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

mccartj5 · 29-09-2014 2:17pm

I'm going to take my first venture in the Android box space and have read this thread. Think I've changed my mind 100 times as to what box to get.

I'm drawn to the Minix x8-h due to the spec and the good reviews but then I wonder would I be wasting money and could I get a cheaper box such as a M8 or MX2 to do what I want just as well!

At the moment all I really want to do is stream through xbmc. The majority of the time the box will be wired but there will be times when I will be using wifi.

So any advice on the best box for smooth streaming through xbmc and strong wireless performance?

BenEadir · 29-09-2014 2:29pm

mccartj5 wrote: »

So any advice on the best box for smooth streaming through xbmc and strong wireless performance?

I can categorically tell you that the Minix X7 and X8-h both have fabulous WiFi capability. I don't know if there are boxes with better WiFi performance out there for the same or less money but I know I'm very happy with the way my two boxes perform.

I have a X8-h which is 3 rooms away from the router through partitions and walls etc and I get 15mb download and 10mb upload consistently over Wifi (I have a 100mb fibre connection to UPC).

I have an X7 which is upstairs and not quite directly over head and it gets 30mb download and the same upload.

An alternative might be to use Powerline adapters like http://www.amazon.co.uk/TP-Link-PA411KIT-AV500-Powerline-Adapter/dp/B0084Y9N3O. If you can get them to work (I couldn't because of the way my house is wired) they would provide a more reliable and higher performing supply of broadband than WiFi.

baingal nancer · 29-09-2014 5:42pm

Anyone know how I can get xbmc on my hanspree tablet? Every time I download it it loads but does nt open just brings back to my home screen,tried frodo and Gotham

baingal nancer · 29-09-2014 5:43pm

Anyone know how I can get xbmc on my hanspree tablet? Every time I download it it loads but does nt open just brings back to my home screen,tried frodo and Gotham

dahat · 30-09-2014 9:25am

Anyone recommend a VPN to use with XBMC, using Hola on the laptop but unsure how to work one through XBMC.

BenEadir · 30-09-2014 9:36am

dahat wrote: »

Anyone recommend a VPN to use with XBMC, using Hola on the laptop but unsure how to work one through XBMC.

Sign up for an account with www.privateinternetaccess.com then download their App https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.privateinternetaccess.android then set that up for the country you want to "be in" and you're in business.

A single account will let you have up to 5 instances working at the same time so I have it on two media boxes set to the USA to help expand the titles I can access through a popular tv/movie app and I have it on a home PC, laptop and my own phone.

dahat · 30-09-2014 10:07am

BenEadir wrote: »

Sign up for an account with www.privateinternetaccess.com then download their App https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.privateinternetaccess.android then set that up for the country you want to "be in" and you're in business.

A single account will let you have up to 5 instances working at the same time so I have it on two media boxes set to the USA to help expand the titles I can access through a popular tv/movie app and I have it on a home PC, laptop and my own phone.

Exactly what I was after, thanks a lot.

Just looking to access some sporting content from the US and hopefully this will allow me to.

Thanks again.

Missymoohaa · 30-09-2014 12:00pm

BenEadir wrote: »

Sign up for an account with www.privateinternetaccess.com then download their App https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.privateinternetaccess.android then set that up for the country you want to "be in" and you're in business.

A single account will let you have up to 5 instances working at the same time so I have it on two media boxes set to the USA to help expand the titles I can access through a popular tv/movie app and I have it on a home PC, laptop and my own phone.

Hi Ben

Can you just help me out a bit here. I've had unblockus on my tablets for ages. No problems. I now have XBMC on both tellies so got rid of it. I'm trying to see the benefit of getting it back. I don't watch netflix anymore (no need to) so what could I gain through XBMC by having a vpn service. I'm all for it, if I can get something useful. Many thanks.

illdoit2morrow · 30-09-2014 12:49pm

dahat wrote: »

Anyone recommend a VPN to use with XBMC, using Hola on the laptop but unsure how to work one through XBMC.

https://www.vpnicity.com/

BenEadir · 30-09-2014 2:08pm

Missymoohaa wrote: »

Hi Ben

Can you just help me out a bit here. I've had unblockus on my tablets for ages. No problems. I now have XBMC on both tellies so got rid of it. I'm trying to see the benefit of getting it back. I don't watch netflix anymore (no need to) so what could I gain through XBMC by having a vpn service. I'm all for it, if I can get something useful. Many thanks.

Not sure you'd get any benefit if you are only using XBMC.

