Recommend an Android Box that runs XBMC - [No copyrighted material]

k123456 · 23-09-2014 9:25am

Hi Big Nelly
I have the Minix x8 h, , but I am curious about the r42, its a lot cheaper, how do the two compare in real life

dahat · 23-09-2014 9:32am

Excellent post Big Nelly, appreciate the advice. Adverts and Done deal do seem overpriced really given anyone can run a configuration wizard to set a box up.

While I enjoy looking it seems all boxes have good and bad reviews so I'd rather take the word or experience of a user from here as posters here seem pretty knowledgeable.

The Tronsmart,TR42 or an older MINIX is where I am at now

dahat · 23-09-2014 9:53am

http://www.geekbuying.com/item/M8-Android-TV-BOX-Amlogic-S802-2G-8G-XBMC-USB-2-0-Android-4-3-Android-4-4-KitKat-OS-Black-324690.html

What about this box? Seem it priced at €135 here, shocking mark up as Big Nelly made me aware of earlier.

Big Nelly · 23-09-2014 10:05am

k123456 wrote: »

Hi Big Nelly
I have the Minix x8 h, , but I am curious about the r42, its a lot cheaper, how do the two compare in real life

At most the T-R42 cost me about 50 euro in Jan, it came with a little remote but I never used it, I just use a wireless mouse but I use the same with the Minix. I ran it for the first 5 months on standard firmware and it ran grand. Had some issues with HD films if the stream was weak but that was it.....

I then upgraded the firmware to Wasser kit kat 4.4. This also had the preloaded XBMC for the RK3188 processor, this seemed to resolve any issues I had with HD quality. It was perfect but as mentioned I rather playing aound with something so I got the Minix and ended up selling on the T-R42 to a mate who replaced an apple TV with it and says it is perfect....

Great little box for the cash to be honest

captain_boycott · 23-09-2014 10:07am

It seems that despite the promise these Android boxes are still not able to deliver a consistent good experience, and something that will pass the spouse acceptance test! Hardware is improving all the time, but software is still the issue.

Just looking on Amazon & I see the barebones Intel nuc is now only £93 sterling. Add some RAM and SSD, and you are looking at a solid XBMC solution for £145. OS choices are the free OpenELEC linux or throw down a bit more for Windows. Less that a tenner for a MCE remote control. Still more expensive that the various android boxes but then again you are getting a vastly better product and as the saying goes, buy cheap, buy twice!

baingal nancer · 23-09-2014 10:07am

Big Nelly wrote: »

At most the T-R42 cost me about 50 euro in Jan, it came with a little remote but I never used it, I just use a wireless mouse but I use the same with the Minix. I ran it for the first 5 months on standard firmware and it ran grand. Had some issues with HD films if the stream was weak but that was it.....

I then upgraded the firmware to Wasser kit kat 4.4. This also had the preloaded XBMC for the RK3188 processor, this seemed to resolve any issues I had with HD quality. It was perfect but as mentioned I rather playing aound with something so I got the Minix and ended up selling on the T-R42 to a mate who replaced an apple TV with it and says it is perfect....

Great little box for the cash to be honest

Think i'l take a chance on the T-R42, do geekbuying take long to ship to here ?

alexander.b · 23-09-2014 10:18am

Just find out that Renice giving away industrial SD and CF cards. Just follow them and re-twit message. h t t p : / / g o o . g l / o 9 w e 1 A

Invincible · 23-09-2014 10:29am

baingal nancer wrote: »

Think i'l take a chance on the T-R42, do geekbuying take long to ship to here ?

I ordered a H5 off them in July, selected the DHL option and had it in about 10 days, for $6.37 over the free shipping.

baingal nancer · 23-09-2014 10:31am

Invincible wrote: »

I ordered a H5 off them in July, selected the DHL option and had it in about 10 days, for $6.37 over the free shipping.

Where you charged any customs? they have a warning saying you may be charged if you use dhl

BobMc · 23-09-2014 10:37am

any hints or tips for some playback issues I've been having, mainly lip sync issues, both on online playback and playback of movies from my own NAS, also those extra this black bars that xbmx seems to add (not the normal screen black bars) I know how to adjust the audio offset but even then it never seems right Ive two on the go an X8H and a Neo5 any advice appreciated, read some wiki pages etc, but just missing something, also I've an A/V receiver which has the optical in, not really been using it with the Minix should I ? I've a sub, centre and l/r speakers (have the rears but missus will kill me if I run more wires)

Invincible · 23-09-2014 10:41am

baingal nancer wrote: »

Where you charged any customs? they have a warning saying you may be charged if you use dhl

No customs, they have a live chat feature

baingal nancer · 23-09-2014 10:43am

Invincible wrote: »

No customs, they have a live chat feature

Cheers i'l go with dhl so

Big Nelly · 23-09-2014 11:26am

Just wondering, has anyone found a setting in XBMC that makes it open up pages in thumbnail as default? :P

dahat · 23-09-2014 11:44am

Think I will get the M8 from Geekbuying, will get the Tronsmart air mouse as well unless in decide to use the Yatsee xbmc plug in.

All in for less than €90,happy days.

dahat · 23-09-2014 12:13pm

Invincible wrote: »

No customs, they have a live chat feature

Your inbox is full, take out the trash!

baingal nancer · 23-09-2014 12:26pm

Big Nelly wrote: »

If buying a box really you need to look around. Check out geekbuying/gearbest etc and see what is available. If you do find box you like the look of then check out freaktab to see if there is firmware support out there for it.

