Another, Which TV Box should I buy???

[twisted skill]

Hey guys whats going on? Well As u see I am new here, found the site and came to learn and research and make some new friends... A buddy introduced me into these stream boxes. and I wanna know what Should I buy??? I want a really good one with great CS and support. Firmwares mods and apps. I want to stream TV shows, Movies, Games ehh if they are good. But mainly for watching and PPV LIVE!

What do you guys recommend?

What is it I should be looking for?

I was looking at that Android M8 Box, is that any Good? Or is there better out there?

Thanks guys and any links or anything u recommend me read, post it!

[RISCy Dude]

Many are fans of the recently released nVidea Shield. But that is a $200(USD)-$300(USD) box. How much are you willing to spend for one of these devices? That will help determine which device best suits your needs. Customer support varies from non-existant to adequate. How well the device is supported here at Freaktab, should be a factor in your decision.
Do you just want Android? Or is Linux, Windows or a dual-boot capability important to you.
Good luck.

[twisted skill]

Many are fans of the recently released nVidea Shield. But that is a $200(USD)-$300(USD) box. How much are you willing to spend for one of these devices? That will help determine which device best suits your needs. Customer support varies from non-existant to adequate. How well the device is supported here at Freaktab, should be a factor in your decision.
Do you just want Android? Or is Linux, Windows or a dual-boot capability important to you.
Good luck.

I guess I want to spend 100 to 150 and I hear Android is the way to go

[RISCy Dude]

I guess I want to spend 100 to 150 and I hear Android is the way to go

I have a quick generic guide here.
I have no experience with the M8. But given the option, try to choose a box with 2GB of RAM. I assume you prefer a direct recommendation. Sorry, I don't feel qualified to offer you one.
I am looking to pick up a second box, and I have only narrowed the field. I'm not quite ready to pick one yet.
Be skeptical when reading through the claims made in ads or on websites for this model or that model. While it seems few boxes have realized their alleged capabilities, some are better at it than others.
Good luck.
Oh yeah!.... Welcome aboard.

[twisted skill]

I have a quick generic guide here.
I have no experience with the M8. But given the option, try to choose a box with 2GB of RAM. I assume you prefer a direct recommendation. Sorry, I don't feel qualified to offer you one.
I am looking to pick up a second box, and I have only narrowed the field. I'm not quite ready to pick one yet.
Be skeptical when reading through the claims made in ads or on websites for this model or that model. While it seems few boxes have realized their alleged capabilities, some are better at it than others.
Good luck.
Oh yeah!.... Welcome aboard.

Andwhich boxes have u lohoked at and have narrowed it down to?

[twisted skill]

I have a quick generic guide here.
I have no experience with the M8. But given the option, try to choose a box with 2GB of RAM. I assume you prefer a direct recommendation. Sorry, I don't feel qualified to offer you one.
I am looking to pick up a second box, and I have only narrowed the field. I'm not quite ready to pick one yet.
Be skeptical when reading through the claims made in ads or on websites for this model or that model. While it seems few boxes have realized their alleged capabilities, some are better at it than others.
Good luck.
Oh yeah!.... Welcome aboard.

Andwhich boxes have u lohoked at and have narrowed it down to?

[RISCy Dude]

Geekbuying has the Tronsmart MXIII 2GB/8GB unit for less than $70(USD). The unit evidently uses a later PCB revision, and my fear is, previous efforts from ROM developers may not work with that PCB. The MXIII seems to enjoy a decent reputation(at it's price point). But ROM development for the MXIII may be near it's end. So I worry a little about its future. I have looked at the WeTek Play, but it is $120(USD) with tuner and gyro-mouse. It uses a dual-core cpu and has little RAM and storage. However, people rave about its video performance, WeTek's support and features. The WeTek's tuner was a draw for me. But a user here pointed to the HDHomeRun networked multi-tuner. That and Kodi has a plugin for it, so the WeTek's tuner is not as big a draw for me now.

As I do, you want your box to do video and other things, so the Play may not be the best choice for you. I am also looking at the ZIDOO X9($99-$120(USD)) due to its ability to record from its HDMI input. But few seem to be developing for it(or its SOC), and I am unfamiliar with its MSTAR MSO9180D1R CPU. Nor have I been able to find much feedback for it or ZIDOO's service. It looks like a nice box though. I have looked at the Amlogic S812 boxes, but at this point, there seem to be some problems that have not been addressed yet. I thought I'd give a little time before moving on the S812 boxes. Many also love the S805 at it's price point. I am more of a box person than a dongle person, but S805 based devices in either category are very inexpensive($29.99(dongle)and $35(boxes) and up) and seem to have a pretty good developer/user base. A very important consideration. If I was looking for a video only device, I'd consider one. Heck, I may get one just to play with anyway. It will be interesting to see how the Allwinner H3 SOC compares to the S805. Rockchip has a CPU in this range too, the RK3128. But so far, it seems the S805 has this end of the SOC game covered.
I have an RK3288 based box now, the Ugoos UT3, I like the UT3. Support from Ugoos has been pretty good for the UT3. But this time, out of curiosity, I want to try something from Amlogic or the others.
I use my box differently from many, in that, video is not my primary, over-arching concern. As video is your intended primary use, you can see why I'd rather not advise you in your choice. Other Freaktabers could give you much better advice, for your needs.

