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

iba

Guys/Girls,

Would be graetful for recommendations for an Android box that runs XBMC.

Would be grateful to know things like which firmware is best, which processor i.e. quad core or dual core

Any other info. that you boardies think is imporatnt would also be appreciated.

Regards

Iba

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5500

Has anyone got any insight into the box below?

http://droidbox.co.uk/products/droidbox-imx6

My brother got one and hasnt had much joy with it so gave it to me to have a mess with.

Ive reflashed the stock firmware from the site forum but the box seems fairly laggy,theres also issues seem to be with xbmc in that nothing seems to play, its giving incorrect password and script errors.

What im wondering is there any custom roms that I can load up on this that might be a bit snappier or repos/setup for xbmc for sports and the likes

BenEadir

BenThere wrote: »

I have a Neo X7 running the official FW10 and it runs everything very well, particularly over WiFi.

I have another TV with an old WD Live box attached which I'd like to upgrade. I'm always very wary of getting V1 of any product but I'm tempted to go with Minix's new X8 which should (assuming it works as advertised) give me a good few years of future proofing, see http://www.amazon.co.uk/Quad-core-Octa-core-licences-accelerated-Reseller/dp/B00KIH75VC/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&qid=1401804675&sr=8-9&keywords=minix

What do people think? I know it's twice the price of other Android boxs which do a fine job of streaming but it does seem to be very powerful and capable of handling anything which will develop over the coming years. My logic is that 1 X €145 box lasting 5 years is better than 2 x €80 boxes lasting 2-3 years each.

Ben

Bump ^^^^

Any thoughts on the Minix X8 or is it simply too early to tell?

Ben

Blade

BenThere wrote: »

What do people think? I know it's twice the price of other Android boxs which do a fine job of streaming but it does seem to be very powerful and capable of handling anything which will develop over the coming years. My logic is that 1 X €145 box lasting 5 years is better than 2 x €80 boxes lasting 2-3 years each.

I'm kinda thinking the same thing myself, but I'd like to hear what people think. It is expensive bang for buck wise. My dual core stick struggles with HD streaming but I believe so do some of the quad cores. So you'd really want something powerful these days. Considering I paid 40 euro for mine over a year ago, I would have expected something around the 70-80 Euro mark today to be more than capable.

BenEadir

Blade wrote: »

I'm kinda thinking the same thing myself, but I'd like to hear what people think. It is expensive bang for buck wise. My dual core stick struggles with HD streaming but I believe so do some of the quad cores. So you'd really want something powerful these days. Considering I paid 40 euro for mine over a year ago, I would have expected something around the 70-80 Euro mark today to be more than capable.

There's a thread dedicated to the X8 and X8-H over on XDA - http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2764694

FYI I took the plunge and just ordered an X8-H for $150 including an Air Mouse and some free gift they are giving to the first 500 buyers. http://promotion.geekbuying.com/promotion/minix_x8_and_x8-h_presale_campaign

I'll revert with my thoughts etc on it in due course. It'll probably take 3 weeks to get here!!!

MrSing

Is the MINIX NEO X8-H one of the better droidboxes on the market?

Can you buy this in Ireland?

Blade

MrSing wrote: »

Is the MINIX NEO X8-H one of the better droidboxes on the market?

Can you buy this in Ireland?

I suppose it would be one of the better ones on the market. You could pre-order it here for 155 Euro, they also supply the Minix NEO M1 Air Mouse for that price. Or go the China route like BenThere did, but you might well get hit for the VAT.

tomdempsey200

http://www.futeko.com/browse.php?cat=mp

€130
top service UK shipping

bazzz

tomdempsey200 wrote: »

http://www.futeko.com/browse.php?cat=mp

€130
top service UK shipping

Yep that's a good price there from UK Works out at €140 direct ship to Ireland(not using Parcel Motel)

Blade wrote: »

I suppose it would be one of the better ones on the market. You could pre-order it here for 155 Euro, they also supply the Minix NEO M1 Air Mouse for that price. Or go the China route like BenThere did, but you might well get hit for the VAT.

