Hi looking for recommendations for a decent Media Player Android box, please

k123456

Hi looking for recommendations for a decent Media Player Android box, please

These are units that connect via HDMI to TV, and allow Android experience on TV, as well as playing several different movie formats, thru a connected USB drive

Sumvision X2 and k_r42 are two examples, but to be honest as there are lots of new models on the market, not sure where to start

whytie

Hi.
Check out XBMC.
As a media player for local files and with addons you can can get streamed media as well google for the website xbmchub and look at how to install 1channel addon. Its all a bit messy to set up but well worth it.

Whytie

Spipov

im also interested, but the OP is asking for hardware at the minute, and not software

loyatemu

bought one of these recently - haven't used it much so far but it seems pretty decent.

Tony H

I got this box a few months ago and found it great ,has played everything I have thrown at it
http://www.adverts.ie/3088820
seller is really helpful as well

aaronm13

I got one of these the other day.

http://www.ebay.ie/itm/G-BOX-MIDNIGHT-MX2-ANDROID-4-2-JELLY-BEAN-DUAL-CORE-XBMC-STREAMING-/181137116298?pt=UK_Sound_Vision_Internet_TV_Media_Streamers&hash=item2a2c9d0c8a

Reviews were very good and they run their own version of XBMC. Jury is still out on it for me. It crashed at lot after only a day or two and ended up with a boot loop so had to do a recovery and manually install the latest firmware. it's running rock solid now and XBMC plays everything which I was surprised after all the horror stories I heard about it on android. Need to play with it for another few days before I could recommend it for definite. Seems to have a good on line community which is a massive bonus.

griffdaddy

Hey I got your pm about the K-R42. It arrived yesterday and works flawlessy. The wifi signal is very strong and speeds along and the quadcore keeps everything super smooth. The MK808 was decent but had its problems, the K-R42 handles everything I've thrown at it, including XBMC, perfectly. Definitely recommend it.

k123456

Thanks Griffdaddy

Could you check something for me, please, if you don' mind



Does it play MKV files
and What size ext drive are you using with it, I have a 3TB, am hoping it will pick up a 3TB
Are you running the supplied FW and version of XBMC out of the box, or have you applied updates

griffdaddy

k123456 wrote: »

Thanks Griffdaddy

Could you check something for me, please, if you don' mind



Does it play MKV files
and What size ext drive are you using with it, I have a 3TB, am hoping it will pick up a 3TB
Are you running the supplied FW and version of XBMC out of the box, or have you applied updates

Yep, it's android. It plays literally anything. I just watched the new episode of Breaking Bad as an .mkv. It also does full 3d, 5.1 sound etc. I flashed a firmware version that I read about on the freaktab forums, I flashed it before I even booted it up for the first time. The firmware gives you more space for apps and has an inbuilt xbmc installer that downloads and installs the correct version. It's the only custom rom on the freaktab forum and the developer always posts it there first

k123456

Thanks, am going to buy one. been on the look out for a while,

Would you have a link to the FW update you used on Freaktab, please

griffdaddy wrote: »

Yep, it's android. It plays literally anything. I just watched the new episode of Breaking Bad as an .mkv. It also does full 3d, 5.1 sound etc. I flashed a firmware version that I read about on the freaktab forums, I flashed it before I even booted it up for the first time. The firmware gives you more space for apps and has an inbuilt xbmc installer that downloads and installs the correct version. It's the only custom rom on the freaktab forum and the developer always posts it there first

griffdaddy

Hey you can find it here http://www.freaktab.com/showthread.php?5957-K-R42-Hybrid-Firmware-(HFW)-1-1-0-by-lewy20041.

The best place to pick up the unit itself is Geekbuying. It arrives fairly quickly and they mark it as a gift worth $20.

melekalikimaka

fitzdragon wrote: »

I got this box a few months ago and found it great ,has played everything I have thrown at it
http://www.adverts.ie/3088820
seller is really helpful as well

File Systems supported: FAT; FAT32

so it cant play any movies over 4 gb... so nothing really hq at 1080 - pass

k123456

Good point, missed the no NTFS, ie no 4gb movies

Wonder would using MX Player as a movie player, get around the 4gb movies limit ? , or is a case that the player/Android cannot see them

griffdaddy

k123456 wrote: »

Good point, missed the no NTFS, ie no 4gb movies

Wonder would using MX Player as a movie player, get around the 4gb movies limit ? , or is a case that the player/Android cannot see them

The K-R42 supports NTFS, I'm not sure if it does it out of the box, but it definitely does it with the rom I have

alanc2003

fitzdragon wrote: »

I got this box a few months ago and found it great ,has played everything I have thrown at it
http://www.adverts.ie/3088820
seller is really helpful as well

does this play netflix? i have the mk808b but that has issues with netflix, always a scrambled picture. would be interested in this as it has an ethernet port, the wifi on mk808 isnt the best either unless you're right beside the router

Ronaldinho

Any of the experts here have any thoughts on this: http://www.minix.com.hk/Products/MINIX-NEOX7mini.html ??

