Stick Mini Clients

[stuckless]

Originally Posted by DigiDAD

I am actually quite happy with mine. Cost less than $100 and runs the Miniclient flawlessly. I have it hard wired on gigabit Ethernet. Android TV will have other benefits but strictly as a SageTV extender, it is great.

Yeah, I can see it being useful for just a miniclient... Just now that I run AndroidTV, I'm flipping between YouTube, Netflix, and SageTV almost daily, and the user experience of those apps is greatly deminished on those devices. The miniclient would likley run the same, since it doesn't have any AndroidTV specific code or UI.

[wayner]

But a MiBox is only $69 and does run AndroidTV - the only downside is that it doesn't have an ethernet port. Why would you not get a MiBox instead?

[DigiDAD]

Originally Posted by wayner

But a MiBox is only $69 and does run AndroidTV - the only downside is that it doesn't have an ethernet port. Why would you not get a MiBox instead?

I've always trusted Ethernet over Wifi. No signal interference, drops outs, distance limitations... Placeshifter on my WiFi laptop is much less reliable than wired. Also curious where you're getting a $69 Mi Box.

[NetworkGuy]

Originally Posted by DigiDAD

I've always trusted Ethernet over Wifi. No signal interference, drops outs, distance limitations... Placeshifter on my WiFi laptop is much less reliable than wired. Also curious where you're getting a $69 Mi Box.

I purchased an USB to Ethernet adapter https://www.amazon.com/Cable-Matters...dp/B00BBD7NFU/ and use it with the MiBox. It works perfectly.

[stuckless]

Originally Posted by DigiDAD

Also curious where you're getting a $69 Mi Box.

Walmart Stores in the US

[wayner]

Originally Posted by stuckless

Walmart Stores in the US

I believe Walmart is the only place to get them and I live in Canada and had one shipped to my hotel in Seattle from Walmart.com when I was on a business trip earlier this year.

Walmart.com sells other Android boxes for as little as $30 but they seem to be reselling them as the product descriptions sound like they come from Shenzhen rather than Bentonville (and it is kind of surprising that Walmart is selling products that pretty explicitly say that they enable pirating content):

• Smart appreance consists many jacks
• It is fully compatibility and multi-language support.
• 4K ultra HD,you can enjoy the perfect the movies in your home.
• Super RAM to support the box running smoothly
• Users can watch TV series, movies and sports games at home freely

[wayner]

Originally Posted by NetworkGuy

I purchased an USB to Ethernet adapter https://www.amazon.com/Cable-Matters...dp/B00BBD7NFU/ and use it with the MiBox. It works perfectly.

That might even be overkill since that is a USB 3.0 device and I don't think the MiBox has USB 3.0 as the USB port isn't blue.

[wayner]

Originally Posted by NetworkGuy

I purchased an USB to Ethernet adapter https://www.amazon.com/Cable-Matters...dp/B00BBD7NFU/ and use it with the MiBox. It works perfectly.

Thanks for that - I tried a similar adapter that I had for my laptop and it works properly. No reason to not buy the MiBox due to not having an ethernet port as you can add one for $10.

[Jackass]

Anyone have any newer updates or recommendations?

I am still using my original FireTV as my primary, but it for sure has limitations due to the lack of MPEG2 hardware decoding. I have confirmed even the newer generation FireSticks do NOT have the CPU to run the mini-client worth a darn. As for my MiBox....well...it has been sitting mostly unused connected to my bedroom TV. It handles Sage in a more smooth manner, but it is so rough around the edges in general, I tend to avoid it.

One oddity I did notice this past week was that a ripped version of a DVD we own for some reason Sage is playing back in 4:3 when it is not in 4:3 format. Several of the movies we have behave that way. I didn't spend anytime really troubleshooting since my 4 year old was getting irked that I kept restarting her movie.

[wayner]

In a lot of ways I like the AndroidTV devices but for playback of SageTV content the best device is likely still the HD300.

[KryptoNyte]

Originally Posted by wayner

In a lot of ways I like the AndroidTV devices but for playback of SageTV content the best device is likely still the HD300.

You can't help but marvel at the foresight of the SageTV developers with regard to the HD300. Here's the post from nearly 8 years ago mentioning its availability, and let's face it, 8 years is a lifetime for video rendering hardware;

https://forums.sagetv.com/forums/showthread.php?t=50782

[Taddeusz]

Originally Posted by KryptoNyte

You can't help but marvel at the foresight of the SageTV developers with regard to the HD300. Here's the post from nearly 8 years ago mentioning its availability, and let's face it, 8 years is a lifetime for video rendering hardware;

https://forums.sagetv.com/forums/showthread.php?t=50782

I’m not sure it was foresight. It was nearly the best technology available at the time and things haven’t changed in regard to broadcast tv technology. The HD300 is already showing its age by not being able to play 4K or decode H.265 video. It can also not decode DTS Master Audio or Dolby TrueHD. It can only do HDMI pass through for those formats.

