Android TV Device Comparisons

[panteragstk]

Originally Posted by CollegeProject

So does the shield stutter as well on mpeg inside sagetv?

Btw they are getting hard to find Amazon has been out of stock for some time.

Shield plays back everything perfect for me using the sagetv app. Including mpeg2.

[Fuzzy]

Originally Posted by CollegeProject

So does the shield stutter as well on mpeg inside sagetv?

Btw they are getting hard to find Amazon has been out of stock for some time.

The Mi Box Android TV (android 6.0) box is not available on Amazon (there is an older Mi TV Box (android 5.1) box which is NOT the same thing). It appears Walmart is the only retailer in the US selling the Mi Box.

[Fuzzy]

The mi box does do hardware mpeg2, and it appears to be a little hit or miss so far on whether its going to play smoothly or not - and I have not identified any trend of what words and what doesn't. time will tell I'm guessing. Honestly, if I had a bit more CPU in my server, I'd probably have OpenDCT transcoding to h.264 anyway.

[CollegeProject]

Originally Posted by Fuzzy

The Mi Box Android TV (android 6.0) box is not available on Amazon (there is an older Mi TV Box (android 5.1) box which is NOT the same thing). It appears Walmart is the only retailer in the US selling the Mi Box.

I was referring to the shield being hard to find. I need one for my app testing and they appear to be sold out everywhere sure hope a new one is coming.

I considered the Mi box but not playing mpeg2 reliably is a deal breaker.

[KarylFStein]

Yeah, I tried to pick a second one up a little bit ago and even nVidia wasn't selling them. There was at least one post on the nVidia forums about this as well as a few asking about a new hardware revision, (along with links to some FCC filing). But no answers from nVidia. Also a (now closed) signup to test the next SHIELD Experience release. All this hopefully (!) points to clearing out stock in preparation of a new release for the holidays. If so I'd wait for Black Friday to see if they have a sale like last year...

[reggie14]

Originally Posted by CollegeProject

I was referring to the shield being hard to find. I need one for my app testing and they appear to be sold out everywhere sure hope a new one is coming.

If you live near a Microcenter, you could give that a try. My local Microcenter had them in-stock as of a couple weeks ago, but you can only buy them in-store (not online).

[trk2]

Originally Posted by CollegeProject

I was referring to the shield being hard to find. I need one for my app testing and they appear to be sold out everywhere sure hope a new one is coming.

Newegg has the shield in stock.

[NetworkGuy]

BestBuy also seems to have them in stock.

[bialio]

Looks like another strike against the Amazon devices.

http://androidtv.news/2016/10/rumor-...utm_medium=rss

[dinki]

Originally Posted by CollegeProject

Is this true for Shield please tell me no I don't have one yet been having an issue getting one.....

Originally Posted by CollegeProject

So does the shield stutter as well on mpeg inside sagetv?

Btw they are getting hard to find Amazon has been out of stock for some time.

I wasn't referring to the Shield but to the sub $100 Android boxes. That said, I don't have a Shield but I'm pretty sure they play MPEG2 fine from what I've read on some of the threads here.

[jchiso]

Originally Posted by jchiso

... I ran the miniclient (though, an older version) and it worked great on mpeg4 stuff; mpeg2 video was shaky...

I should mention that after installing a newer version of the miniclient (1.0.6) mpeg2 (OTA HD) now plays perfectly. I think this may be the device for which we've all been waiting ...

[stuckless]

Originally Posted by bialio

Looks like another strike against the Amazon devices.

http://androidtv.news/2016/10/rumor-...utm_medium=rss

Speaking strikes against... I decided to setup my FireTV for the basement TV so that I could test it there. It took me about 20 minutes to figure out how to install sagetv from the Amazon App Store... I eventually had to use a web browser to "buy" SageTV and then go into the Account settings on the device and tell it to Sync my content... How people can use this is beyond me.