Looking for something with a web browser with Flash support and full 1080P (for watching NFL Gamepass if anyone's familiar with it).

Cheers

k123456

V good HW spec for the Minix, Reviews goodhttp://blog.geekbuying.com/index.php/2013/08/06/minix-neo-x7-rk3188-quad-core-android-4-2-tv-box-review/#.UhnbAtKsiSo

Ilyushin76

griffdaddy wrote: »

Hey you can find it here http://www.freaktab.com/showthread.php?5957-K-R42-Hybrid-Firmware-(HFW)-1-1-0-by-lewy20041.

The best place to pick up the unit itself is Geekbuying. It arrives fairly quickly and they mark it as a gift worth $20.

Does it come with an Irish plug power supply ?

Tony H

melekalikimaka wrote: »

File Systems supported: FAT; FAT32

so it cant play any movies over 4 gb... so nothing really hq at 1080 - pass

Just played a 4.7 gb mkv1080p with no problems from 2 tb ntfs drive .

Riesen_Meal

fitzdragon wrote: »

Just played a 4.7 gb mkv1080p with no problems from 2 tb ntfs drive .

I know a similar one of these gave me jip a while back as I had a split partition 1tb HD, had 100gb fat32 and the rest NTFS and it wouldn't read - the HD can be read by my TV though so not all that fussed about it...

No hassle with fat or NTFS ones though if they ain't partitioned....

Kur4mA

If you have your heart set on an Android media box, I'd give the Geniatech MyGica520 a shot, or else either the Geniatech MyGica 510 or a MiniX Neo X7 for a bit less power. Both are available here:

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

I've bought from futeko and from dealextreme(shipped from China) and learned my lesson. You think you're getting a bargain from China, but then it takes 3+ weeks to arrive and you get stung on customs. Never again!

One thing I will mention for media, specifically if you are looking to setup XBMC then give these Android boxes a miss. For all the touting, none of them provide a good enough quality XBMC experience imo, apart from the Ouya. It's technically a "console"... I call BS on that BUT it makes a fantastic small form factor media player/centre.

I've tried many combinations of XBMC over the past couple of years, starting with running it on a laptop, then moving to an Acer Aspire Revo running Windows 7. I decided to start simplifying my setup a bit more and switched to XBMC for Android because it's pretty stable these days.

My advice is to get the Ouya and I am telling all of my friends and family the same thing. After trying many of these Android boxes including the Geniatech MyGica EnjoyTV 520 (This is made in the same factory as a Pivox Xios but has a higher spec CPU) and also a non-branded G-Box Midnight, none of them come close to XBMC on Ouya. They do a pretty good job but you won't be able to use certain skins/themes on these lower powered boxes and will notice stuttering and skipping in videos every so often. On the Ouya, XBMC just runs smoothly (the way it should!) even with 1080p HD and you will never see any stuttering plus all of the high end cool looking skins are perfect on it. The key is the nVidia Tegra chip it uses for graphics and it has a slightly better CPU compared to those other boxes too.

NOTE: Passthrough audio (hdmi-cec) does not work on the Ouya so far. If you absolutely must have surround sound audio then don't bother with the Ouya for now. Personally, it doesn't bother me.

So, in terms of a VERY small form factor Media Centre running XBMC on your TV I can guarantee you that right now there is no better bang for buck android solution out there as good as the Ouya.

FYI, all of my content is streaming from a Synology DS212J.

BlackWizard

Where can the Ouya be bought?

Kur4mA

Amazon or Game. I got it from Amazon with the free delivery.

BlackWizard

So does the audio on the Ouya not come over hdmi? I have HDMI on my TV and my laptop just plays sound through it no problem at all. But the Ouya would not send audio over HDMI?

Kur4mA

The Ouya does send sound over HDMI, yes.

BlackWizard

I was going to order it there but it looks like the controller isn't included. How do you control yours? I thought it would be nice if I had a wireless controller but that's an extra 50 euro!

BionicRasher

BlackWizard wrote: »

I was going to order it there but it looks like the controller isn't included. How do you control yours? I thought it would be nice if I had a wireless controller but that's an extra 50 euro!

Box Contains
OUYA game console
OUYA wireless controller with removable faceplates
HDMI cable
Two AA batteries
Power adapter

£39.99 for an extra controller


There is always the Sky Now box that will play local files from your network via Plex app
its about €15 all in

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2057001096