I originally went for T-R42 from geekbuying: http://www.geekbuying.com/item/T-R42-Quad-Core-Google-Android-4-2-2-RK3188-28nm-Cortex-A9-1-6-GHz-Mini-TV-BOX-HDMI-HDD-Player-2G-8G-BT-RJ45-External-Wifi-Antenna-with-IR-Remote-Controller-Black-317424.html

To be honest this box was perfect and played everything. Also because there is so many sold the firmware options where great, I put Wasser firmware onto it and it was perfect. It played HD etc with no issues. I only moved to the Minix X8-H as I had more or less got the T-R42 running as well as it could and there wasn't much more playing I could do with it :-)

I went for Minix as it had good spec and I could ship in quickly from the UK, at extra cost mind you. If I had the time I would have probably shipped from China again

I would recommend looking at websites above, if you find a box just ask on here and someone will be able to advise quickly. Do not be concerned about firmware/loading up XBMC. There is a couple of wizards which add on everything for you and take about 5 mins.

You are paying over the top on adverts from what I can see, most of the people are just buying in cheap from China, running a wizard on it and putting on a huge margin.

I had never touched XBMC before Jan of this year, a couple of pointers from people on here and I was up and running in 20 mins....once I got used to it I started to play around and add more functions/features but these are only nice to haves....

Wonder how the MX would compare agianst the TR42 both similar in price

Moyglish · 23-09-2014 12:31pm

Has anyone heard of the Ice Cube 2 before? Or have any feedback on it?

Looking at it here on Droidsticks.co.uk - http://www.droidsticks.co.uk/shop/ice-cube-2-quad-core-droidsticks-tv-box/

What are they like to deal with anyone know?

Mr McBoatface · 23-09-2014 12:32pm

dahat wrote: »

Think I will get the M8 from Geekbuying, will get the Tronsmart air mouse as well unless in decide to use the Yatsee xbmc plug in.

All in for less than €90,happy days.

There are two M8 boxes on geekbuying do not get the CM8 which is 2 euro cheaper.....it's a clone. While the hardware may be good (otherwise geekbuying would not stock it) it is still a clone and custom roms may not work with it.

The M8 forum and custom roms are here on freaktab

The freaktab forum for the box which I bought from uk for less than 75 euro delivered the Tronsmart Vega elite S89/Beelink S82B is here

Both have the plus and minus, for me the faster uk delivery and easier return in case of a fault won out.

dahat · 23-09-2014 12:36pm

The one I linked above is the one I have in my cart, it states in the description it is the factory model. Assume that is not the clone then?

Mr McBoatface · 23-09-2014 12:38pm

Moyglish wrote: »

Has anyone heard of the Ice Cube 2 before? Or have any feedback on it?

Looking at it here on Droidsticks.co.uk - http://www.droidsticks.co.uk/shop/ice-cube-2-quad-core-droidsticks-tv-box/

What are they like to deal with anyone know?

It's an overpriced CS968 . Kitkat custom rom can be found here

dahat · 23-09-2014 12:39pm

Moyglish wrote: »

Has anyone heard of the Ice Cube 2 before? Or have any feedback on it?

Looking at it here on Droidsticks.co.uk - http://www.droidsticks.co.uk/shop/ice-cube-2-quad-core-droidsticks-tv-box/

What are they like to deal with anyone know?

Impressive sales pitch on the advert I must say.

Mr McBoatface · 23-09-2014 12:44pm

dahat wrote: »

The one I linked above is the one I have in my cart, it states in the description it is the factory model. Assume that is not the clone then?

Original one here

dahat · 23-09-2014 12:51pm

jobyrne30 wrote: »

Original one here

Yep,that's the one I have.

Is the Yatsee xbmc plug in worth paying for as a remote?

Invincible · 23-09-2014 12:54pm

dahat wrote: »

Think I will get the M8 from Geekbuying, will get the Tronsmart air mouse as well unless in decide to use the Yatsee xbmc plug in.

All in for less than €90,happy days.

No sign of an external aerial on it, will it work over WiFi?

dahat · 23-09-2014 12:56pm

Invincible wrote: »

No sign of an external aerial on it, will it work over WiFi?

I have set up a wired connection for where it is going, WiFi would be handy if I move it though.

Edit, dual band WiFi is listed in the description.

Mr McBoatface · 23-09-2014 1:07pm

dahat wrote: »

Yep,that's the one I have.

Is the Yatsee xbmc plug in worth paying for as a remote?

No idea, don't have one.

Just to confuse your decision more the MXIII box which has dual wifi is another good box. Oman who post on freaktabs who also works for Beelink and created the Oman XBMC for amlogic devices has stated the tronsmart vega custom rom will work on it because it uses the same hardware (MXIII 2Gb ram version only) , see here

dahat · 23-09-2014 1:21pm

And he has linked the Vega for $99, all this is getting hectic.

Will have to decide tomorrow for sure as the longer I wait the more frustrating it becomes.

Mr McBoatface · 23-09-2014 1:27pm

dahat wrote: »

And he has linked the Vega for $99, all this is getting hectic.

Will have to decide tomorrow for sure as the longer I wait the more frustrating it becomes.

You'll get the same model vega cheaper from the UK if you buy from the ebay.co.uk link i posted a few pages back. BTW the vega elite does not have dual 2.5/5ghz wifi.

Invincible · 23-09-2014 1:30pm

dahat wrote: »

I have set up a wired connection for where it is going, WiFi would be handy if I move it though.

Edit, dual band WiFi is listed in the description.

Oh is it, just cautious about its useability without external antenna.

donegal. · 23-09-2014 2:51pm

i followed vdubt25's instructions to install and set up istream. But when he changes the skin to "xunity-confluance mod" mine says incompatible.

How do i add istream option to the crossbar (with the 7 little submenus) like in this pic?

using minix m8/gotham13.3

Recommend an Android Box that runs XBMC - [No copyrighted material]

Comments