Android Mini PC's - Options

BeanFlicker

Similar to my Apple to Android tablet thread on which android tab should I buy, I now want to purchase an Android mini to hook up to my tv, but with so many options out there I was thinking we could use this thread for future buyers as myself. So if ye can, list what you have, your opinion on it, price, where you purchased it and if any customs charges applied

I've been looking at the following but haven't made up my mind on which to get:

Intempo Evolve - Internet TV and Media Center
UG802
MK802 II
MK808
Justop - TV Box
Android TV's - few options on site

Yea so if ye can, post what you have etc and any recommendations,

Cheers

Chet T16

What do you want to use it for?

Peregrine

I bough the Jelly Bean Mk808 last week from here. It was around €71 with a mini keyboard/mouse unit and shipped, it should arrive over the next few days. I'll let you know how it is.

Also I had started a thread about it 2 weeks ago, you can find some info on it

Ben D Bus

Will these devices run Netflix & YouTube in HD?

Peregrine

Ben D Bus wrote: »

Will these devices run Netflix & YouTube in HD?

Yes 1080p. They use HDMI output

batistuta9

is there xbmc for android yet?

BeanFlicker

Chet T16 wrote: »

What do you want to use it for?

Mainly streaming football, rte player, filmon etc

Thought it would be a good idea to have 1 thread discussing all the options out there rather than numerous threads on the same topic, least then others can have one complete go to guide if their interested in buying one

BeanFlicker

Nimrod 7 wrote: »

I bough the Jelly Bean Mk808 last week from here. It was around €71 with a mini keyboard/mouse unit and shipped, it should arrive over the next few days. I'll let you know how it is.

Also I had started a thread about it 2 weeks ago, you can find some info on it

Yea cheers, seen that. Looks a good bet, keep me updated on what ye think of it and if you have to pay customs.

Also, did you ask them to mark as a gift or just purchase?

@bastistuta:

This video shows it with xbmc installed on on the MK808

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D_Y9IvUj9Tw

Peregrine

No I didn't ask them to mark it down as a gift, I could get away with customs but if I don't it's only around €15.
If it's worth less than €45 you won't get taxed i.e. if you don't buy a bundle pack like I did and buy one under €45 you'll get away with it

Do-more

If you want to use Android XBMC on it then you need to pick something based on the Amlogic chip. This is because Amlogic are the only chip manufacturer who have released the source code to allow hardware acceleration in the native XBMC video player.

Any of the Allwinner or Rockchip based devices will only play SD video in the native XBMC video player without stuttering.

If XBMC is not important to you then the Allwinner or Rockchip devices will play 1080p in video players such as MX player but before you order any particular device Google for more info. At the present time to the best of my knowledge the UG802 for example has audio sync problems which needs to be corrected by a future firmware update.

Check out forums such as freaktab.com for info on the latest ROMs

It's buyer beware with a lot of these units, for example I recently read that Most MK802 sticks that run A10 chips do not have voltage protection on their HDMI port, meaning they could potentially fry your TV

The company Pivos is the sponsor of the Android port of XBMC and in terms of hardware and software support their Xios DS Mediaplay certainly appears to be the leader in terms of Android devices to run XBMC. It's rather pricey though. A cheaper option would be this one which I'm pretty sure is a re-badge of the Pivos.

There are also dual core Amlogic devices now coming to the market and I'm pretty sure that the next gen Pivos box will be a near identical dual core Amlogic box.

And of course just as dual core boxes are coming to market it looks like quad core devices are not far off. It remains to be seen whether the Tegra 3 based Ouya will actually materialise in March or April next year the nay sayers would have you believe that it's too good to be true and all a scam, we will just have to wait and see.

It's all such early days for these type of devices and IMO you are better off waiting for the tech to mature a little before buying.

princemuzzy

which of these devices if any will work best for sky player bbd iplayer ( i use unblockus) and such

Peregrine

Got my Android 4.1 Mk808 today. I had ordered it 13 days ago.

So far it's been amazing, it's working very well. Youtube works perfectly, I don't use Netflix so I don't know but it should perform the same as any other Android device.

One thing about most of these Mini PCs that I don't like is that they don't have a power button..so you have to pull the plug to turn it off every time

The seller marked it as a gift and worth $20 without even asking them so I didn't get taxed for it even though there's a seal on it that says it was opened by customs.

Now if you excuse me, I'm still not done playing with it

BeanFlicker

@ do-more: cheers for the info on the xbmc

@Nimrod: Sound, can't wait to get mine now.

I ended up going for this as my 1st device.

http://www.futeko.com/products/MP00041.php

Really good customer service, canceled the airmouse I initially bought (remote comes with it) and he replied back within 5 mins refunding me for it. The item was shipped yesterday, I got a tracking number and it has been marked as delivered. I used parcel motel so got free postage aswell, should hopefully have by Friday, will update on what it's like

Ste-

Nimrod 7 wrote: »

Got my Android 4.1 Mk808 today. I had ordered it 13 days ago.

So far it's been amazing, it's working very well. Youtube works perfectly, I don't use Netflix so I don't know but it should perform the same as any other Android device.

One thing about most of these Mini PCs that I don't like is that they don't have a power button..so you have to pull the plug to turn it off every time

The seller marked it as a gift and worth $20 without even asking them so I didn't get taxed for it even though there's a seal on it that says it was opened by customs.

Now if you excuse me, I'm still not done playing with it

This might help with the power button issue.

Ste-

Also thinking of getting one of these, have you tried XBMC on it yet ?

Peregrine

Ste- wrote: »

This might help with the power button issue.

I haven't rooted it though

If you connect the USB to the tv rather than a power outlet, it will turn off when you turn your tv off. I don't have a USB port on my TV so I have to manually unplug it when I want to turn it off