I use the UT3 in my man-cave, the box I am currently looking for, is for the living room. I am trying to pry my roommate away from our over-priced cable TV provider's bundle BS. So I need a box that she can use, with as shallow a learning curve as possible. She's no Luddite, but the easier it is for her, the easier it will be for me. If she uses it and is comfortable with streaming, I will take another look at the nVidea Shield. Certainly will consider it if the praise continues, and something as good but less expensive does not come along.
I have ruled out none of the above mentioned devices(and then some). New devices seem to come out with every sunrise. I am curious about those too. So now you know why it took me three months to finally buy a box. This is also why I do not want to recommend something to you directly.
If I get impatient, I'll probably grab the Tronsmart MXIII. After all, it's only $70, I've probably spilled more than that in beer.
BTW Gearbest has the Beelink MXIII 2GB/8GB unit on sale for under $70(USD) too. But Geekbuying offers a local(USA) return service(+$2.99) for D.O.A. units. How well that service works is unknown to me. But it does give me a little peace-of-mind, perceived or otherwise. I don't want have to return something to China, that can get expensive and time consuming.
I bought my UT3 from a supplier in the USA, they offered local returns for D.O.A. or units that prove defective within the 1 year warranty period. That was a huge draw for me, as a first time box buyer. Shipping only took 3-4 days, also a huge draw for someone suffering from maximum anticipation.

Good luck in your decision, but for your sake, please don't let my commentary be you guide.

[hodr]

RISCy - Thanks for the thorough and informative post.

I have also been looking at all of the above as replacements for my FireTV sticks. To be honest, the sticks work perfectly and run Kody/SPMC fairly well. My main concern is that while Kodi will play and stream most media I throw at it, it always looks washed out and grainy. Especially the streaming. And I know it's not the hardware because the native apps (Netflix, Hulu, Prime) all look fantastic.

Ideally I would like a box that runs Kodi well, and that supports new CODECs (H.265 specifically) and variable framerates for at least 1080P. On paper the RK3128 and the S805/S812 boxes seem like they should work, but I have never seen an in depth review of the picture quality within Kodi.

There's a review section here at Freaktab for tablets, I wish the same were true for these media boxes. If people could review and post screen caps of what their media looks like when played I think it would help a lot of people like myself just looking for a good streaming experience.

[twisted skill]

Geekbuying has the Tronsmart MXIII 2GB/8GB unit for less than $70(USD). The unit evidently uses a later PCB revision, and my fear is, previous efforts from ROM developers may not work with that PCB. The MXIII seems to enjoy a decent reputation(at it's price point). But ROM development for the MXIII may be near it's end. So I worry a little about its future. I have looked at the WeTek Play, but it is $120(USD) with tuner and gyro-mouse. It uses a dual-core cpu and has little RAM and storage. However, people rave about its video performance, WeTek's support and features. The WeTek's tuner was a draw for me. But a user here pointed to the HDHomeRun networked multi-tuner. That and Kodi has a plugin for it, so the WeTek's tuner is not as big a draw for me now.

As I do, you want your box to do video and other things, so the Play may not be the best choice for you. I am also looking at the ZIDOO X9($99-$120(USD)) due to its ability to record from its HDMI input. But few seem to be developing for it(or its SOC), and I am unfamiliar with its MSTAR MSO9180D1R CPU. Nor have I been able to find much feedback for it or ZIDOO's service. It looks like a nice box though. I have looked at the Amlogic S812 boxes, but at this point, there seem to be some problems that have not been addressed yet. I thought I'd give a little time before moving on the S812 boxes. Many also love the S805 at it's price point. I am more of a box person than a dongle person, but S805 based devices in either category are very inexpensive($29.99(dongle)and $35(boxes) and up) and seem to have a pretty good developer/user base. A very important consideration. If I was looking for a video only device, I'd consider one. Heck, I may get one just to play with anyway. It will be interesting to see how the Allwinner H3 SOC compares to the S805. Rockchip has a CPU in this range too, the RK3128. But so far, it seems the S805 has this end of the SOC game covered.
I have an RK3288 based box now, the Ugoos UT3, I like the UT3. Support from Ugoos has been pretty good for the UT3. But this time, out of curiosity, I want to try something from Amlogic or the others.
I use my box differently from many, in that, video is not my primary, over-arching concern. As video is your intended primary use, you can see why I'd rather not advise you in your choice. Other Freaktabers could give you much better advice, for your needs.

