A workmate got one and said it came with showbox pre installed I doubt Amazon Fire would do that

I have a mx3 and have had mk809b and also have a firestick. Firestick it Deffo most stable .

Lots of tutorials on YouTube and in an hour u will have kodi up and running.

theoneeyedman

brightkane wrote: »

I have a mx3 and have had mk809b and also have a firestick. Firestick it Deffo most stable .

Lots of tutorials on YouTube and in an hour u will have kodi up and running.

Is fire TV stick much good without prime subscription, or outside the UK?

brightkane

theoneeyedman wrote: »

Is fire TV stick much good without prime subscription, or outside the UK?

I don't have a prime sub. I just use it for kodi (and all that it brings) and Netflix. Nothing else . Remote is a beaut to use imo.

RossieMan

Must see how much a fire stick will cost in the sales. Might be worth a look.

crabbypaddy

brightkane wrote: »

I don't have a prime sub. I just use it for kodi (and all that it brings) and Netflix. Nothing else . Remote is a beaut to use imo.

+1 for the remote its excellent, and if you use dolby I don't think you'll find anything similar for the price. You need to do some fecking around to connect a mouse for apps like showbox that may be fixed in the next update. Also if you use a few apps like showbox, kodi, iplayer etc. I find it has to be rebooted regularly presumably orphan stuff in the background when you exit an app. A memory cleaning app may be sufficient. If you're using a few apps definitely worth installing wukong remote.

CantGetNoSleep

Any way of getting a Fire Stick delivered without using Parcel Motel?

doxy

groom wrote: »

I've had a few streaming boxes. Some that run XMBC / Kodi. Alot of them are really clunky. They felt thrown together and you are constantly hacking them and trying to get controllers to work.

If you're in the market for one the Amazon Fire TV and TV Stick are superb. They'll probably be discounted coming up to Black Friday. I got them last year for £49 (Fire TV) and £25(TV Stick) with Amazon Prime.

I have a Chinese android box with good specs on paper, and also an amazon fire TV. The Amazon fire TV is far, far, FAR superior for running kodi. Same can be said about the raspberry pi 2 which is even cheaper again.

degsie

CantGetNoSleep wrote: »

Any way of getting a Fire Stick delivered without using Parcel Motel?

Parcel Wizard?

d31b0y

I know they aren't the same but I find these android boxes woeful for performance.
Buy a Rasperry pi (this starter kit is about €80 delivered with parcel motel) and stick OpenElec on it (or OSMC) and you'll be laughing for years to come.

Klingon Hamlet

d31b0y wrote: »

I know they aren't the same but I find these android boxes woeful for performance.
Buy a Rasperry pi (this starter kit is about €80 delivered with parcel motel) and stick OpenElec on it (or OSMC) and you'll be laughing for years to come.

Does openelec include projectstreamtv and all the rest? The workmate said it also included apps that showed sky movies etc. I'm pretty sure for 50 quid to have all that set up ready to go seems a great deal. Whereas everyone's suggestion is to buy a stick and hack into it - not ideal for technophiles.

d31b0y

It's not setup and ready to go but tvaddons does an easy to install bundle of addons (bundle works with kodi on android also to be fair).

maximoose

d31b0y wrote: »

I know they aren't the same but I find these android boxes woeful for performance.
Buy a Rasperry pi (this starter kit is about €80 delivered with parcel motel) and stick OpenElec on it (or OSMC) and you'll be laughing for years to come.

I had a Raspberry Pi (granted it was the first model) running OpenElec a year ago, and to be honest it was pathetic compared to this box.

Has run everything I've thrown at it with surprising ease.

d31b0y

maximoose wrote: »

I had a Raspberry Pi (granted it was the first model) running OpenElec a year ago, and to be honest it was pathetic compared to this box.

Has run everything I've thrown at it with surprising ease.

I'm only going by the experience I have had. I don't know if the box I had used is the same as the one in this thread (certainly looks the same) but I had nothing but trouble (I was actually looking at it for someone else). Addons inexplicably uninstalling themselves. OTA updates not working. New apps not installing. Could have just been a dodgy box I guess.

