Cheap MXQ Box !

dodzy

sunny2004 wrote: »

I appreciate we have an android forum, but trying to get a definitive answer to the below and thought I would try here.. any thoughts ? thanks

http://www.ebay.ie/itm/M9-KODI-S905-...EAAOSwvgdW4XZb

it seems to be the 9+ is this a new version ?
Also I wanted to ask what is the real advantage of 2gb ?
I know this is only 1gb would I be better off with the 8+ version with 2gb or this one ?

Clearly I am lost here, so any help would be greatly appreciated

2gb boxes are more responsive. You do notice the difference.

deckie27

dodzy wrote: »

Someone's been drinking.

My iPhone thinks it can spell better than me

sunny2004

dodzy wrote: »

I've been getting MXQs for quite a while. Initially from Asia but the gamble with customs and the 4 week wait pushed me towards Amazon. 5 day turnaround and no customs hassle. I have noticed that the Amazon offerings are markedly heavier than the chinese offerings. I know they all originate from there, but the build quality, and most likely components used differ greatly from one supplier to another. €46 for a MXQ with Rii keyboard for €46 from a 'no messing around supplier' is about as good as you're likely to get when quick shipping is required.

dodzy wrote: »

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B011QYUVOI?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00

Im sure like many others, I'm finding this a minefield to choose an option..
What I have picked up is that 2gb of ram seems to be the way to go..

So I set out to read the reviews, rough numbers, 20% give it 1 star, 33% give it 3 or less.. that seems really bad..

Then I read this review for what its worth..

By Mr. T. White TOP 500 REVIEWER on 18 Oct. 2015

Size: MXIII 2GB+BK Verified Purchase
I'll start by saying I am familiar with the Android OS. Also, I will review this box on the understanding that the box I received was typical of what another purchaser will receive.

And...

I was not impressed.

It runs sloooowwwly. Navigation through files and options, feels like it's got 128MB of ram, *not* 2GB! I was astonished, in other words, at just how tedious its performance was in both navigating files and in choosing options.

What's more, MP4 files are becoming commonly accepted files in the online community. When the description above states what files it handles, you can see that MP4 files are ommitted. "So surely you can just get an app to play them, right?" Well, the problem is, MP4 files aren't even recognised by this MX3's filesystem. So even if you could use an app to play MP4 files, you're out of luck in many respects, if you've a substantial number of MP4 files as I just happen to have right now.

So how is it, with the files it does play? In three words: Slow and buggy. At any given, random moment my MX3 decided it was time to freeze itself, and became totally unresponsive. That left me repeatedly with the last resort option of having to turn it off, and then remove my otherwise perfectly working Seagate 2TB USB drive. The last time I removed my Seagate drive, this MX3 had, in freezing, corrupted the filesystem on my drive, resulting in a folder with many files within it, disappearing off the face of the earth. Not, repeat not good. I eventually was able to recover the vast majority of the corrupted files, within a found.001 folder, when using windows CHKDSK. But the whole pahlava of its repeatedly freezing and eventually corrupting files, I could do without.

Sure it has the usual online apps such as youtube and facebook. It also, runs KODI, just as most android boxes do. And it does these online tasks in an expected manner.

However, how it handles my USB drives leaves far too much to be desired. When you consider its sluggish responsiveness, lack of support for certain popular file formats and poor USB performance, I cannot recommend you buy this MX3.

If you must buy an android box, I have had better performance from the following drive. Albeit it too crashed to its homepage when playing certain files which play 100% perfectly on a WD Live:
[Newest Android 5.1 Smart TV-Box] VicTsing Android 5.1 TV Box Carry Rockchip 3368 Octa Core Cortex-A53 & 64 bits CPU H.265 Decoding Give You True UHD 4Kx2K Resolution@60 fps Support XBMC KODI Fully Loaded, Netflix Youtube Skype with EMMC Flash 8GB

Conclusion: This is the second Android TV box I've bought, and compared to a WD Live (link to follow), I am actually gobsmacked at just how popular they seem to be. Believe me, if you want a player which rarely if ever crashes, plays almost every file, still has plenty of inbuilt online apps, and works without any remote control delays or sluggishness, the player you would best consider bypasses the Android OS altogether: a WD Live
Western Digital TV HD 1080P Media Player

...And that's from someone who is generally a fan of Android, because it works perfectly well on any Samsung tablets etc.