It's hard for smarttvbox.ie to compete with the more established online stores at the moment.Like I've said before on the thread they are only a new Irish company.So it may take a bit for the prices to come down,but they are not too over the top in reality.But
I will help promote them as they are relatives;)

BenEadir

bazzz wrote: »

It's hard for smarttvbox.ie to compete with the more established online stores at the moment.Like I've said before on the thread they are only a new Irish company.So it may take a bit for the prices to come down,but they are not too over the top in reality.But
I will help promote them as they are relatives;)

If you don't mind Bazz I'd suggest that the best chance your relative has of being successful is to become very active on these type of threads. If there was a poster here called "smartbox.ie" and he was demonstrating knowledge and helpfullness (particularly to newbies) people would be more than willing to pay a little extra to buy from him. I do it all the time for other stuff. I'll bet if Allyall was welling boxes lots of people here would buy from him.

Just a suggestion.

Ben

bazzz

BenThere wrote: »

If you don't mind Bazz I'd suggest that the best chance your relative has of being successful is to become very active on these type of threads. If there was a poster here called "smartbox.ie" and he was demonstrating knowledge and helpfullness (particularly to newbies) people would be more than willing to pay a little extra to buy from him. I do it all the time for other stuff. I'll bet if Allyall was welling boxes lots of people here would buy from him.

Just a suggestion.

Ben

I know,I know.....he's great on the phone.But I've been trying to get him on here to get things moving and demonstrate his dedication to the cause.Hopefully soon,he's also on adverts.

wildrover444

http://www.futeko.com/products/B031.php

I wonder is refurbished Minix neo 7 worth it at this price 65 pounds and still a year warranty

Blade

BenThere wrote: »

If there was a poster here called "smartbox.ie" and he was demonstrating knowledge and helpfullness (particularly to newbies) people would be more than willing to pay a little extra to buy from him.

He would need to apply for an official rep's account from the Admins first.

bazzz

Blade wrote: »

He would need to apply for an official rep's account from the Admins first.

Yep I said that he would have to have "an upgraded account" when I was speaking to him tonight.Hopefully he will *excuse the pun* get on board.

Allyall

BenThere wrote: »

I'll bet if Allyall was welling boxes lots of people here would buy from him.

Just a suggestion.

Ben

Thanks BenThere

.

Unfortunately I can't/couldn't.. "Allyall's Boxes" (Would be great)

.
I'm packing in my job and having a rancid time leaving. Then I'm Outta here!
I'd happily go 50-50 with anyone if they wanted to

(JK).

tomdempsey200

Allyall wrote: »

For < €36 delivered.

do you have a link for that allyall

Allyall

tomdempsey200 wrote: »

do you have a link for that allyall

Scroll down a bit
Also on TaoBao and other sites.

tomdempsey200

mx2 is that the best budget box?

what does "20 pieces / lot" mean?

Allyall

tomdempsey200 wrote: »

mx2 is that the best budget box?

what does "20 pieces / lot" mean?

If they sell for €30 - 20 pieces / lot = You can only buy 20 pieces from that particular link @ €30 per box - Lot Price = €600. Usually if you go to that link owners store, they sell them individually for ~ €5 more than the lot price per box.

Hard to say what is the "Best" box even at a low price, so many have the same guts etc.. But with a good ROM, and for that price, it gets my vote.

michael999999

tomdempsey200 wrote: »

mx2 is that the best budget box?

what does "20 pieces / lot" mean?

Get an air mouse with it, there a brilliant piece of gear!

I got my MX box and airmouse for about 70 delivered Inc customs and an post charges.

johnnykilo

I've been doing a good bit of research on these boxes, I think I'm finally going to take the plunge and buy one this week in time for the World Cup.

I know everyone has their own opinion but is the general consensus that the Minix Neo's are the best box? Is the X5 is better for TV, while the X7 is better for gaming (I'll only be using this as a TV box). Are there newer versions of the X5, there seems to be a good bit of a difference in price on Adverts.ie, ranging from €90 - €140, I think it may be due to some of the dearer ones including an air mouse but I just want to confirm that there aren't multiple Neo X5 versions. Thanks in advance!

kriters8

Nowadays, the MINIX has released the latest x8-h,I think it is the best device for tv.

Moyglish

Hi guys,

I'm a total n00b when it comes to Android smart TV boxes, so please excuse the questions and my ignorance!

I think I'm ready to take the plunge and get a box!

From what I've been reading I think I've narrowed it down to two boxes.