The Pi 2 is leaps and bounds better than the original Pi for running KODI / OpenElec. The original Pi was rubbish (I have two of them at home still)

maximoose

I'm not sure about the box coming from groupon - but the one I bought/linked to earlier came with all the desirable/unmentionale add-ons pre-installed and once I uninstalled some of the crap that I didn't want (and got sportsmania) - it has been a dream!

Coupled with the €10 logitech bargain keyboard that was on here recently, it has been my best purchase in years!

dodzy

maximoose wrote: »

I'm not sure about the box coming from groupon - but the one I bought/linked to earlier came with all the desirable/unmentionale add-ons pre-installed and once I uninstalled some of the crap that I didn't want (and got sportsmania) - it has been a dream!

Coupled with the €10 logitech bargain keyboard that was on here recently, it has been my best purchase in years!

You'd nearly be better off its its clean. Then just install the latest Kodi version and once done, follow instructions here, sit back & enjoy

groom

Concerning AFT versus AFT Stick - If the prices are somewhat near I'd say the AFT is superior.

The Fire TV now has a working USB port and ethernet. And the remote is much nicer.

maximoose

dodzy wrote: »

You'd nearly be better off its its clean. Then just install the latest Kodi version and once done, follow instructions here, sit back & enjoy

I had a look at The Beast yesterday actually in the Kodi Apps thread, it seems decent but the menu is horrible IMO! Might give it a go at the weekend

EDIT: I've just installed it on my phone and having a play around, bar the tacky wallpapers I quite like it!

d31b0y

maximoose wrote: »

I had a look at The Beast yesterday actually in the Kodi Apps thread, it seems decent but the menu is horrible IMO! Might give it a go at the weekend

Kodi apps thread?!

Edit, found it and subscribed

maximoose

Oops, add-ons I mean

This one here

dodzy

d31b0y wrote: »

Kodi apps thread?!

That-away >>>>

dodzy

groom wrote: »

Concerning AFT versus AFT Stick - If the prices are somewhat near I'd say the AFT is superior.

The Fire TV now has a working USB port and ethernet. And the remote is much nicer.

I was searching for Amazon Fire TV yesterday and nothing found. Item Unavailable on Amazon. Then this morning, there it is at £79. I might bite the bullet and sell on my minix x8H.

groom

dodzy wrote: »

I was searching for Amazon Fire TV yesterday and nothing found. Item Unavailable on Amazon. Then this morning, there it is at £79. I might bite the bullet and sell on my minix x8H.

I think Black Friday is next week. It might get reduced for that. I got it for £49 originally as a Prime offer.

RossieMan

How much dodzy?

crabbypaddy

d31b0y wrote: »

The Pi 2 is leaps and bounds better than the original Pi for running KODI / OpenElec. The original Pi was rubbish (I have two of them at home still)

I have pi2 and fire tv stick. If its just for kodi then I think the fire tv stick is better. Especially as by the time you've got a decent wifi adapter, decent power supply, decent sd card the pi2 is more expensive than the fire tv and with the fire tv stick you get the lovely wireless remote.

dodzy

RossieMan wrote: »

How much dodzy?

Read the post Rossie

£79. So about €110. As Groom says, hold out for a little while. I'm targeting sub-€100 and i'll nab it then. Will have to check in advance if Skype works OK as I've a nice Logitech 920 perched onto of the TV that works superb with the Minix.

Klingon Hamlet

maximoose wrote: »

I'm not sure about the box coming from groupon - but the one I bought/linked to earlier came with all the desirable/unmentionale add-ons pre-installed and once I uninstalled some of the crap that I didn't want (and got sportsmania) - it has been a dream!

Coupled with the €10 logitech bargain keyboard that was on here recently, it has been my best purchase in years!

Did you get charged customs?

maximoose

Nope. I think declared value was $20 on the slip, had it delivered to Parcel Motel in around 10 days from ordering.

RossieMan

No for you MINIX box. Interested if you're selling.

dodzy

RossieMan wrote: »

No for you MINIX box. Interested if you're selling.

No prob Rossie, i'll let you know.