[KryptoNyte]

You know, here's the strange thing. I have 4k video from my DJI drone, I use 3840 x 2160. When I first tried to play a file on the HD300, it played, but stuttered heavily. I pulled the power cable out of the back of the HD300 and put it back in, and then the 4k file plays just fine, without stuttering - until I play a different file type and come back to the 4k when it begins to stutter again.

h.265 is a 2014 technology, so with hardware rendering, it would make sense that a 2010 device couldn't play it. I am still amazed at how many different file types this device will play. I even have some old, raw avi files that came from VHS conversions that was traditionally very difficult to find a device that could play it, but no problem with the HD300.

[will]

Originally Posted by Taddeusz

I’m not sure it was foresight. It was nearly the best technology available at the time and things haven’t changed in regard to broadcast tv technology.

I disagree. It plays back almost any file buttery smooth, much better than my Android Tablet with the mini-client. Most streamers that work that well significantly restrict what they playback to only certain formats, like Apple TV.

Originally Posted by KryptoNyte

I am still amazed at how many different file types this device will play.

That is why I keep holding on to my HD300s/SageTV setup. Just because something's newer doesn't mean it is better. I live in a 105 year old house and I am often amazed at how well it is constructed and the craftsmanship that went in to it, especially compared to my previous house, a new build from 2009, that is probably already falling apart.

[Taddeusz]

Originally Posted by will

I disagree. It plays back almost any file buttery smooth, much better than my Android Tablet with the mini-client. Most streamers that work that well significantly restrict what they playback to only certain formats, like Apple TV.

I never said the HD300 is a bad device. Just saying that it's starting to show it's age.

It hasn't been a problem because broadcast standards haven't changed and are not likely to change until 4K broadcast starts becoming more common. I'll keep using my HD300 and HD200 until I either decide to switch to some other software, they die, or technology has changed too much.

The other thing is that we do a lot of streaming. The HD300 or HD200, depending on the TV we're at, just adds another device we need plugged in. It would be more streamlined to be able to have one device that takes care of streaming and playing local video.

[will]

Originally Posted by Taddeusz

The other thing is that we do a lot of streaming. The HD300 or HD200, depending on the TV we're at, just adds another device we need plugged in. It would be more streamlined to be able to have one device that takes care of streaming and playing local video.

I totally get that. We don't stream that much TV so that hasn't been an annoyance. I do have an Apple TV hooked up to an HD PVR 60 that is connected to SageTV which I am happy with. We use our phones to select what we want to watch and it is on channel 2000 with SageTV.

I really dislike all the streaming services, they are so fragmented and I don't love their interfaces. Big graphics make for nice ads and oohs and ahhs but they are so inefficient.

Every few months I toy around with the idea of cutting cable because I can't stand Spectrum but by the time I add up all the services I would replace cable with and the fact that I still need to pay Spectrum for internet I am not saving enough to justify the headaches of having to move away from a working system.

The only thing that would make me want to leave my current setup is a Tivo-like cloud system with unlimited (or nearly) storage, no auto-deleting recordings, and the ability to import my current recordings.

Originally Posted by Taddeusz

I never said the HD300 is a bad device. Just saying that it's starting to show it's age.

I am not sold yet on 4k, at least for my house. I did the math and we don't sit close enough to the TV to visually notice the difference. Also, my eyesight isn't 20/20 and there isn't enough 4k content. 480 to 1080p was night and day but 1080 to 4k isn't as obvious, especially in real world situations, e.g., not standing 2' away from the TV at Best Buy. I think 4k is more about giving people a reason to upgrade their already fine TVs than a significant enhancement.

Unless one of my top-of-the-line 1080p TVs die, I am going to wait until 8k comes out. Apparently, the human eye can't see past 8k so at least that will be a TV that lasts...

[Tiki]

Originally Posted by will

Unless one of my top-of-the-line 1080p TVs die, I am going to wait until 8k comes out. Apparently, the human eye can't see past 8k so at least that will be a TV that lasts...

Actually the article claims the human eye can’t see past 10,000 NITs.

If the display is big enough and you sit close enough and your vision is good, I’m sure you can see way past 8k. But at some point it becomes impractical - I’m sure if you had a 100 foot 8k display and sat 6 inches away, you could see the individual pixels and things would look jaggy, but at that distance from a giant screen you would no longer be able to see the whole screen without turning your head or moving.

[Dargason]

I have a Fire TV Gen 2 kinda sorta runs the mini-client, but only on some shows -- the experts here tell me that it's because most of I watch is over-the-air which is predominantly MPEG2 encoded.

I noticed that the Fire TV Cube does hardware decoding of MPEG2 and is on sale (for amazon Prime folks) for $90 today.

Any tried running the miniclient on this? Any other comments? (Reviews for the device aren't great...)

[sacrament055]

Originally Posted by Dargason

I have a Fire TV Gen 2 kinda sorta runs the mini-client, but only on some shows -- the experts here tell me that it's because most of I watch is over-the-air which is predominantly MPEG2 encoded.

I noticed that the Fire TV Cube does hardware decoding of MPEG2 and is on sale (for amazon Prime folks) for $90 today.

Any tried running the miniclient on this? Any other comments? (Reviews for the device aren't great...)

I have the "Fire TV with 4K Ultra HD" which seems to be close to the same hardware. I can say that so far mine has worked pretty well for all sage related files including HD Homerun (MPEG2) based viewing.