I use Netflix and I also use BBC iPlayer a good bit so the VPN comes in handy for those. I don't use XBMC that much for live streaming of movies or sport as I find too many of the sources either don't work or are poor quality.

My use is

Netflix (USA) for movies
XBMC for streaming downloaded content from my NAS (mostly TV series and movies not on Netflix)
BBC iPlayer for programs I want to catch up on
A paid sports streaming app for live sports.

I am going to spend some time seeing if I can get vdub25's live TV and either iStream or Genesis working over the next week or so.

Kristopherus · 30-09-2014 2:35pm

Thargor wrote: »

With regards to live tv, does anyone find XBMC to be better at this than the likes of the FilmOn app? I was happy with FilmOn for a long time but its gone really bad lately, horrible interface aswell.

How is the Irish live tv streaming on XBMC these days?

I find the Irish TV app a bit iffy. TV 3 is the only station I can watch live. For live TV I use vdubt25.

Cantona's Collars · 30-09-2014 2:53pm

Anyone used this? http://addons.xbmc.org/show/plugin.video.nbcsnliveextra/

You need a US vpn though.

dahat · 30-09-2014 3:19pm

zerks wrote: »

Anyone used this? http://addons.xbmc.org/show/plugin.video.nbcsnliveextra/

You need a US vpn though.

Reason behind my posts earlier.

onlyme! · 30-09-2014 4:33pm

threein99 wrote: »

Trying to watch the Sopranos season 1 on iStream and it's a bit if a disaster, dead link after dead link

sopranos is available on mashup using the Mbox links

Ste- · 30-09-2014 4:36pm

Can you not setup istream to autoplay ?
Shouldn't that filter through the links till it finds a proper one ?
I think this is how it works on genesis. Not 100% sure on istream.

Missymoohaa · 30-09-2014 6:37pm

BenEadir wrote: »

Not sure you'd get any benefit if you are only using XBMC.

I use Netflix and I also use BBC iPlayer a good bit so the VPN comes in handy for those. I don't use XBMC that much for live streaming of movies or sport as I find too many of the sources either don't work or are poor quality.

My use is

Netflix (USA) for movies
XBMC for streaming downloaded content from my NAS (mostly TV series and movies not on Netflix)
BBC iPlayer for programs I want to catch up on
A paid sports streaming app for live sports.

I am going to spend some time seeing if I can get vdub25's live TV and either iStream or Genesis working over the next week or so.

I have all of above, vdubs live tv works well most of the time, I find sky sports news sometimes doesn't. Genesis is brilliant, I watch everything on that, loads of my fav stuff saved into favourites and never had a problem. Well worth adding, watching season 1 of upstairs downstairs circa 1970s at the moment, great stuff. The newer tv stuff in full hd is fantastic. Enjoy.

JTMan · 01-10-2014 1:00pm

I am thinking about taking the plunge by purchasing an Android box with XBMC. I have a few novice questions for you experts.

1. Am I right in saying that the XBMC app runs on the Android TV box which then can be controlled via a separate app on your Android smartphone?

2. How easy is it to get the Irish channels via this? Does the RTE Player work app on the box? Does the RTE Player work via the Chrome browser? Are there ways to add the Irish channels to the XBMC IPTV channel lists?

3. Is it worth the extra expense for a MiniX X8 like this ( 104.90 GBP ) over a full loaded M8 here ( 77.99 GBP )? I am not importing from China as i will not be at home to pay customs.

Many thanks.

timetogo · 01-10-2014 2:14pm

JTMan wrote: »

I am thinking about taking the plunge by purchasing an Android box with XBMC. I have a few novice questions for you experts.

1. Am I right in saying that the XBMC app runs on the Android TV box which then can be controlled via a separate app on your Android smartphone?

2. How easy is it to get the Irish channels via this? Does the RTE Player work app on the box? Does the RTE Player work via the Chrome browser? Are there ways to add the Irish channels to the XBMC IPTV channel lists?

3. Is it worth the extra expense for a MiniX X8 like this ( 104.90 GBP ) over a full loaded M8 here ( 77.99 GBP )? I am not importing from China as i will not be at home to pay customs.

Many thanks.

1 - Yes. I use Yatse. Brilliant app. It costs €2 or €3.

2 - Not sure about RTE player. I think it works. You can get RTE player plugins for XBMC. I had it working before but barely used it. As for getting live channels. I haven't seen RTE streamed live.