I use the UT3 in my man-cave, the box I am currently looking for, is for the living room. I am trying to pry my roommate away from our over-priced cable TV provider's bundle BS. So I need a box that she can use, with as shallow a learning curve as possible. She's no Luddite, but the easier it is for her, the easier it will be for me. If she uses it and is comfortable with streaming, I will take another look at the nVidea Shield. Certainly will consider it if the praise continues, and something as good but less expensive does not come along.
I have ruled out none of the above mentioned devices(and then some). New devices seem to come out with every sunrise. I am curious about those too. So now you know why it took me three months to finally buy a box. This is also why I do not want to recommend something to you directly.
If I get impatient, I'll probably grab the Tronsmart MXIII. After all, it's only $70, I've probably spilled more than that in beer.
BTW Gearbest has the Beelink MXIII 2GB/8GB unit on sale for under $70(USD) too. But Geekbuying offers a local(USA) return service(+$2.99) for D.O.A. units. How well that service works is unknown to me. But it does give me a little peace-of-mind, perceived or otherwise. I don't want have to return something to China, that can get expensive and time consuming.
I bought my UT3 from a supplier in the USA, they offered local returns for D.O.A. or units that prove defective within the 1 year warranty period. That was a huge draw for me, as a first time box buyer. Shipping only took 3-4 days, also a huge draw for someone suffering from maximum anticipation.

Good luck in your decision, but for your sake, please don't let my commentary be you guide.

Now all that said, thank you for the read, but Where does it point to me the best bang for the buck? Or the what Box I should get for the money? Too me that was all kinda wordy and confusing a lil.

I dont know much about these boxes, I been trying to do reserach but dont know where really to look. I just want a box that can stream Vidoes, TV shows, Movies, and LIVE PPV. Everything else it can do will be great and extra in my book.

right now I use my Cell phone to stream all my shows n movies using the chrome cast.

[ididmytime]

Both the rk3288 and Amlogics have some serious issues, it's all dependent on what you want really.

If it's media only then hands down the best value product is the mk808b plus, it's cheap and can play h265 no problem, also has a OpenElec port. Get a slightly higher priced box equivalent if you need an RJ45 port.

If you want a decent box, then something like the Beelink s82 is ideal, the CPU is fast enough for almost all types of emulation, has 5ghz dual band wifi and good support for controllers, it's also very nicely priced at $90 (£50).

Unless some major issues are sorted, the rk3288 is a fantastic gaming machine but has major problems with video currently, it also didn't work with my 360 controller as intended, rendering the D-PAD useless, also, the only decently supported devices are the Beelink Ubox R89, which is massive and ugly, and the Ugoos which is quiet expensive for a Chinese android device.

[csgabe]

Beelink S82 Plus:
http://www.gearbest.com/tv-box/pp_142711.html
ACEMAX KII:

http://www.gearbest.com/tv-box-mini-pc/pp_193244.html

The above are S812 based.
Or this one CSA90 RK3368(this is new so no support yet & may have bugs):

http://www.gearbest.com/tv-box-mini-pc/pp_193178.html

If you want an S805 this below would be OK:

http://www.gearbest.com/tv-box-mini-pc/pp_191834.html

[buzzmarshall]

Supports the real issue... theres lots of decent boxes out there hardware wise but a lot of them lack any real support from the manufacturers so a lot are stuck as they scan sites like this looking for developers actually releasing firmware...

Most newer quad boxes are definitely a better deal hardware wise for the money but it seems the older dual cores are more mature and have more reliable software in some cases, theres way to many cases of the quad based units from all the manufacturers and clone makers issuing buggy or poor performing software and as they move forward to follow the newer releases of Kodi its leaving a lot of people looking for alternative builds from developers haingin on sites like this... As a reverse-engineer type of hacker it really makes me chuckle at how many times ive found the manufacturers software releases are made up of badly coded or just out right pilfered pieces of code from the public developers that it seriously makes me wonder at times just how much they really do know about the software side of the hardware boxes they sell... that's why I say... ask others that are actually developing software which boxes and SoC they are working with...

It really comes down to how much playing you want to do... lots have personal favorites so im sure it can get to be confusing at times...For boxes with the best support your probably best to either look at Minix products as they have a decent site with a fair amount of good developers helping support his boxes... otherwise watch for what some of the great developers hangin out here are making releases for as that should be a fairly safe route to getting something decent... GeekBuying as someone else mentioned seems to spend a good deal of his time trying to support what he sells as well...

