Best Android MiniTV 2014

[poikilo]

Hi all

Sorry to sound like a noob, but i have no option.
I have been on the search for a nice miniTV but there are so many variants out there.
So which is the best or top 5 of the best RK3188 device ?

My requirements
- Need to be able to buy through Amazon
- Stable stock ROM
- Decent availability of Custom ROM

[rdsok]

You are asking at poor time to have a lot of choices... Rockchip released a cheaper and inferior chip named the RK3188-T which is a few dollars cheaper than the RK3188 itself... almost all manufacturers have switch to it ( without really testing ). Right now, there is only one company I know of that still uses the RK3188 and it's their top end units by Minix the Neo x7 and Neo x7 mini. These are great units and do have a lot of custom ROM options. There are also other companies just starting or have said they were going to use the RK3188's again in future releases... but I haven't seen them for sale yet.

In addition Amlogic and Rockchip both are on the verge of releasing their next generation of chips which will come out soon... only it's unknown when exactly in these situations but some companies have started pre-selling the Amlogics already.

[SUNUN]

You are asking at poor time to have a lot of choices... Rockchip released a cheaper and inferior chip named the RK3188-T which is a few dollars cheaper than the RK3188 itself... almost all manufacturers have switch to it ( without really testing ). Right now, there is only one company I know of that still uses the RK3188 and it's their top end units by Minix the Neo x7 and Neo x7 mini. These are great units and do have a lot of custom ROM options. There are also other companies just starting or have said they were going to use the RK3188's again in future releases... but I haven't seen them for sale yet.

In addition Amlogic and Rockchip both are on the verge of releasing their next generation of chips which will come out soon... only it's unknown when exactly in these situations but some companies have started pre-selling the Amlogics already.

what about Rikomagic MK902? I asked their aliexpress store about that and they answer that there is RK3188.

[feegus]

If you want it to be simple easy and cheap just get an Ouya.

[poikilo]

You are asking at poor time to have a lot of choices... Rockchip released a cheaper and inferior chip named the RK3188-T which is a few dollars cheaper than the RK3188 itself... almost all manufacturers have switch to it ( without really testing ). Right now, there is only one company I know of that still uses the RK3188 and it's their top end units by Minix the Neo x7 and Neo x7 mini. These are great units and do have a lot of custom ROM options. There are also other companies just starting or have said they were going to use the RK3188's again in future releases... but I haven't seen them for sale yet.

In addition Amlogic and Rockchip both are on the verge of releasing their next generation of chips which will come out soon... only it's unknown when exactly in these situations but some companies have started pre-selling the Amlogics already.

Thanks.
What about timingpowers RK3188 based TV ?

http://www.amazon.com/RK3188-Quad-core-Bluetooth-headphone-standard/dp/B00AZR1TG2/ref=cm_cd_ql_qh_dp_t#productDetails

And what about the slew of mk808 and mk808b ?
Which company's mk808 is legit. Link if possible.

If you want it to be simple easy and cheap just get an Ouya.

Ouya has very limited use for me. I live in a country where netflix and hulu are nonexistant. So is
pandora. I wanna be able to use an micro sd card or ext hard drive for media. And Ouys is more for gamaing than anythting else.

[feegus]

Ouya has very limited use for me. I live in a country where netflix and hulu are nonexistant. So is
pandora. I wanna be able to use an micro sd card or ext hard drive for media. And Ouys is more for gamaing than anythting else.

Do you even xbmc brah?

[dan.kels.r]

Lol +1. Side note I have the mk902 running neos custom rom with patched vsync kernel and using beyond xbmc beta 3.3 and alls well. Best setup I've used in an android TV box.

Do you even xbmc brah?

[rdsok]

I'd be very reluctant to try to qualify whether a device that is advertised as a RK3188 really is or has a RK3188T instead.

