[cajungrl]

Hello all. I am currently using an android jynxbox 4.0 android operating system; Cpu ARM cortex A9 1.2Ghz; 1 GB RAM; Mali-400 3D graphic processor; WiFi 2.4 Ghz 802.11b/g/n

I am not saavy with these specifications and only looking to purchase a faster processor and need help in choosing. I really like the android boxes and was lookin at a quad core but I read somewhere on the internet that the quad core will only be faster if the application you are using was made for quad core. Does anyone have any suggestions on a new upgraded android media device? My internet download speed is at 52Mbps

[toitle]

I can only give you my experiences with 2 boxes, the minix neo x7 which is a rockchip based unit (quad core) and the Geniatech ATV520 which is an amlogic based dual core. My collection only contains 720p mp4/mkv currently.

For video playing with XBMC the geniatech is far better, every video plays regardless of video profile (3.0-4.1, high or low), framerate or audio codec used. The rockchip based unit has issues with [email protected] mkv's. The amlogic box has better video quality, the image is smoother and seems brighter and generally more crisp.

These boxes were intended to only use xbmc and netflix in my house, and I prefer the amlogic box. When the atv580 quad amlogic box comes out I'll be getting that as I will be migrating to 1080p files and I'm sure that it'll be able to handle it. If I did game or use other heavy apps I'm sure the rockchip quad would be much better.

Consider your intentions when looking at a new box. What are you going to be doing with it? In my case the rockchip quad was a waste of money. It barely gets used as my primary use is xbmc and netflix and the amlogic box just looks better to me... I think you'll find that's the general consensus here and over at freaktab.

my .02

[momo]

Totally agree with Toitle, Rockchip was a waste of money for me (mk808 stick with rk3066 dual core) that cannot play videos without glitches with libstagefright or mediacodec even ... I have an old Geniatech ATV100 stick (one core Amlogic m3) playing smooth any video format (full hardware acceleration support) and has a full HDMI CEC support... Today you could get Amlogic m6 (dual core) ot Amlogic M8 (quad core) and it will play any video and good for gaming also....

[Ned Scott]

Rockchips can give you some good bang for your buck, and most of the video playback issues can be fixed with the right firmware, but it can be a PITA to find and update the firmware. Most AMLogic-based devices are much easier to update the firmware, if you have to.

In ether case, most of the time you won't be using the CPU portion of the chip for video decoding, so dual core vs quad core won't matter for playback. However, from user reports it sounds like MPEG2 and VC-1 are more likely to work on AMLogic (amlcodec), which are needed for most Live TV streams and some bluray images (IIRC, about 10%-ish of the BR market use VC-1. I think..). A more powerful CPU can sometimes play MPEG2 or VC-1 without hardware video decoding so it might not matter, but YMMV.

You can't really compare Ghz or number of cores between different chip families. It's totally possible to have something that is dual-core and be more powerful than quad-core. There are benchmarks results for most of these devices that can be compared, but that will mostly just matter for GUI responsiveness and other non-playback functions.

Rarely is it a "night and day" difference between most of these chipsets that have come out recently and are generally in the same price range. While I wouldn't rule out using something like rockchips, AMLogic-based boxes are good, safe bets for being able to handle a lot of different video formats and update with less headache.

[cajungrl]

We are looking to upgrade from.our Jynx android box, looking at the mx2 box, this seems to be the leading one we are looking at. Best price I have found is 179. Though. I did just come across this though and find it interesting! But it don't say if it is wireless, regardless I can hook up a wireless adapter to usb correct and with this I can put the cash on the hard drive hence less buffering and the ability to watch movies in HD right? But I do have three hard drives so that is an option for the Mx2. Thoughts?http://www.amazon.com/Matricom-x24C7-G-Box-Ubuntu-Output/dp/B00G2C3386/ref=sr_1_4?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1391707212&sr=1-4&keywords=gbox

Or this?http://www.amazon.com/Matricom-G-Box-MX2-Android-Special/dp/B00GR30SW4/ref=pd_cp_e_3

We are only running xbmc to watch tv, but like the options of first since it is like a mini computer.... Thoughts?

[helkish]

Interesting, Anyone with an odroid care to comment?

I was thinking about getting http://www.andahammer.com/t1-nanopc/

I think they are going to be available Feb 25. It's quad core Samsung Exynos 4412 for $69.

[cajungrl]

We have two jynx boxes and love them, just looking to upgrade.

[Starstream]

Well that first one you linked to is an x86 PC.

The second one appears to be an Amlogic M6/MX box, the jynx boxes were M3 units, the M6 is a dual core version of the M3. You'd see a minor improvement but nothing major, at least not until the Amlogic M8 units appear later this year. The M8's have a 2Ghz quad core CPU and an 8 core Mali 450 GPU which should give it a noticeable jump in performance.

The Samsung chip is faster than the current Amlogic line but with Amlogic XBMC has the benefit of going direct to the video processing unit on the chip as Ned mentioned.