Android/Dream Box [ Illegal discussion = Ban ]

corwill

yabadabado wrote: »

Just a quick look at the link and it seems over priced.
I got the U9 for a similar price from Gearbest.

https://m.aliexpress.com/item/32756956493.html#autostay

I've been looking at this one, tempted by the 3gb of RAM, good bit cheaper than the Minix U9-H, and competitive price-wise for the Amlogic S912 chipset, but you'd have to wonder about ROM support/development into the future.

BandMember

yabadabado wrote: »

Just a quick look at the link and it seems over priced.
I got the U9 for a similar price from Gearbest.

Is it a geuine item or a clone? I'd be wary, or is A********s that I'm thinking of.... Also, did you not get caught for customs? If not, you got a great bargain!!

Invincible

corwill wrote: »

https://m.aliexpress.com/item/32756956493.html#autostay

I've been looking at this one, tempted by the 3gb of RAM, good bit cheaper than the Minix U9-H, and competitive price-wise for the Amlogic S922 chipset, but you'd have to wonder about ROM support/development into the future.

That's an S912 chip, not 922.
The 912 was meant to have issues, regarding firmware from what I read.
There's meant to be S820/S821 chips that will compare favourably with the nvidia shield performance.

yabadabado

BandMember wrote: »

Is it a geuine item or a clone? I'd be wary, or is A********s that I'm thinking of.... Also, did you not get caught for customs? If not, you got a great bargain!!

Seems the real deal .Gearbest have a good rep AFAIK and are a hosted group on boards.
I sent it via Parcel Motel and didn't get hit by customs.

U9 and A3 remote was €150 delivered

EoinMcLovin

corwill wrote: »

https://m.aliexpress.com/item/32756956493.html#autostay

I've been looking at this one, tempted by the 3gb of RAM, good bit cheaper than the Minix U9-H, and competitive price-wise for the Amlogic S912 chipset, but you'd have to wonder about ROM support/development into the future.

Yeah the box I currently have was one of the cheap ones you get from ebay. Would prefer to have a box that I know will get regular firmware updates and support. The T8 V looks good as they are based in the UK, so if something goes wrong, you don't need to send back to China and they get regular OTA updates. You also won't get caught by customs.

corwill

Invincible wrote: »

That's an S912 chip, not 922.
The 912 was meant to have issues, regarding firmware from what I read.
There's meant to be S820/S821 chips that will compare favourably with the nvidia shield performance.

Yep, typo, meant S912.

Given the price of the Minix U9-H from Gearbest, plus potential customs hit, I'd be more inclined to lay out a bit more and just get the nvidia shield.

yoshimitsu

Nvidia Shield 16GB (latest model) going for £179 vs 189 on Amazon UK at the moment. It may be the opportunity/excuse I was looking for to pull the trigger
I wouldn't be playing games on it so may be overkill but I want a solid/reliable platform that I can waste some time setting up just the way I want knowing that it'll last me for the next couple of years... can I rationally justify the purchase to myself? Hmmm tough decision

Ha Long Bay

yoshimitsu wrote: »

Nvidia Shield 16GB (latest model) going for £179 vs 189 on Amazon UK at the moment. It may be the opportunity/excuse I was looking for to pull the trigger
I wouldn't be playing games on it so may be overkill but I want a solid/reliable platform that I can waste some time setting up just the way I want knowing that it'll last me for the next couple of years... can I rationally justify the purchase to myself? Hmmm tough decision

I would go with the Mibox 4K if you are not using it for gaming and save €120. I have both the Shield and Mibox both run K0di really well and both are running Android 7.

corwill

john4321 wrote: »

I would go with the Mibox 4K if you are not using it for gaming and save €120. I have both the Shield and Mibox both run K0di really well and both are running Android 7.

The MiBox doesn't have an ethernet port, though. I'd be all over it, otherwise. Still tempted, at that.

NATLOR

corwill wrote: »

The MiBox doesn't have an ethernet port, though. I'd be all over it, otherwise. Still tempted, at that.

Can't vouch for it personally but I've seen this adapter mentioned on a couple of other sites that seemingly does the job

https://www.amazon.co.uk/UGREEN-Ethernet-Network-Nintendo-Chromebook/dp/B00LLUEJXW/ref=sr_1_15?ie=UTF8&qid=1492678259&sr=8-15&keywords=ugreen+rj45

Just noticed there is a video review on Amazon with a guy using it on a mi box

yoshimitsu

john4321 wrote: »

I would go with the Mibox 4K if you are not using it for gaming and save €120. I have both the Shield and Mibox both run K0di really well and both are running Android 7.