Example of why... Geekbuying, one of the top resellers, seemed to be unaware that they were carrying RK3188T's until it was brought to their attention. So the questions becomes ... did they know and not advertise it or ... were they simply not told by the manufacturer? Once they knew, it only took a week or two for them to go through their product pages and change the descriptions to show most all of what they carried were indeed RK3188T's

There are certainly honest and reputable Chinese manufacturers and resellers out there no doubt... but there are also a lot of them that out right lie ( or simply don't know better or possibly even care ) about the products they carry. The manufacturers are always stealing others designs and copying the products from other companies claiming they are originals ( or like the original at least ) and then later changing them ( by using different internal chipsets etc ) without telling anyone.

So for these questions about this device or that one... All I can say is do you really trust the reseller? Do you know for a fact that the reseller themselves verify the product to be what they are advertising. Most of us, myself included, simply don't have enough experience with any one reseller much less all of them that exist... to really answer questions like if this device or that one is really what it is advertised as.

I know that Minix has said they would never use the RK3188T chip in their products... I've also seen that Ugoos UT2 won't be using the T chip... but I'm uncertain about the rest of their products since I've not hear about it. I've not heard about other companies one way or the other... so I'd be reluctant to guess which way they choose to go in.

[PolloLoco]

Thanks.
What about timingpowers RK3188 based TV ?

http://www.amazon.com/RK3188-Quad-core-Bluetooth-headphone-standard/dp/B00AZR1TG2/ref=cm_cd_ql_qh_dp_t#productDetails

And what about the slew of mk808 and mk808b ?
Which company's mk808 is legit. Link if possible.




Ouya has very limited use for me. I live in a country where netflix and hulu are nonexistant. So is
pandora. I wanna be able to use an micro sd card or ext hard drive for media. And Ouys is more for gamaing than anythting else.

I'm tryingout the Timingpower Rk3188, and so far the biggest problem is that it has the frameskip issue that was solved in most other Rk3188 devices 5 months ago. I notified the company about a week ago, and provided a sample video but am still waiting for a reply. If they don't fix it, I can't recommend it because dual core devices play video much smoother.

Besides that, bluetooth is pretty poor. On the bright side, I can see the chip through the cooling vents and it appears to be a true rRk3188, no T.

In short, if the video isn't fixed, I am returning it to Amazon.

[sedj]

The biggest concern for me if buying again would be wifi, its all good having the processing power but it' s nada if the wifi has poor performance.

These things are tiny and have no proper antenna even those that have a tiny antenna can't be of much use. You need to look at proper tv boxes and not sticks spend around £80+ and you should be ok.

[Finless]

I now have a few devices with 3188T and sorry but it is CRAP!

We barely got 3188 sticks working right recently and the 3188T just sucks DICK on everything. You can't even OC the GPU! Most 3188T's cant OC past 1.6 yet ALL my 3188's OC to 1.8 perfectly even without a heat sink! I have NO IDEA what RockChip was thinking by making the 3188T. I think they had silicon fallout making 3188's and decided to use them as 3188T's and offer a cheaper proc. Might be fine for some applications BUT NOT when we can barely get full blow 3188 chips to rock video playback!

Why are the TV sticks getting these POS proc's? It's the TV stick makers doing this. Profit margins are LOW so they are all using them now. STUPID!

TV stick makers! ATTENTION PLEASE! Stop using the 3188T or NO ONE will buy them! They can't do what is needed! PLEASE STOP!

If RK TV sticks will now come with this by default... STAY AWAY! They SUCK! I know... I have been testing and working with them now... They run almost NO BETTER than a 3066!

I am looking forward to the AML Quad Core myself. For video playing my OLD AML dual core boxes out perform ANY RK device I have for video playback! Games and what not suck on AML but video without a doubt is rockin! I think the AML quads maybe a RK killer! But we shall see

FYI, To this day my BEST and most USED RK boxes are my Minix X7 and my CX-919 both running 4.2.2 JB.
However, I recently started using my JynxBox M6 and even my wife noticed the difference in video color, quality, and streaming! So that is what I am using right now as my "Wife Friendly" box .

RockChip... Special message to you..... Competition is coming your way! The 3188T was a big mistake for TV players! We thank you for that (NOT), but soon that landscape may change for the better of users


Some of the Dev's here like me, are ramping up on AML knowledge. It's time to go where FreakTab has not been before (except for me and Shaunmt), and that is AML. That is, not a RK dominated forum!
If the AML quad chips work well, expect a massive change in where Dev's are focused!
I am already talking to my Dev's here about getting them AML hardware. So expect something new soon

Bob

[poikilo]

Do you even xbmc brah?