Best just to not get caught up in the "best box" crap a lot of sellers try pushing as the only REAL good box is one that actually does what you want...

The nvidea unit is nice but costly (especially when you start adding its options or peripherals) but even it will come down to software support in the end as things move forward... The Wekek's are ok, especially if your just looking for something like Kodi to stream movies and its multitude of plug-ins using something like OpenELEC... just would be nicer with the newer faster hardware... 2 gig of ram as someone else suggested is something I would suggest as well...

Amlogics S812 or Rockchips 3288 are decent boxes but lack a lot of variety in software releases... the S805 based units seem to be popular because they are cheap but in reality its probably got the best amount of SoC information floating around so its attracted more developers, so its not really that its all that great of a box compared to the S812 if your looking for 4K support its just the S812 SoC info isn't as easy to come by and sofar it seems the few that are releasing software for it are just doing flash releases and no source code... Sometime in the near future there should be a git project based on Linux with a 4 based kernel and proper register support specifically for the S812 but theres still some bugs needing to be worked out yet with the newer kernel and a few more Amlogic things to reverse... its to bad Amlogic isn't abit more forth coming with their SoC info but they don't like the small guy... lol...

Anyways... Support is the real thing to look for...

[RISCy Dude]

@buzzmarshall
I think twisted skill is looking for a simple answer or specific box recommendation. Unfortunately for them, as we have expressed, there is no, "one size fits all", easy answer. Every device has some fault or shortcoming. The little guide I pointed him to, mostly recommends finding a device with good support and a good user base, just as you stated in your post. If they want to make an informed decision, reading is the only good way. It takes time, but much less than it does to deal with a device that keeps you frustrated. Though my search could be considered overkill, it took three months to make a decision on my first box. I had much to learn, still do. But the result....No buyer's remorse....No regrets. And a box that fit my needs/desires like a glove. Is the device perfect?...No. Is it perfectly fitted?...Yes.

Twisted skill
I wish you well in your hunt for a device that is right for you. But as I said, I do not have the breadth or depth of experience to make a direct recommendation to you or anyone else. Just some good generic advice.
Good luck.

[buzzmarshall]

no probs... I would agree with your recommendations...

I shoulda been a bit more clear in my real intent which was to make the point of paying the extra and buying from someplace like Minix where theres a ton of support and a fairly continuous stream of releases for his boxes as compared to just buying a cheaper box off some dealer looking strickly for sales and trying to pass off support to the box manufacturer which is the common method amongst a lot of sellers that leaves people hanging at times...

As far as Rockchip versus Amlogic and which particular box to buy, that's really more of a personal preference thing as that debate continues to go on with no real winner as the specs people keep tossing around don't really apply because neither one has released the full support sdk's so no matter who's box you buy they all are not playing with a full deck... At least buying from someone like Minix who's got products using both Rockchip and Amlogic SoC's you get decent support for either one no matter which way you go...

your guide offers a wise approach to making a purchase tho for anyone considering buying any of these boxes...

[bluesmanuk]

Splitting things down into the OP request of features:

I want a really good one with great CS and support. Firmwares mods and apps.

If buying Android, then this is a minefield as many of the cheaper boxes seem to have very limited real support from the manufacturers and many mods to give the best experience are done by developers who give their free time and efforts to make them better, all too often without support from the box makers. Reputation wise from what I read in the forums, Zidoo seem to be one of the lesser known vendors that provide continual updates and this may be because to date, they produce less products and therefore have to provide such support in order to survive in what is a very crowded market.


I want to stream TV shows, Movies, Games ehh if they are good.

All Android devices will do this fairly well to varying degrees but there can be issues with some service providers whose apps can block content from android boxes because of their fear of copyright theft.

But mainly for watching and PPV LIVE!

For PPTV, the best platform to ensure the best of compatibility, you should probably look at a Windows based box because pretty much all Windows based laptops/desktops etc already support Netflix, Amazon etc without the need to try and bypass restrictions.

They are also capable of playing games as long as you aren't expecting to play the high end ones.


Android boxes can be cheaper than the Windows ones and with Baytrail, some of the little goodies such as optical audio are missing. Hopefully the imminent arrival Cherrytrail Atom will address some deficiencies.

One option is to look at Dual boot devices so that you can use Windows or Android dependent upon your needs at any one point in time.

Just be careful which Windows/Dual boot machine you choose though as some are shown to almost certainly require additional cooling to compensate for their inadequate heat dissipation when pushed.


I would spend some time on Freaktab looking at the various threads to gauge user experiences and then follow that up with googling for reviews of products that catch your attention so that when you do buy, you are more likely to be happy with whatever you choose.