Thanks for the advice. I was going to use the Shield as a Plex Media Server instead of my old power-hungry DELL desktop... I've read that the Shield supports transcoding quite well. Could the Mibox 4K do the same in your opinion?

Ha Long Bay

yoshimitsu wrote: »

Thanks for the advice. I was going to use the Shield as a Plex Media Server instead of my old power-hungry DELL desktop... I've read that the Shield supports transcoding quite well. Could the Mibox 4K do the same in your opinion?

I dont use plex but just checked to see if you could install the server on the Mibox via Google Play but says its not supported.

OREGATO

Hi guys,

Looking to get one of these boxes for the spare room. We have two already in other rooms of the house, one is very slow these days in terms of moving from screen to screen as opposed to broadband issues.

There appears to be a lot of different prices and for the same box, depending on the seller, it can be from €40 to €80 which is making me think that some of these might be clones or knock offs.

I'm thinking of buying something like this (no affiliation to the seller): http://www.satworld.ie/x96-android-6.0-marshmallow-tv-box.html but my question is, is it worth buying from a shop such as this who appear to be charging more or going with a smaller shop where the same box could in theory be 50% less?

Any recommendations on genuine boxes to get?

Sappy404

Just for the record I'm having loads of trouble with the Mi Box. I can only cast to it after doing a cold reboot. Initially it was just having issues using DLNA casting, but even YouTube is acting up now. Tried it wired, wireless, using a WiFi hotspot on my phone, all kinds of casting devices - it's infuriating. I was told there'd be an update on the 8th but I've seen nothing appear.

Copper_pipe

OREGATO wrote: »

Hi guys,

Looking to get one of these boxes for the spare room. We have two already in other rooms of the house, one is very slow these days in terms of moving from screen to screen as opposed to broadband issues.

There appears to be a lot of different prices and for the same box, depending on the seller, it can be from €40 to €80 which is making me think that some of these might be clones or knock offs.

I'm thinking of buying something like this (no affiliation to the seller): http://www.satworld.ie/x96-android-6.0-marshmallow-tv-box.html but my question is, is it worth buying from a shop such as this who appear to be charging more or going with a smaller shop where the same box could in theory be 50% less?

Any recommendations on genuine boxes to get?

If you don't mind waiting a while, buy online from china. More value for your money

NATLOR

OREGATO wrote: »

Hi guys,

Looking to get one of these boxes for the spare room. We have two already in other rooms of the house, one is very slow these days in terms of moving from screen to screen as opposed to broadband issues.

There appears to be a lot of different prices and for the same box, depending on the seller, it can be from €40 to €80 which is making me think that some of these might be clones or knock offs.

I'm thinking of buying something like this (no affiliation to the seller): http://www.satworld.ie/x96-android-6.0-marshmallow-tv-box.html but my question is, is it worth buying from a shop such as this who appear to be charging more or going with a smaller shop where the same box could in theory be 50% less?

Any recommendations on genuine boxes to get?

You would be mad IMO to pay that price its seriously over inflated as are all the other products they are selling. Exact same box for sale on Amazon around €40 less

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Newtech-X96-Android-Marshmallow-S905X/dp/B01MYW0ICM/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1492771079&sr=8-3&keywords=x96+android+tv+box

With the added peace of mind that they are great to deal with for returns if you have any issues

Ha Long Bay

Sappy404 wrote: »

Just for the record I'm having loads of trouble with the Mi Box. I can only cast to it after doing a cold reboot. Initially it was just having issues using DLNA casting, but even YouTube is acting up now. Tried it wired, wireless, using a WiFi hotspot on my phone, all kinds of casting devices - it's infuriating. I was told there'd be an update on the 8th but I've seen nothing appear.

There is a leaked version of 7.0 thats available to download and install.

android.googleapis.com/packages/ota/xiaomi_once_once/87cf61497f0f6c6ed49ff22bc9b8bd3d3167b9e5.zip

Put the update.zip on a USB and insert.
Turn the unit off and remove power
Press and hold the back and center buttons on the remote as you reconnect power and it will boot into recovery. Choose Install from ext and select your USB and then the zip.