So, I give it two stars and another star for the free keyboard remote, which at least, seems to work well. Nevertheless, *if* you still decide to buy this, on the strength of the two other short 5/5 reviews, I just hope YMMV. This one, for me, is not recommended. I'm sending it back tomorrow. Thank you for reading my review, and please feel most welcome to ask me any further questions below.
__________________________________________________

So then I find myself back at square one

corks finest

deckie27 wrote: »

My iPhone thinks it can spell better than me

It kan(can)

crabbypaddy

sunny2004 wrote: »

and compared to a WD Live (link to follow), I am actually gobsmacked at just how popular they seem to be

To compare this with a wd tv live is ridiculous, if these boxes offered only the services wd tv live provides there wouldn't be a market in the first place. 95% of punters buying android boxes will never stream local media and if they did it would be a fraction of the time.

Looking at the positive reviews though most of them are in chinglish and obviously fake.

Had two of those keyboards, range was useless.

corks finest

tramoreman77 wrote: »

Wow that's brilliant,anyone ever buy from this site

Buy local,from a local,fully Ioaded,yes,yes I know they all are sourced from same region,but at least if u know,or buy from a recommended guy,u have come back, I did,and am v happy

red bellied

Buy a box that you can install the openelec version of kodi on and you won't look back. The tronsmart mxiii is a good place to start, avoid Gearbest, you wouldn't know what board they have inside the casing even though advertised as mxiii.

corks finest

red bellied wrote: »

Buy a box that can you can install openelec version of kodi on and you won't look back. The tronsmart mxiii is a good place to start, avoid Gearbest, you wouldn't know what board they have inside the casing even though advertised as mxiii.

Ref gearbest, yes,I agree,brother bought a k3 note via gearbest, no customer service, really a minefield to get through ref returns etc,stay away,at all cost (I got same phone,no problems, lucky)

sunny2004

corks finest wrote: »

Ref gearbest, yes,I agree,brother bought a k3 note via gearbest, no customer service, really a minefield to get through ref returns etc,stay away,at all cost (I got same phone,no problems, lucky)

That company and the likes of Amazon don't compare..

Your premise that shopping local is the way to go is flawed for me, mainly on cost, and also on options.. It is as easy to return products to the UK as it is to send them back to the next town.. But you are right in your assumption that they all originate from the same source.. allowing for cheap knock offs..

grogi

sunny2004 wrote: »

That company and the likes of Amazon don't compare..

Your premise that shopping local is the way to go is flawed for me, mainly on cost, and also on options.. It is as easy to return products to the UK as it is to send them back to the next town.. But you are right in your assumption that they all originate from the same source.. allowing for cheap knock offs..

Not to mention that buying from European sellers you are not risking VAT.

corks finest

sunny2004 wrote: »

That company and the likes of Amazon don't compare..

Your premise that shopping local is the way to go is flawed for me, mainly on cost, and also on options.. It is as easy to return products to the UK as it is to send them back to the next town.. But you are right in your assumption that they all originate from the same source.. allowing for cheap knock offs..

Partly true,but some eBay stuff, example mobiles etc,anything with a battery costs big bucks,have to send via courier, personal experience of this rip off, then a major fight with the supplier to get reimbursed

sunny2004

corks finest wrote: »

Partly true,but some eBay stuff, example mobiles etc,anything with a battery costs big bucks,have to send via courier, personal experience of this rip off, then a major fight with the supplier to get reimbursed

Agreed it can happen, but that's why you research, I have 600+ purchases from ebay and had 1 problem..

corks finest

sunny2004 wrote: »

That company and the likes of Amazon don't compare..

Your premise that shopping local is the way to go is flawed for me, mainly on cost, and also on options.. It is as easy to return products to the UK as it is to send them back to the next town.. But you are right in your assumption that they all originate from the same source.. allowing for cheap knock offs..

Only reason ref shopping locally, is one can physically meet,and physically return box,did this earlier, but past while if I need work,updates etc done,ring my guy and he remotely fixes,updates it,last time took 40 minutes, guy I got box off sold several to friends, family,and I'd vouch for him,great warranty, all done in the cosiness of my own living room,bate that?

corks finest

sunny2004 wrote: »

Agreed it can happen, but that's why you research, I have 600+ purchases from ebay and had 1 problem..

Similar, but clown I dealt with ref phone,had 98% positive feedback,,,, research?

sunny2004

corks finest wrote: »

Only reason ref shopping locally, is one can physically meet,and physically return box,did this earlier, but past while if I need work,updates etc done,ring my guy and he remotely fixes,updates it,last time took 40 minutes, guy I got box off sold several to friends, family,and I'd vouch for him,great warranty, all done in the cosiness of my own living room,bate that?

