Android TV Device Comparisons

[Greg2dot0]

Originally Posted by Fuzzy

Keep in mind, when they say "Only 3 left!", they are referring to their online sales stock - that does not reflect the stock at your local store, which is listed under the pickup options.

Well, out of stock now and not available within 50 miles EVER. Glad I jumped on it right away instead of contemplating dropping, even more, money into the HTPC "hobby"

[SWKerr]

Originally Posted by Fuzzy

Keep in mind, when they say "Only 3 left!", they are referring to their online sales stock - that does not reflect the stock at your local store, which is listed under the pickup options.

When I got my Mibox Walmart.com didn't have any and pickup at local store showed nothing as well. I called the store and they said they had 3 in stock. When I got there the person in the electronics area had no idea what I was talking about but I was able to find them on the shelf. I would just call or go to your local Walmart.

Note the remote on these things sucks. I would get a Flirc to add IR universal remote capabilities plus you can get a few more button. It actually has a built in IR receiver but it only maps the same limited buttons as the one they give you. And...for whatever reason the builtin remote eats batteries.

[Greg2dot0]

Originally Posted by SWKerr

Note the remote on these things sucks. I would get a Flirc to add IR universal remote capabilities plus you can get a few more button. It actually has a built in IR receiver but it only maps the same limited buttons as the one they give you. And...for whatever reason the builtin remote eats batteries.

Good to know. I'm going to start off with my Harmony Hub and see if this thing can really get a high WAF before going all out HD300 replacement.

[Fuzzy]

Originally Posted by SWKerr

When I got my Mibox Walmart.com didn't have any and pickup at local store showed nothing as well. I called the store and they said they had 3 in stock. When I got there the person in the electronics area had no idea what I was talking about but I was able to find them on the shelf. I would just call or go to your local Walmart.

Note the remote on these things sucks. I would get a Flirc to add IR universal remote capabilities plus you can get a few more button. It actually has a built in IR receiver but it only maps the same limited buttons as the one they give you. And...for whatever reason the builtin remote eats batteries.

I thought that as well at first, and did get a FLIRC - but have since moved back to the original simple remote. It actually does just about everything we need it to do in the bedroom.

[wayner]

Originally Posted by Greg2dot0

Good to know. I'm going to start off with my Harmony Hub and see if this thing can really get a high WAF before going all out HD300 replacement.

I haven't used the MiBox a ton but I still prefer my HD200 and HD300s. The one place where there seems to be issues is playback of MPEG-2 content, like OTA.

I am also unsure if you can directly map button like SkipFwd, SkipFwd2, etc to the remote. If not that would be a big issue for me.

[Fuzzy]

Originally Posted by wayner

I haven't used the MiBox a ton but I still prefer my HD200 and HD300s. The one place where there seems to be issues is playback of MPEG-2 content, like OTA.

I am also unsure if you can directly map button like SkipFwd, SkipFwd2, etc to the remote. If not that would be a big issue for me.

They are already dealt with in the miniclient. Long Press up/down/left/right are the skips I believe. regarding the MPEG-2, I haven't really messed with it much, but I've also been transcoding to h.264 for a few months now, so only my old recordings are MPEG-2.

[wayner]

Originally Posted by Fuzzy

They are already dealt with in the miniclient. Long Press up/down/left/right are the skips I believe.

But these are the little things that can bug you after a while. I use tmiranda's Dynamic Skip Times plugin to set SkipFwd2 to be the length of a commercial break for sporting events - often 120 or 150 seconds. So to go through halftime or end of period will take something like 8 presses of the SkipFwd2 button. But if you have to long press a button then that makes it a way longer process - like one second per button press as opposed to about 0.1 second per button press. First world problem, I know, but it bugs me. Even better would be if Sage would have a SkipFwd3 button that you could set to 900 seconds.

[Greg2dot0]

Originally Posted by Fuzzy

I thought that as well at first, and did get a FLIRC - but have since moved back to the original simple remote. It actually does just about everything we need it to do in the bedroom.