Either the MX2 or the Minix X8-H

From what I gather the Minix is a quad core and the MX2 is a dual core? I would have thought that the quad-core would automatically be better, however I've been reading some stuff that a dual core is best for streaming movies etc.. whereas the quad core is more suited to gaming?

I just want a fairly straight forward box that would be able to play most files, AVI, DIVX, MK4 etc.. along with streaming good quality HD content.

There's a few Irish sellers selling these boxes for around €150, however I could probably get the box from the UK or China for a bit cheaper, would it be worth paying a bit extra to get the box from an Irish seller whereby XBMC is pre-installed etc?

I'm not a total technophobe but I wouldn't relish the thought at having to root or mod the device and spend hours looking up online how to do so, plus with the added fear of bricking the device itself..

What would be the best option whereby I can get something that's essentially ready to go out of the box, plug and play so to speak?

I'd like to get one for my parents and a few for friends and family - does it take much effort to get the RTE player and the likes of TV3 and TG4 etc.. up on these?

I've been looking at these also - http://dreamboxxbmcireland.com/products/ - can anyone recommend or give feedback?

Sorry again for all the questions, new to all of this and I just want to make sure I make the right purchase and get something stable that doesn't crash and updates automatically so the less fiddling I have to do with it, the better!

I've read all the posts on this thread thus far - very helpful! Still trying to decide between the MX2 and the Minix X8-H or if anyone has any other suggestions, I'm all ears!

Thanks everyone.

Cantona's Collars

Moyglish wrote: »

Hi guys,

I'm a total n00b when it comes to Android smart TV boxes, so please excuse the questions and my ignorance!

I think I'm ready to take the plunge and get a box!

From what I've been reading I think I've narrowed it down to two boxes.

Either the MX2 or the Minix X8-H

From what I gather the Minix is a quad core and the MX2 is a dual core? I would have thought that the quad-core would automatically be better, however I've been reading some stuff that a dual core is best for streaming movies etc.. whereas the quad core is more suited to gaming?

I just want a fairly straight forward box that would be able to play most files, AVI, DIVX, MK4 etc.. along with streaming good quality HD content.

There's a few Irish sellers selling these boxes for around €150, however I could probably get the box from the UK or China for a bit cheaper, would it be worth paying a bit extra to get the box from an Irish seller whereby XBMC is pre-installed etc?

I'm not a total technophobe but I wouldn't relish the thought at having to root or mod the device and spend hours looking up online how to do so, plus with the added fear of bricking the device itself..

What would be the best option whereby I can get something that's essentially ready to go out of the box, plug and play so to speak?

I'd like to get one for my parents and a few for friends and family - does it take much effort to get the RTE player and the likes of TV3 and TG4 etc.. up on these?

I've been looking at these also - http://dreamboxxbmcireland.com/products/ - can anyone recommend or give feedback?

Sorry again for all the questions, new to all of this and I just want to make sure I make the right purchase and get something stable that doesn't crash and updates automatically so the less fiddling I have to do with it, the better!

I've read all the posts on this thread thus far - very helpful! Still trying to decide between the MX2 and the Minix X8-H or if anyone has any other suggestions, I'm all ears!

Thanks everyone.

I have one of those MX2 boxes,they are childs play to root & mine cost less than half what's being charged in that link you posted.They are great to mess around with & installing what you want.Youtube is great for how-to videos plus I owe a massive thanks to Allyall from this thread who gave me loads of advice & links.

griffdaddy

If you're getting into €150 territory you should probably start looking at dedicated windows nettop pcs. They'll do a lot more things a lot more reliably and save you a lot of faffing about with roms and custom xbmc builds.

BenEadir

griffdaddy wrote: »

If you're getting into €150 territory you should probably start looking at dedicated windows nettop pcs.

I'd actually be interested in something like that as a project. Something like the Acer Revo RL80-UR22 which is circa €300 from http://www.amazon.co.uk/Acer-Nettop-1-5GHz-Integrated-Graphics/dp/B00HNQWTR6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1402324290&sr=8-1&keywords=Acer+Revo+RL80-UR22

Apart from running MS Office type apps etc what can a HTPC like this do in relation to streaming online and local content that a good Android box can't?

