[EyeCandy]

I'm going to ditch my Roku 3 and Plex soon. I want Kodi/XBMC because it has plugins/customization options including more Live TV options. Confused on what device to choose. Thanks for any advice.

Mostly looking for something that won't be buggy/slow, and it would be great if it didn't have to transcode most of my movies/shows. (I don't understand all of how this works, but doesn't transcoding in this situation mean lower quality because it's recompressed?) I use x264 or H264 MKV files mostly but the audio varies (AAC, AC3, and if there are other common formats).

I read some great things about Xios on here, but I'm worried about some of Amazon review comments. The DS is rated 3.3, and the XS is rated 3.8. The XS has a 1 star review and 3 star review which says it keeps restarting (crashing). Buy it anyway? Are there other devices should I consider instead? Is there anything new coming out for Christmas that I should wait for? I don't want to wait long but I could wait until early Jan.

The G-Box MK2 worries me because it seems most people can't get the remotes working well. One thing I really need is the ability to toggle subtitles using a remote. And I really would prefer a regular remote to do this (not a smartphone/tablet type of remote). I need it to turn subtitles on and off with just one press (if there are multiple subtitle tracks then it would take more presses) instead of having to choose from a menu everytime. A post on here said the Xios remote worked great from the start.

I know I want something pretty quiet, so I think that rules out using a laptop/desktop. I also don't want to spend on hard drive space right away, if I can avoid it. I have USB hard drives I can keep using.

[ozkhan1]

Dude go to the wiki and you will see a list of devices with their pros and cons listed as well.

Generally hard core kodi users stay away from android but if you must amazon firetv is good.

Apart from that intel nuc or chromeboxes are very popular choices as well.

[MrMC]

Go and read the Pivos forums, that's where the users hang out and that's where you can gleam some real info. Pivos started the whole XBMC on Android by funding the initial development process which took over a year for two experienced XBMC developers. Pivos also funneled their port into the mainline codebase.

Disclaimer:
I'm employed by Pivos, I'm also one of the above mentioned persons who also goes by 'davilla'. The Pivos XS is one of the few boxes that has met the WAF and earned placement on my main HDTV in the media room. I also have just about every other kind of Android based set-top-box and they live on and off in the man cave for testing purposes. Just received the new Google Android TV today, lets see if it's strike four or not with them.