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TV Box Buyer's Guide - An Answer To The Question, "Which Box Should I Buy"

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    TV Box Buyer's Guide - An Answer To The Question, "Which Box Should I Buy"

    Hello Freaktab readers, I often see this question asked. I do not have experience with a lot of boxes, but offer some general advice. Hopefully it will help to insure a pleasant TV Box experience.
    These are just the ones I could think of, please feel free to add to the list. I am trying to do this in a generic way and I am not offering or looking for opinions of one brand or the other
    ..

    1. Try to find a box that has good support(following) on Freaktab.
    2. Try to find a box who's seller/maker has representatives active on Freaktab.
    3. Go to the seller's or maker's site, and see what sort of support they make available to users(forum, firmwares, etc.).

    4. You think you have found the TV Box you want to buy. Before pushing "buy now", go back to Freaktab and review the section covering the device you want. This will give you a good idea on how satisfied you will be with your choice. Better to know before you spend your dough.
    5. The more info you have, the better decision you will make. Freaktab is a veritable university of info. A little time spent on Freaktab, could save endless hours/days/nights, of both virtual and actual misery.
    6. Caveat emptor. It's a minefield out there.

    Special note to those new to buying from Chinese e-retailers.
    Buying from these sites can allow for some good prices on these devices. But receiving the item can, sometimes, take much longer than you might think. You might get a product in under a week, however, due to actual stock or transportation complications, you may wait much longer(3-4 weeks or more). If you buy a "presale" item, it can be even longer. So while you will likely receive your device, the wait might be longer than you had hoped. If you accept this, life will be much easier.
    Often the new-to-China buyer can get frustrated to the point of anger. You can save yourself a lot of anger, if you know and accept the possible delivery time drawbacks. You may get yours in the time promised, most probably do, but if you don't, a little patience might save your sanity. Please keep this in mind when inquiring to the seller, "you can catch more flies with honey, than you can with vinegar". Verbally attacking them may not be your best strategy. And also keep this in mind, you are communicating with another human being, likely they are not the cause of the problem. Like many of us, they are just working stiffs without authority to make the necessary changes to the company. Also language barriers exist, and though neither is at fault, this can lead to additional frustration for buyers and sellers.
    If you prefer not to wait and wonder, many boxes are available through Amazon, but you will likely pay a good bit more for the same device.
    Have Fun!


    Last edited by RISCy Dude; 11-06-2015, 04:24.

    #2
    Well.. in my opinion

    7. Try to avoid these brands.. eny, acemax, measy -there support starts and ends after the device hits the market
    Well known relatively good brands are.. Bee-link (netxeon), Rikomagic, Ugoos, Wetek, Minix, Mygica, HPH, Zoomtak
    -Tronfy and Tronsmart : buy..and rebrand devices (most are from netxeon, currently)

    8. Buy only devices with a OTG port.. as it makes recovery allot quicker

    9. If you are new to Android tvboxes.. it wise to go for : 2GB ram / 16GB / Android 5.1 or higher
    -try to avoid.. CS918/rk3188 there just to many version/revisions
    -try to avoid.. allwinner CPU's.. there little support/development for these units (if yo do seek one,make sure that there's a stockfirmware available..some good allwinner makers :Mele,Vidon,Zidoo,Trigpot)

    Try to buy a unit that has custom ROMs available

    Never trust..the specs/reviews posted on resellers/**** sites like;
    (4k fhd , Dolby, DTS, h.265, Netflix, antutu scores, OTA,CPU ghz )
    -AndroidPC.Es , cnx-software , freaktab are good sources to find the true story

    Try to avoid expensive units..as your expectations will be high.. and your disappointed could be crushing

    10. Never assume that a new firmware is better.. wait for user feedback prior to upgrading
    -if you have no issues with your current firmware, then don't upgrade
    -rooting and firmware upgrades allways come with the risks..of bricking