Sappy404

john4321 wrote: »

There is a leaked version of 7.0 thats available to download and install.

android.googleapis.com/packages/ota/xiaomi_once_once/87cf61497f0f6c6ed49ff22bc9b8bd3d3167b9e5.zip

Put the update.zip on a USB and insert.
Turn the unit off and remove power
Press and hold the back and center buttons on the remote as you reconnect power and it will boot into recovery. Choose Install from ext and select your USB and then the zip.

Thanks. I'm trying something where I d/c my Chromecast Audio before powering up; I have a feeling it's interfering somehow as at some point in the past they have both seemed flaky when the Mi Box gets the problem.

What's the story w/ the leaked version? Where did it come from? Has it been tested?

Ha Long Bay

Sappy404 wrote: »

Thanks. I'm trying something where I d/c my Chromecast Audio before powering up; I have a feeling it's interfering somehow as at some point in the past they have both seemed flaky when the Mi Box gets the problem.

What's the story w/ the leaked version? Where did it come from? Has it been tested?

Found it over on XDA. The download is from Google servers. Applied it a few days ago with no issues.

Sappy404

john4321 wrote: »

Found it over on XDA. The download is from Google servers. Applied it a few days ago with no issues.

Is it a major facelift or just some behind the scenes updates?

OREGATO

Copper_pipe wrote: »

If you don't mind waiting a while, buy online from china. More value for your money

NATLOR wrote: »

You would be mad IMO to pay that price its seriously over inflated as are all the other products they are selling. Exact same box for sale on Amazon around €40 less

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Newtech-X96-Android-Marshmallow-S905X/dp/B01MYW0ICM/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1492771079&sr=8-3&keywords=x96+android+tv+box

With the added peace of mind that they are great to deal with for returns if you have any issues

Cheers guys,

Would you recommend this box? I've read back a good few pages in this thread and the only box I've really seen mentioned is the Xiaomi box. Would the X96 be better? I'm just looking for something that will get firmware updates (when available) and something that will last a bit longer than 6 months. I'd also like a box that has no 'bloatware' on it.

yabadabado

Factory reset the box when you get it and reload whatever you need.Gets rid off all the crap you don't want/need.

Buy from China and use PM and it shpuld arrive within 2 weeks. Better value and that's the way I've done it without any issues.

Ha Long Bay

Sappy404 wrote: »

Is it a major facelift or just some behind the scenes updates?

Its an update from Android 6 to 7. Retains the Android TV interface. Main reason I upgraded was to fix the HDMI CEC issue the options are now back in the menu.

OREGATO

yabadabado wrote: »

Factory reset the box when you get it and reload whatever you need.Gets rid off all the crap you don't want/need.

Buy from China and use PM and it shpuld arrive within 2 weeks. Better value and that's the way I've done it without any issues.

Thanks for the advice!

Just a question, is there any reason to use PM instead of regular post to the door?

Invincible

NATLOR wrote: »

You would be mad IMO to pay that price its seriously over inflated as are all the other products they are selling. Exact same box for sale on Amazon around €40 less

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Newtech-X96-Android-Marshmallow-S905X/dp/B01MYW0ICM/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1492771079&sr=8-3&keywords=x96+android+tv+box

With the added peace of mind that they are great to deal with for returns if you have any issues

I've seen newtech.co.uk mentioned on some forum's for that box, £36.50

yabadabado

OREGATO wrote: »

Thanks for the advice!

Just a question, is there any reason to use PM instead of regular post to the door?

I use PM as it's quicker and I have never got caught for customs using them.Now I'm not advising people to try avoid paying customs before anyone has a meltdown.

eamonnq

NATLOR wrote: »

You would be mad IMO to pay that price its seriously over inflated as are all the other products they are selling. Exact same box for sale on Amazon around €40 less

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Newtech-X96-Android-Marshmallow-S905X/dp/B01MYW0ICM/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1492771079&sr=8-3&keywords=x96+android+tv+box

With the added peace of mind that they are great to deal with for returns if you have any issues

Or pick one up off Adverts.ie if there is a seller local (not sure how great they would be to with for returns though if you do have issues).

mikeoneilly

What happens with PM if there is customs?

Copper_pipe

mikeoneilly wrote: »

What happens with PM if there is customs?

They refuse to take it i think

yabadabado

Copper_pipe wrote: »

They refuse to take it i think

I think that's it but I have never had any problems with customs when I used PM.