Purchase Advice

[Sandyzoo]

Hi all,
While on holiday recently in Spain, the apartment I was staying in had an Android box - an M8 (square black box with a little triangle led on the front).

It was a great little box and allowed us to watch almost, ahem, *any* movie via an app called Go Movies running on XBMC. It also allowed us to watch UK tv live and on-demand.

I am now looking for something like this for my home. Turns out this is a minefield. There seem to be many to choose from.

I also have a Synology Diskstation that runs as a DNLA server - it would be useful to be able to play media via this also and possibly also via a USB hard drive.

I am quite IT literate and am happy to spend time setting this up.

I know that this could be an annoying question, but would anyone recommend this M8 box, or an alternative. I would appreciate the advice. Although I am IT literate, I have no experience with Android at all. I generally have had iPhones. Perhaps its time to change this!

[jakewalton4]

It depends what your budget is. You can get something that'll do the job for £40, or you can pay double and have a box that's twice as fast.
An M8 will be up there with best performace, but if you're willing to play around trying different firmware, or even attempting to flash with Linux, look for an AML8726-MX box (usually around £40-50)

[prahjister]

MK808B

These little ones are a beast for the price..Rock solid...May not be the fastest but strong on the software side. Super inexspesive. I have a similar setup.. I have a nas drive with smb share...works perfectly.

I am exited to see how the rk3288's work...

[Sandyzoo]

Thanks for the replies.
I guess I could budget around £150 max? Happy to do a little updating etc. I notice looking at the forums here it seems that people provide "clean" updates / Roms for good clean installations. I am really looking for streaming mainly, rather than library management.

I'm still no clearer on which box to buy (or where to buy it from!)

[mike808]

Get the S82B, it's the latest and best for 1080p videos output and playback and you can get it for around 100 bucks u.s. on aliexpress.

[blinkone]

Get the S82B, it's the latest and best for 1080p videos output and playback and you can get it for around 100 bucks u.s. on aliexpress.

Beelink m8 £76.95
http://www.****.co.uk/itm/Beelink-M8...item4ad478992f

Minix x8-h £104.90

http://www.****.co.uk/itm/Minix-Neo-...item540a08cbd2

Cx-919 £31.80
http://www.****.co.uk/itm/1713092132...84.m1423.l2648

Or you could wait for the Freakbox Project

http://freakbox-project.com/

[Sandyzoo]

Thank you.
So..looking t these two:

Beelink m8 £76.95
http://www.****.co.uk/itm/Beelink-M8...item4ad478992f

Minix x8-h £104.90
http://www.****.co.uk/itm/Minix-Neo-...item540a08cbd2

Both look great... but I am struggling to see the difference. Is the more expensive one actually any better?

[MrMangolini]

Thank you.
So..looking t these two:

Beelink m8 £76.95
http://www.****.co.uk/itm/Beelink-M8...item4ad478992f

Minix x8-h £104.90
http://www.****.co.uk/itm/Minix-Neo-...item540a08cbd2

Both look great... but I am struggling to see the difference. Is the more expensive one actually any better?

Bumping thread.. and this specific post in fact, as I find myself in the same quandry as Sandyzoo..

It is very difficult for a new user to know where to start from the comments in the forum.

I am also looking at the above two, and also this (<-lnk there), but they all seem the same with no discernible differences ? I see some comments on rebooting problems, overheating - but none the wiser as to the likelyhood of that being the case with these boxes.

Personally, I'm looking for a device which plays 1080p - unlikely to be high bandwidth stuff - without resizing so pixel-to-pixel, and music, which I will take from an SPDIF output to my DAC. So it's got to process Dolby Digital into 2.0 channel I suppose? I would also like it to be unaltered, so getting the maximum audio quality. I won't be playing 4K or bothering with Android stuff.

If there is such a device, preferably that works out of the box, one of the ones listed above or another will do this and will not explode or spoof cores, please would somebody be so kind as to point me in the right direction.. As I've been trying to make sense of the posts in this forum for about 3 weeks now and am absolutely dumbfounded!

Is it normal to have tons of issues and firmware gripes, instability and self destruction? I mean on paper they sound like the EXACT solution to the requirements I have specified above - but there's a feeling of doom and gloom relating to these products in the forums...

Please help.

[MrMangolini]

@ SandyZoo

Check out this thread : http://www.freaktab.com/showthread.p...EAD-THIS-FIRST

The Beelink is basically a clone of that.

Can't say I feel too encouraged, personally... it's as if issues and gripes are to be expected.

Maybe it's better to wait for a more stable product? I dunno.. hard to tell how common problems are.

Be handy if a regular could comment.

[revsignup]

@ SandyZoo

Check out this thread : http://www.freaktab.com/showthread.p...EAD-THIS-FIRST

The Beelink is basically a clone of that.

Can't say I feel too encouraged, personally... it's as if issues and gripes are to be expected.

Maybe it's better to wait for a more stable product? I dunno.. hard to tell how common problems are.

Be handy if a regular could comment.

I have an amazon fire tv and it runs XBMC very well. I have heard Ouya is also very good. Both of these boxes are more polished. I understand that there is alot of community support for these Chinese boxes and some great effort, but it's because the Chinese factories are putting out Crap that these people have to make custom roms. I bought a CMX from Geek Buying and it was a mistake. I am an engineer and write software for a living and what was on the box out of the factory is what we call 'tested for the happy path'...It kinda works as long as you don't put any real demand on it. I understand the challenge and reward of getting one of these boxes to perform better, but for the average consumer it's too much hassle.

My 2 cents. Buy something that will run openelec well (chrome box or Intel Nuc) or get a fire TV or Ouya.
Life is too short to spend it trying to get crap to work.

[bluesmanuk]

For video, right now, based on what is available, the Minix x8-H seems the best.

You can get it from Futeko in the UK.

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

From what I have read, Beelink products don't seem to be very reliable and the support isn't as good as Minix.

There are a raft of new RK3288 boxes supposedly just about to hit the horizon such as the Ugoos UT3 that might be worth a look in terms of latest spec with things such as HDMI 2, theoretically giving you a product with a longer support life span.

The Freakbox also looks an interesting item, being created by the devs on here and with a guaranteed 2 year support, with pre orders being taken, with shipping from the UK as well.

In terms of physical hardware support, I'd pay the little extra and get it from the EU/UK, so that you are covered by trading laws.

[Asley]

That depends on what you are wanting it to do. If XBMC is your thing you might desire to see at the Mygica Android. I am a proud and happy owner of mygica services.

[trebor]

+1 for the Amazon Fire TV
ON sale now in UK and Germany now or very soon.
It just works, its a bit full on Amazon but can be Doctored to fix all that

http://www.aftvnews.com/amazon-fire-tv-now-available-for-pre-order-in-the-uk-and-germany/

Cheers

[heirera]

definitely this one, especially the price is falling now.

http://www.amazon.com/Tronfy-R89-Mali-T764-Streaming-Bluetooth/dp/B00N0AVXOY/

[Sandyzoo]

I am still no closer to making a decision! I have been holding out for the Freakbox... but this has been delayed unfortunately, with no indication of when it might be released.

Stick or twist?