3 - Dunno. That box uses the S802 chipset so probably better to compare with

http://www.amazon.co.uk/MINIX-Amlogic-Bluetooth-Installed-Ethernet-BLACK/dp/B00L6TIWRM/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1412168710&sr=8-5&keywords=minix+x8

The S802-h has hardware decoding. The S802 use software. Dunno if this makes much of a difference in the real world.

On that Amazon link it doesn't say how much memory / storage is on the M8 box. That'd be a bit of a worry. If it's not listed I'd imagine it's the lower end of the market.

Don't worry about "fully loaded". They'll all come with XBMC and there are millions of easy to follow videos on YouTube to install the different plugins. Takes about 5 minutes.
As for apps like Showbox it takes about 1 google search to get that set up.

eamonnq · 01-10-2014 2:40pm

zerks wrote: »

Anyone used this? http://addons.xbmc.org/show/plugin.video.nbcsnliveextra/

You need a US vpn though.

Do you need an NBC account for this to work ?

branners69 · 01-10-2014 3:46pm

timetogo wrote: »

2 - Not sure about RTE player. I think it works. You can get RTE player plugins for XBMC. I had it working before but barely used it. As for getting live channels. I haven't seen RTE streamed live.

This is a great add on, you will need to sign up to Wiziwig to download it. It has RTE, RTE 2, RTE News and RTE JR channels streaming live in different qualities.

RTE 2 HD is superb quality but it seems to suffer from buffering!

Here is a link to a new version (1.0.1) which I have not tested, it adds RTE 1 HD!

livEwirE · 01-10-2014 4:35pm

Has anyone come across a currently working addon that will provide a live stream of TV3?

user2011 · 01-10-2014 5:16pm

eamonnq wrote: »

Do you need an NBC account for this to work ?

Just a VPN with a server in the US.

illdoit2morrow · 01-10-2014 5:29pm

branners69 wrote: »

This is a great add on, you will need to sign up to Wiziwig to download it. It has RTE, RTE 2, RTE News and RTE JR channels streaming live in different qualities.

RTE 2 HD is superb quality but it seems to suffer from buffering!

Here is a link to a new version (1.0.1) which I have not tested, it adds RTE 1 HD!

Is that an XBMC addon or something that works from within Android?

I signed up and glanced over the thread, it sounds like some fm4 thingy needs to be in place beforehand, just wondering if it is with in XBMC or just on Android.

branners69 · 01-10-2014 6:11pm

illdoit2morrow wrote: »

Is that an XBMC addon or something that works from within Android?

I signed up and glanced over the thread, it sounds like some fm4 thingy needs to be in place beforehand, just wondering if it is with in XBMC or just on Android.

It is an XBMC add on, just install from the zip. It worked for me using Gotham 13.2, Kodi and SPMC on a Minix 8, Win 8 laptop and Nexus 7.

iba · 02-10-2014 4:20pm

Was checking out vDubt's p2p streams last nite on Gotham 13.2 and my box kept crashing. Just me or anyone else?

I note that vDubt actually recommends Frodo and Gotham 13.1 as most stable - any opinions/thoughts on that guys?

Anyone using Kodi (the latest version) yet?

threein99 · 02-10-2014 5:52pm

Ste- wrote: »

Can you not setup istream to autoplay ?
Shouldn't that filter through the links till it finds a proper one ?
I think this is how it works on genesis. Not 100% sure on istream.

Didnt know you could do that ? how do you set that up ?

Craigels · 02-10-2014 9:15pm

Hi I'm new to this and interested in trying it out I was looking at the x8 h box is this a good one to get I'm looking at replacing my sky+ set up to this. I have Efiber with 40mbps speeds is that good enough? is there a way to have the series link also?

branners69 · 03-10-2014 8:43am

Just wondering has anyone setup any emulators in XBMC? I was looking at a You Tube clip using App Launcher to run a NES emulator. I am hoping to run Mame for some old school arcade games!

I should be able to hook up my PS3 remote as the controller and on a 150" projector it should look the business!

Ste- · 03-10-2014 8:51am

threein99 wrote: »

Didnt know you could do that ? how do you set that up ?

Go to video add-ons > istream > Tvshows or movies whatever you want to play then general then AutoPlay needs to be ticked.

For Genesis it's in the addon setting in system > settings.

advertsfox · 03-10-2014 8:53am

Purchased an MK808 off Amazon + USB to Ethernet - actually had an MK808B I bought for the auld lad (gave him a Chromecast + Plex instead) but shorted it.

Going to load up XMBC as the login application, use it for DLNA + my paid Sports Streams (all Premiership, La Liga, Champions League ect. in HD).

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

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