After getting it set up, the MiniClient UI performed well enough, but, some content would only play audio without video. Interestingly enough, I couldn't watch recorded H264 ts files, but I could watch H264 mp4 files.

I installed Plex and plex played both files just fine.

This is likely never going to be solved, so, my suggestion to anyone, is DON'T BUY the Amazon devices. At this point I'd recommend cheap crappy boxes running Android 5 over this

Bottom line for me... I'll probably keep the device hooked up to the TV in the basement, but I'll have to use Plex on it instead of the SageTV MiniClient .

[jptheripper]

Originally Posted by jchiso

I should mention that after installing a newer version of the miniclient (1.0.6) mpeg2 (OTA HD) now plays perfectly. I think this may be the device for which we've all been waiting ...

which device specifically?

[jchiso]

Originally Posted by jptheripper

which device specifically?

Sorry. I was updating my earlier assessment of the Mi Box Android TV device ...

[jptheripper]

This is the one im looking at

http://www.ebay.com/itm/KB2-S912-Oct...YAAOSwvzRX17cI

The KB2, is an octo core s912, optical and discrete av outputs, and has a more complete remote.

[Fuzzy]

Originally Posted by jptheripper

This is the one im looking at

http://www.ebay.com/itm/KB2-S912-Oct...YAAOSwvzRX17cI

The KB2, is an octo core s912, optical and discrete av outputs, and has a more complete remote.

If you get it, certainly write up a report about it. I mean, the price is great, and the connections are awesome (My biggest gripe so far with the mi box is the lack of an ethernet port). Looking at the listing, the fact that they only show Kodi pictures, and not a proper Android TV interface gives me pause.

[NetworkGuy]

Originally Posted by Fuzzy

(My biggest gripe so far with the mi box is the lack of an ethernet port).

I am using an USB to ethernet / USB adapter. Check Amazon here. I plugged in an ethernet cable, flirc and keyboard and it all works great.

BTW....Did you figure out how to power off the Mi Box without using the Bluetooth remote?

[Fuzzy]

Originally Posted by NetworkGuy

I am using an USB to ethernet / USB adapter. Check Amazon here. I plugged in an ethernet cable, flirc and keyboard and it all works great.

BTW....Did you figure out how to power off the Mi Box without using the Bluetooth remote?

Yeah, I plan on picking up a USB hub and network adapter to smooth things out - that combo hub/ethernet looks perfect. I don't have a lot of wifi devices, but where this is, it ends up sitting right next to the xbox one, and I think the xbox's rather powerful wifi is overpowering it. I can stream plex perfectly fine on the xbox, but the exact same stream to the mi drops out on bandwidth. I think this may actually be the issues in miniclient that I thought were just related to mpeg-2+android weirdness.

[NetworkGuy]

Originally Posted by Fuzzy

Yeah, I plan on picking up a USB hub and network adapter to smooth things out - that combo hub/ethernet looks perfect. I don't have a lot of wifi devices, but where this is, it ends up sitting right next to the xbox one, and I think the xbox's rather powerful wifi is overpowering it. I can stream plex perfectly fine on the xbox, but the exact same stream to the mi drops out on bandwidth. I think this may actually be the issues in miniclient that I thought were just related to mpeg-2+android weirdness.

I have had problems in the past with two WiFi devices sitting right next to each other. In those cases, I usually put in a ethernet hub, like the NetGear GS105.

[Fuzzy]

Originally Posted by NetworkGuy

I have had problems in the past with two WiFi devices sitting right next to each other. In those cases, I usually put in a ethernet hub, like the NetGear GS105.

Yeah, I know it can cause issues - but a hub isn't going to fix it when one of the devices doesn't have an ethernet port. No worries, it'll be straightened up as soon as my usb ethernet adapter arrives. In hindsight, I probably could just run my hardwire to the xbox one, and leave the mi on a now uninterrupted wi-fi, but I don't know if the xbox one disables the wifi when wired is connected, or if it leaves it on (which would prevent it from fixing the problem).