As you have now mentioned your mate 3 times I can only hope you are getting a commission

As I stated, some of us prefer choice, not limited range and inflated Irish prices for products that are clearly available cheaper elsewhere.

corks finest

sunny2004 wrote: »

As you have now mentioned your mate 3 times I can only hope you are getting a commission

As I stated, some of us prefer choice, not limited range and inflated Irish prices for products that are clearly available cheaper elsewhere.

Not a mate,but nice guy, and na,no commission, agree with limited choice,and I buy all car stuff online,out of Ireland, but for me not being techie,local guy was handy ,

CreepingDeath

tharmor wrote: »

Not sure if this is a good site but might be helpful to someone looking for a cheap android box !


http://www.tomtop.com/HD18Q-Smart-TV-Box-Player-Android-44-Amlogic-S805-Quad-Core-H265-1G8GB-XBMC-DLNA-Miracast-V826EU.html?currency=GBP&lang=en&aid=FV826EU5&utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=TT-Facebook-TVBOX-CL

I didn't buy from that seller, but I did buy a similar/identical MXQ HD18Q 1GB Android box from Aliexpress.

It let me login to Google and Netflix on initial setup.
Then refused after a reboot.
Eventually I realised I was losing the date/time per reboot, going back to 1970 which was messing up the Google/Netflix logins.

I experimented with different firmwares, sometimes losing the remote control and/or Wifi connections.
But yesterday found a good firmware image that resolved the problem and offered a lot of extra like streaming TV from the net etc.

You should find it under
http://www.droidplayer.co.uk/blog/latest-firmware-releases/

Be careful, those MXQ boxes have a lot of variation in chipsets, WiFi adapters, remote controls etc.
All I can say is it worked for me and seems to fly along now, but use at own risk.

califano

Not bad seeing Openelec is coming soon for this box according to Codesnake.

tharmor

califano wrote:

Not bad seeing Openelec is coming soon for this box according to Codesnake.

Its already there...using it on SD card...will try on NaND soon...

VeVeX

corks finest wrote: »

Buy local,from a local,fully Ioaded,yes,yes I know they all are sourced from same region,but at least if u know,or buy from a recommended guy,u have come back, I did,and am v happy

corks finest wrote: »

Ref gearbest, yes,I agree,brother bought a k3 note via gearbest, no customer service, really a minefield to get through ref returns etc,stay away,at all cost (I got same phone,no problems, lucky)

Comma overload, comma overload.

RossieMan

I'd highly recommend not buying from one of the many cowboy sellers out there. 70 euro for an mxq they buy for around 20-25 euro in bulk. No thanks. It's absolute criminal they are allowed to make such profits from people who buy from them.

grogi

RossieMan wrote: »

I'd highly recommend not buying from one of the many cowboy sellers out there. 70 euro for an mxq they buy for around 20-25 euro in bulk. No thanks. It's absolute criminal they are allowed to make such profits from people who buy from them.

Why? The agreed goods are delivered for the agreed price and in agreed time-frame... What is criminal in here?
The only thing is that they might not be paying VAT and income taxes...

And no, I am not selling them

crabbypaddy

grogi wrote: »

Why? The agreed goods are delivered for the agreed price and in agreed time-frame... What is criminal in here?
The only thing is that they might not be paying VAT and income taxes...

And no, I am not selling them

Not to mention the criminal ignorance of the people they are selling them to that they have to deal with. 50 quid profit isn't worth it. I sold my old box on adverts and got texts and phone calls about streams not working etc. etc. for weeks.

flutered

red bellied wrote: »

Buy a box that you can install the openelec version of kodi on and you won't look back. The tronsmart mxiii is a good place to start, avoid Gearbest, you wouldn't know what board they have inside the casing even though advertised as mxiii.

can openelec kodi be loaded on to a fire stick

brightkane

flutered wrote: »

can openelec kodi be loaded on to a fire stick

I don't think it can as its something that's Bootable and not just an add on and had been specifically engineered for certain boxes and boards

shardylan

Sorry if off topic but got wireless keyboard that takes batteries but can't seem to get it to work .Anyone tell me what I need to do ?

grogi

flutered wrote: »

can openelec kodi be loaded on to a fire stick

No

kcb

I got an MXQ off that Tomshop place for €30 and it looks good. Good service and no hassle with delivery.

tharmor

shardylan wrote:

Sorry if off topic but got wireless keyboard that takes batteries but can't seem to get it to work .Anyone tell me what I need to do ?

Have you attached the wireless receiver in usb on the box ?

shardylan

tharmor wrote: »

Have you attached the wireless receiver in usb on the box ?

Maybe that's what's wrong .There was a small top of a usb that doesn't fit in the remote in where the batteries go .Do I put that into the box ? (The long usb wire he sent doesn't even fit into remote either ?