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Mini PC - is this any good

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    #2
    platinums
    Registered Users Posts: 757 ✭✭✭platinums


    Aiden, these are little more than budget devices running tablet / phone software aimed at displaying on your TV.

    For the price and the look of the build quality I would not expect much from it in terms or performance or reliability.
    The trouble with buying these devices from an online retailer is you cant judge how sluggish the thing will be in actual usage.

    I could compare it to my Samsung Ace budget phone which also ran the same Android operating system and was dreadfully slow (for me anyway) that costs €200
    My Galaxy S3 however is lightning fast and cost €500 with the same breed of Android software.
    So you can imagine how slowly device for that price range is going to be at €30-40.

    The Reason I'm comparing it to a phone is these devices run the same software as Android phones and budget Android tablets, (with out the phone hardware & functionality, eg making calls, obviously)

    The aerial would not be a great determining factor, as if the Wireless chipset is awful it wont matter how big the aerial is or if the CPU is bad then the Wifi performance will also be impacted negatively.

    Also as its from China, you will likely have to ship it back there if there a fault. They also request "Please use regular postal service" for returns and mark as gift, if it gets lost then you will lose out more than likely.
    There a lot of risk in the purchase of one of these things so I would make one as a test and not expect too much from it.


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    #3
    smacg
    Registered Users Posts: 106 ✭✭smacg


    I bought something v similar from dealextreme a while back. Wifi usually worked ok on it, it was reasonably fast and I liked the device but then it started cutting off a lot when I used the android browser, though it was usually ok with Chrome. Theres no on/off switch either. But it suddenly wouldnt power up so I've had to send it back for replacement, tho it is returned to an English address.


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    #4
    aidan13
    Registered Users Posts: 102 ✭✭aidan13


    Just to update anyone that is interested on this device.

    I recieved it in the post during the week and it works perfectly. I have had no problems with the wifi. My router is at one end of my house and I am using this on a TV at the other end and it is perfect.

    The device is brilliant for watching RTE player on a TV or streaming movies or sport.

    I also like that it'll play almost every file type, MP4 or MKV files.

    The fact that it is powered by USB is also a plus for me, it hides in the back of the TV, you would never see it because you don't need to connect it to a plug. My TV doesn't have a USB slot in it so I power it off the USB slot in my UPC box,

    Overall I'm very happy with it but I'm probably not using it to its full potential.


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    #5
    TerrorFirmer
    Closed Accounts Posts: 29,930 ✭✭✭✭TerrorFirmer


    platinums wrote: »
    Aiden, these are little more than budget devices running tablet / phone software aimed at displaying on your TV.

    For the price and the look of the build quality I would not expect much from it in terms or performance or reliability.
    The trouble with buying these devices from an online retailer is you cant judge how sluggish the thing will be in actual usage.

    I could compare it to my Samsung Ace budget phone which also ran the same Android operating system and was dreadfully slow (for me anyway) that costs €200
    My Galaxy S3 however is lightning fast and cost €500 with the same breed of Android software.
    So you can imagine how slowly device for that price range is going to be at €30-40.

    The Reason I'm comparing it to a phone is these devices run the same software as Android phones and budget Android tablets, (with out the phone hardware & functionality, eg making calls, obviously)

    The aerial would not be a great determining factor, as if the Wireless chipset is awful it wont matter how big the aerial is or if the CPU is bad then the Wifi performance will also be impacted negatively.

    Also as its from China, you will likely have to ship it back there if there a fault. They also request "Please use regular postal service" for returns and mark as gift, if it gets lost then you will lose out more than likely.
    There a lot of risk in the purchase of one of these things so I would make one as a test and not expect too much from it.

    Not really accurate information, the stick is running on an RK3066 and would be twice as fast as a Galaxy Ace - it's well equipped specification wise.


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