Yes.

Lol +1. Side note I have the mk902 running neos custom rom with patched vsync kernel and using beyond xbmc beta 3.3 and alls well. Best setup I've used in an android TV box.

mk908 by tronsmart ? I see so many Mk devices, i cannot decipher which is legit and which isnt. A link would be useful.

I'd be very reluctant to try to qualify whether a device that is advertised as a RK3188 really is or has a RK3188T instead.

Example of why...
I know that Minix has said they would never use the RK3188T chip in their products... I've also seen that Ugoos UT2 won't be using the T chip... but I'm uncertain about the rest of their products since I've not hear about it. I've not heard about other companies one way or the other... so I'd be reluctant to guess which way they choose to go in.

So Minix and Ugoos T2 is the best option ?

I'm tryingout the Timingpower Rk3188, and so far the biggest problem is that it has the frameskip issue that was solved in most other Rk3188 devices 5 months ago. I notified the company about a week ago, and provided a sample video but am still waiting for a reply. If they don't fix it, I can't recommend it because dual core devices play video much smoother.
Besides that, bluetooth is pretty poor. On the bright side, I can see the chip through the cooling vents and it appears to be a true rRk3188, no T.
In short, if the video isn't fixed, I am returning it to Amazon.

Ok thanks for the review.

I now have a few devices with 3188T and sorry but it is CRAP!
We barely got 3188 sticks working right recently and the 3188T just sucks DICK on everything. You can't even OC the GPU! Most 3188T's cant OC past 1.6 yet ALL my 3188's OC to 1.8 perfectly even without a heat sink! I have NO IDEA what RockChip was thinking by making the 3188T. I think they had silicon f
However, I recently started using my JynxBox M6 and even my wife noticed the difference in video color, quality, and streaming! So that is what I am using right now as my "Wife Friendly" box .

RockChip... Special message to you..... Competition is coming your way! The 3188T was a big mistake for TV players! We thank you for that (NOT), but soon that landscape may change for the better of users
Some of the Dev's here like me, are ramping up on AML knowledge. It's time to go where FreakTab has not been before (except for me and Shaunmt), and that is AML. That is, not a RK dominated forum!
If the AML quad chips work well, expect a massive change in where Dev's are focused!
I am already talking to my Dev's here about getting them AML hardware. So expect something new soon

Bob

What you said makes complete sense and since my priority is video streaming as you said Minix X7 and CX-919 and Jynxbox m6 are good.
Any amazon links to above for legit products. I'm tired of seeing so many mk devices from different resellers with different looks. Hard to tell the legit from fakes.

[scooter2014]

Bob what you said is 100 percent true never mind the suppliers that got stuck with defective products and pissed off customers.

I was lucky and able to return every shipment at a cost to us. Looking forward to testjng New boxes. Without the developers here we would had a massive issue as in Canada its called fraud when you sell something not as advertised.

Only way we can send message back to manufaccure is to simply not order more.

[rdsok]

So Minix and Ugoos T2 is the best option ?

Those were both known RK3188 devices...

The Minix x7 and x7 mini is probably the best quality ones out there IMO... the Ugoos UT2 may also be good also but I haven't seen one and they haven't been released yet, so I have no idea on it's quality.

An additional benefit to the Minix is that many dev's also make custom ROM's for them which increases your choices of ROM's to select from. Minix also updates their ROM's for their devices quite often, unlike many companies that release a couple of updates at most and then drop support.

[Pluto]

We're using a technology whos manufacturers dont seem to have a roadmap for, pretty messed up. Bulky edited cpu chips, old wifi draft chips, usb 2.0 tied components, basically computers made out of over-produced chips and waste resources that made it to fabrication.

RK should just free the sh!t out of every code so that their chips could be mocked hardcore from the people, they are the root cause of the issue, it's a bigger benefit then being scared from getting copied

i agree with the wrong timing on purchasing, those companies seem to have something new every 6 months, we're on the end of a cycle defo