Ben

griffdaddy

BenThere wrote: »

I'd actually be interested in something like that as a project. Something like the Acer Revo RL80-UR22 which is circa €300 from http://www.amazon.co.uk/Acer-Nettop-1-5GHz-Integrated-Graphics/dp/B00HNQWTR6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1402324290&sr=8-1&keywords=Acer+Revo+RL80-UR22

Apart from running MS Office type apps etc what can a HTPC like this do in relation to streaming online and local content that a good Android box can't?

Ben

One of those came up on eBuyer for about €150 delivered just before Christmas. It had all components preinstalled except with no OS. I tried everything under the sun to get them to deliver, including Parcel Motel etc. They just wouldn't deliver to Ireland or Northern Ireland for me.

Basically it'll do everything the Android box can but just much better. You could plug in proper portable hard drives etc. at the back without needing externally powered usb hubs and so on. Everything would be much faster as well and there'd be no driver issues with webcams or anything.

timetogo

griffdaddy wrote: »

If you're getting into €150 territory you should probably start looking at dedicated windows nettop pcs. They'll do a lot more things a lot more reliably and save you a lot of faffing about with roms and custom xbmc builds.

I used to have a nettop PC. On PC I had was Atom based (cost about €220 without Windows, maybe they're cheaper now) and didn't play video as well as the Minix X7 I have now. The Minix cost me €120.

Earlier this year I replaced the Atom with a proper PC but the cost of that (if I was paying for it) would have been about €350. It did do more but 99% of what I used it (watching video) for the Minix does now.

You may need an external HDD on an Android box if you're not streaming everything from the internet, so that does bump the cost up a bit.

You can faff around with ROMs and special XBMC builds or you can use the build that comes out of the box. The entire messing about that I've done with the Minix is to set it up for my WiFi connection. There's a little bit of config on XBMC to make it talk to your phone but that config is identical on a Windows / Linux PC.

Then there's the cost of running it. I typed the power consumption into ElectricIrelands website.
If the device is running 24X7 (mine is) then it's €7.62 per year in electricity.
If your HTPC is running 24X7 and uses 30W then it's €45.72 per year.

But then again I suppose a PC should last 3 or 4 years easily enough. I don't know how long the Minix will last for. I suppose if video formats never change then it should last for years.

timetogo

griffdaddy wrote: »

Basically it'll do everything the Android box can but just much better. You could plug in proper portable hard drives etc. at the back without needing externally powered usb hubs and so on. Everything would be much faster as well and there'd be no driver issues with webcams or anything.

You can plug proper hard drives into the android boxes. The one I have also works with Logitech cameras.
Regarding its speed, my box boots faster than my Windows PC. As for playing video it plays that at exactly the same speed as the PC.

Have you seen them in action? I've no problem using a PC where it's needed. My android box has replaced my PC under the TV and I haven't missed the PC at all. (I do have a normal PC for work though, it'd be a totally different situation if that was my only PC).

Moyglish

zerks wrote: »

I have one of those MX2 boxes,they are childs play to root & mine cost less than half what's being charged in that link you posted.They are great to mess around with & installing what you want.Youtube is great for how-to videos plus I owe a massive thanks to Allyall from this thread who gave me loads of advice & links.

Thanks for that Zerks!

So they do require rooting then? They don't come with XMBC pre-installed do they? I'll definitely check out some YouTube vids anhow.

griffdaddy wrote: »

If you're getting into €150 territory you should probably start looking at dedicated windows nettop pcs. They'll do a lot more things a lot more reliably and save you a lot of faffing about with roms and custom xbmc builds.

Griffdaddy, I'm not exactly looking to spend €150, just those two boxes I mentioned cost that from Irish sellers I was looking at. If I can spend less, then all the better!

I'm sure a dedicated PC would be a better job, but to be honest, I just want something handy I can plug into the TV and off you go, thanks for the advice though, appreciate it

Moyglish

Right guys, if you had to choose between the MX2 or the Minix X8-H or a M8 MX (someone recommended this and said they're better than the MX2?) which would you go for and why?

Would I be better getting them from an Irish seller that has them pre-loaded so there's no messing about?

Or if I was to go get one from eBay/China do they require much work to get them up and running, like does XMBC come pre-installed on them?

I wouldn't mind saving a few pound but if it's going to create hours of hassle downloading files and spending nights trawling through forums then maybe I'd be better off just spending it bit more and having it done for me.