    P's, If do find your self in problems.. bricked/bootloop/bugs.. ect and you seek a solution on freaktab
    Try to figure-out the units name..see if there is a forum with that name..and see if there is a sticky or FAQ
    Do a search on freaktab.. (device name + issue ) prior to posting your issue in a new post
    Last edited by mitchell4you; 02-12-2017, 15:26. Reason: updated...to reflect 2017

    Comment


      #3
      Nice work guys..Im going to make this topic a sticky

      Do a search on freaktab.. (device name + issue ) prior to posting your issue in a new post
      Couldn't agree more,Perfect

      I tend to use google to search on freaktab
      Please consider making a Donation to freakTab

      Comment


        #4
        When ordering from a region that may incur importation/VAT and other such additional delivery charges, always adjust your budget accordingly.

        If you get away with them, then it's a bonus saving.
        R-TV BOX S10, Beebox N3150, Chuwi Hibox, Nvidia Shield, A95X Max

        Comment


          #5
          great post, great forum, freaktab offers great value and great experience

          Comment


            #6
            Very good additions. Thanks, and please keep them coming.
            It's my first "sticky"! Thanks blinkone.

            Comment


              #7
              hi guys , today wich device you recommended to buy , rock chip , amologic or intel based ? Most important for me is find the software for it.Actualy wich is most suported? In 7-8 day i have buy it.
              Thx



              Comment


                #8
                Hello SARACONNOR, This thread is just a general buying guide. I meant to close it a while back, but it slipped my mind.
                ​​​​​​You might do better to pose your question over here.

                Cheers.

                Comment


                  #9
                  I have the green screen problem with my current Tv box (T95Z Plus).
                  I would like to buy another one witch supports the "Force RGB" option with Android or OpenElec. I will use it mainly for Kodi.
                  Can someone please help me to choose a box?

                  Comment


                    #10
                    please which box is the best for kodi ? i want a box without blocks and frezee and restart or the same .



                    Comment


                      #11
                      perhaps is better to buy a mini pc , for example : zotac pc.

                      Comment


                        #12
                        scuse me i've not read mitchell4you , thankyou very much very good job.

                        Comment


                          #13
                          Hmmm... interesting read


                          Rockchip 3288 vs intel Z8350
                          It's interesting to see that the Atom is still 28% slower than the RK3288 here. Both have the same memory bandwidth (DDR3-1600, 64 bits). However there is a very interesting point in favor of the Atom. It's etched in 14nm vs 28nm for the RK3288. It's 4 times smaller. And during the builds, it remains completely cold, even when the fan is unplugged. Touching either the heatsink or the board under the CPU doesn't make it possible to detect if it's powered or not! That's a very important point to consider because on the MiQi, a large heatsink is required to sustain 1.92 GHz otherwise after a few minutes the CPU starts to throttle down to 1.6-1.8 GHz to remain below 90 degrees and there the Atom can start to become competitive again.

                          On the price point, the board is obviously more expensive than an ARM board but not that much, and actually is very cheap for an x86 board (~$90 with everything on it), while most x86 boards require that you add your own storage and sometimes even RAM.
                          Wierd... the rk3288 is like 3y old...

                          Comment


                            #14
                            Yes, but it is a bit of apples vs oranges thing, as the Atoms are CISC devices and the 3288 is RISC device.

                            CISC=Complex Instruction Set Computing, multi clock cycle per instruction.
                            RISC=Reduced Instruction Set Computing, single clock cycle per instruction.

                            After reading most of that dense article, I was surprised to see where AMD stood in the comparisons. While much of that article sails over my head, it was still good to read.

                            The tests being performed in that article may not represent the kind of "use" most of us are using these devices for here, but interesting nonetheless.

                            Thanks for posting the article mitchell4you.
                            Last edited by RISCy Dude; 01-14-2017, 22:46.

                            Comment


                              #15
                              what is the best brand below usd67. i scout around stumble on bee link aml s912 32gb priced around 65+.

                              Comment

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