Woah! That's quite a device.

[wayner]

Originally Posted by Greg2dot0

Woah! That's quite a device.

That was good

[tmiranda]

My ChromeBook just received the update that allows it to run Android apps. I'm happy to report that the mini client runs quite nicely on it

[tvmaster2]

Originally Posted by tmiranda

My ChromeBook just received the update that allows it to run Android apps. I'm happy to report that the mini client runs quite nicely on it

Cool. Now if they’d do this with Chromecast...

[stuckless]

Originally Posted by tvmaster2

Cool. Now if they’d do this with Chromecast...

They (being Google) will never do this for chromecast, since, chromecast doesn't run apps. It's just a remote surface onto which Apps can project themselves. So, the work, for this, needs to happen inside of MiniClient.

[tvmaster2]

Originally Posted by stuckless

They (being Google) will never do this for chromecast, since, chromecast doesn't run apps. It's just a remote surface onto which Apps can project themselves. So, the work, for this, needs to happen inside of MiniClient.

Thanks for the clarification. I assume that would be a lot of work then?

[wayner]

Originally Posted by stuckless

They (being Google) will never do this for chromecast, since, chromecast doesn't run apps. It's just a remote surface onto which Apps can project themselves. So, the work, for this, needs to happen inside of MiniClient.

But on what device? A phone? Do you really want to be running Sage on your phone?

[wayner]

Originally Posted by tvmaster2

Thanks for the clarification. I assume that would be a lot of work then?

But what's the benefit? Do you want to run SageTV on a transient device like a phone? What happens when you phone leaves the LAN and someone else is watching SageTV casted from your phone?

Buy an AndroidTV device like a MiBox, which is a Chromecast receiver by the way, and be done with it. It isn't much more than a Chromecast and has a lot more functionality.

[tvmaster2]

Originally Posted by wayner

But what's the benefit? Do you want to run SageTV on a transient device like a phone? What happens when you phone leaves the LAN and someone else is watching SageTV casted from your phone?

Buy an AndroidTV device like a MiBox, which is a Chromecast receiver by the way, and be done with it. It isn't much more than a Chromecast and has a lot more functionality.

I travel with a phone, but don’t travel with a Roku, etc.

[wayner]

I guess that makes sense, assuming that you travel with a Chromecast.

Do you travel with a laptop? Placeshifter or Plex may be the best way to watch remotely when travelling, I also use AirVideoHD on my iPad. Having a VPN and OpenVPN client on your laptop, phone and tablet also helps. I travel with an HDMI cable - I should also travel with a universal remote as sometimes it can be tricky to switch a hotel TV's input to HDMI.

[tvmaster2]

Originally Posted by wayner

I guess that makes sense, assuming that you travel with a Chromecast.

Do you travel with a laptop? Placeshifter or Plex may be the best way to watch remotely when travelling, I also use AirVideoHD on my iPad. Having a VPN and OpenVPN client on your laptop, phone and tablet also helps. I travel with an HDMI cable - I should also travel with a universal remote as sometimes it can be tricky to switch a hotel TV's input to HDMI.

yup, I too do all that with my iPad. I don’t travel with a Chromecast, but I would (as they are so small) if the Sage Client ran on it somehow. Plex and AirVideo are fine for most things, and the iPad screen big enough too.

[tmiranda]

A few weeks ago I was actually looking at how Chromecast "sender apps" work. I think it would be a lot of work to integrate into Sage.

https://developers.google.com/cast/docs/developers

[stuckless]

Originally Posted by tvmaster2

Thanks for the clarification. I assume that would be a lot of work then?

Actually it's not huge, just there are so many other more important things to fix or to make better, that this takes a back seat.

Originally Posted by wayner

But on what device? A phone? Do you really want to be running Sage on your phone?

Yes, the MiniClient runs on your phone, and the interactions are managed there, but the video is sent to the device on the TV for playback. But for sure, it's all running on your phone.