There is an issue with the Minix & Netflix in that it can't (and is unlikely ever to be able to do) HD due to a basic non-willingness on Netflix's behalf to approve Minix (would no doubt have been no problem if Minix were an American venture). Also some periodic annoying lipsync errors that are well documented around certain forums, irrespective of multiple attempts at a fix through either FW updates or in-setting mods. No problem on the low tier MXQ or similar devices. Not a huge issue for me though as I rarely use n'flix anymore. Just an annoynace really!

ifeelstupid

Ok - so I am a total technophobe. I am using Kndi on my laptop connected to tv with HD cable (friend installed it on laptop for me)

Just wondering if I get one of these streaming boxes from the OP, can I just plug it in and away I go or will I have to install more stuff on it before I can use it. I generally just use PrimeWire and Genesis on my current setup - a more of a boxset viewer than anything else.

Thanks

will56

ifeelstupid wrote: »

Ok - so I am a total technophobe. I am using Kndi on my laptop connected to tv with HD cable (friend installed it on laptop for me)

Just wondering if I get one of these streaming boxes from the OP, can I just plug it in and away I go or will I have to install more stuff on it before I can use it. I generally just use PrimeWire and Genesis on my current setup - a more of a boxset viewer than anything else.

Thanks

Most boxes require you to download and install Kodi yourself.
Loads of good tutorials online and if you can learn how to set up the add-ons it makes it easier to make changes down the line.

Seo.michael has good step by step tutorials for Genesis

dodzy

ifeelstupid wrote: »

Ok - so I am a total technophobe. I am using Kndi on my laptop connected to tv with HD cable (friend installed it on laptop for me)

Just wondering if I get one of these streaming boxes from the OP, can I just plug it in and away I go or will I have to install more stuff on it before I can use it. I generally just use PrimeWire and Genesis on my current setup - a more of a boxset viewer than anything else.

Thanks

The majority of the boxes you buy online will come with all the "stuff" pre-installed. But as Will says, if not, its a 10 minute youtube session and you'll be away

bored_newbie

ifeelstupid wrote: »

Ok - so I am a total technophobe. I am using Kndi on my laptop connected to tv with HD cable (friend installed it on laptop for me)

Just wondering if I get one of these streaming boxes from the OP, can I just plug it in and away I go or will I have to install more stuff on it before I can use it. I generally just use PrimeWire and Genesis on my current setup - a more of a boxset viewer than anything else.

Thanks

A technophobe who uses Kodi, PrimeWire and Genesis. Impressive. (I've only heard of one of the three)

ifeelstupid

bored_newbie wrote: »

A technophobe who uses Kodi, PrimeWire and Genesis. Impressive. (I've only heard of one of the three)

I can only use them because they were set up for me - all I have to do is open Kodi app on the laptop:o

Villa05

ifeelstupid wrote: »

Ok - so I am a total technophobe. I am using Kndi on my laptop connected to tv with HD cable (friend installed it on laptop for me)

Just wondering if I get one of these streaming boxes from the OP, can I just plug it in and away I go or will I have to install more stuff on it before I can use it. I generally just use PrimeWire and Genesis on my current setup - a more of a boxset viewer than anything else.

Thanks

Genisis works a dream on it, Got the box a few weeks ago and was impressed, so have another in the post

stanley1

have to say a bit disappointed with android boxes, found an old laptop and stuck kodi on, like night and day, much better experience, just my 2 cents worth.

biebiebie

groom wrote: »

I think Black Friday is next week. It might get reduced for that. I got it for 49 originally as a Prime offer.

Yep Friday 27th November to be precise.
Also the following Monday is Cyber Monday.

Hoping to bag a Fire TV myself.

dodzy

bored_newbie wrote: »

A technophobe who uses Kodi, PrimeWire and Genesis. Impressive. (I've only heard of one of the three)

Just what this thread needs. Another smart arse. I've heard of all 3. Now surely that's impressive?

bored_newbie

dodzy wrote: »

Just what this thread needs. Another smart arse. I've heard of all 3. Now surely that's impressive?

Not at all. I'd say most technophobes haven't heard of any of those, I wasn't being smart.

groom

stanley1 wrote: »

have to say a bit disappointed with android boxes, found an old laptop and stuck kodi on, like night and day, much better experience, just my 2 cents worth.

You haven't tried the right ones. Kodi performance is excellent on Amazon devices, RPi2 and my Ouya before that. Some of the advantages they have over an old laptop is that they are extremely low power, can be always on or turn on when the TV is turned on, fitted behind your TV, working remote and the absence of the whirring fan.