[jharnasch]

Looking for any information on this setup with OpenELEC/XBMC installed.

Any information would be great that people have on this setup.

[jharnasch]

No one has an opinion, that may say it all

[stuCONNERS]

Rpi might be a better buy, What do you want the device to do?

[wrxtasy]

6. Let's take an an example of modern "better supported" hardware - the Cubox-i which runs Linux and Android, and has a small development community. The CPU for the quadcore Cubox-i is 20x faster than the Raspberry Pi model B, and it has integrated Wifi, SPDIF, IR and eSATA, and it comes in a box which is smaller than the Raspberry Pi. Around Jan 2014 most people started receiving their boxes, but 1 year later: Wi-Fi does not work properly (200kbps speed is about all you get), Hi-def de-interlacing is still to be integrated into mainline xbmc, 23.976 playback syncs to the TV at 24Hz causing occassional frame stutter, some TVs will have overscan issues which means that parts of the screen are missing in Android/Linux, and I have never seen an XBMC or Android build with a working 'standby/resume' feature that uses <1W power. These issues might be fixed if the free development community sticks around long enough before something more exciting/cheaper comes along.

http://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=...pid1923113

[noggin]

I think you need a very good reason to go for the Cubox-i over the Pi 2 for OpenElec / Kodi purposes. There are other reasons to go for a Cubox-i (eSATA, GigE - though it is limited to 470Mbs, SPDIF, WiFi, BT etc.) but in Kodi terms the Pi 2 is definitely better supported.

[jharnasch]

I guess the reason I'm asking is I'm looking for a quality Linux, not android experience and the choice seem to be more limited. I'm curious as to why support matters as much if the specs can run it and it's Linux? I'm new to all of this and understand if the quality of the box/unit is poor, it may fair in some respects. I just want a quality xbmc unit that's linux, I am not an android based fan.

[Ned Scott]

CuBox is a nice box.

But buy a Raspberry Pi 2.

[jharnasch]

CuBox is a nice box.

But buy a Raspberry Pi 2.

Thanks.....can you direct me to a pre-built box?

[Aleksander]

I've got a Cubox i4Pro, a Asus Chromebox and a Raspberry Pi 2, and I must say; if you're not willing to pay the cost of the Chromebox, the RPi2 is the closest you can get with the least amount of headache. As of now the Cubox doesn't perform noticeably better than the Pi (both running OpenElec). Furthermore, many of the Cubox features (IR, Wifi etc. as mentioned by wrxtasy) isn't working properly. I ordered my Cubox late last year and if I'd known that the RPi2 would be released before I recieved it, I wouldn't have ordered it. With that being said, I think the Cubox is a neat little device, but it is not without flaws.

[noggin]

I guess the reason I'm asking is I'm looking for a quality Linux, not android experience and the choice seem to be more limited. I'm curious as to why support matters as much if the specs can run it and it's Linux? I'm new to all of this and understand if the quality of the box/unit is poor, it may fair in some respects. I just want a quality xbmc unit that's linux, I am not an android based fan.

Just because a box runs Linux doesn't mean everything in the box is properly supported in Linux. Stuff like video drivers (for hardware acceleration), proper audio bitstreaming, proper refresh rate support, plus full and reliable support of stuff like WiFi, IR receivers etc. isn't guaranteed even if a box will run Linux. (Look how long it has taken to get decent video drivers for Intel x86 boxes - and even then SB and IVB stuff is still not 100%)

You have to also see the quality of the Linux support, particularly when it comes to drivers and APIs.

[noggin]

CuBox is a nice box.

But buy a Raspberry Pi 2.

Thanks.....can you direct me to a pre-built box?

No - but there are plenty of bundles which come with the board, a box, a PSU and in some cases a MicroSD card.

I understand that there is a good reason to buy a prebuilt box, as not everyone is happy to, or able to, put a board in a box. It is usually just a case of clipping in the board and/or screwing in 4 to 8 screws, but if you have a disability which prevents you from doing this, then I would suggest trying to find a friendly geek to assist, possibly at a local maker space?

However if you are able to use a screwdriver, you are able to assemble a Pi in a box. There's no soldering. It's very simple.

[omontero]

Have the Rpi2 and a Amazon Fire TV. If you can get a rootable Amazon Fire TV you get the best of Android + a good Kodi client. The only really advantag of rooting is having the ability to use external storage. If you can live without it go for any Amazon Fire TV.

But if you don´t care for Android apps or games Rpi2 is a no brainer. Even with alpha releases of Openelec it works great. Almost no slowdowns and it reads a library of 200 movies in less than 5 minutes. I love it and will get two more for a retropie machine and another for a torrent machine.

[jharnasch]

CuBox is a nice box.

But buy a Raspberry Pi 2.

Thanks.....can you direct me to a pre-built box?

No - but there are plenty of bundles which come with the board, a box, a PSU and in some cases a MicroSD card.

I understand that there is a good reason to buy a prebuilt box, as not everyone is happy to, or able to, put a board in a box. It is usually just a case of clipping in the board and/or screwing in 4 to 8 screws, but if you have a disability which prevents you from doing this, then I would suggest trying to find a friendly geek to assist, possibly at a local maker space?

However if you are able to use a screwdriver, you are able to assemble a Pi in a box. There's no soldering. It's very simple.

Thanks, after reading your post I did research on kits, and yes I am totally capable of putting it together.

I guess after reading some comments the Cubox-i4Pro specs are meaningless if the quality of components are low. I was hoping the quality was better, based on the faster chip and more ram, but sounds like the IR, Wifi, and other components are garbage for the most part.

[noggin]

I guess after reading some comments the Cubox-i4Pro specs are meaningless if the quality of components are low. I was hoping the quality was better, based on the faster chip and more ram, but sounds like the IR, Wifi, and other components are garbage for the most part.

Not sure if they are badly implemented hardware, or just not well supported with drivers. Either way they don't appear to be that useful.

It is important not to underestimate the massive support behind the Raspberry Pi and now the Raspberry Pi 2. Look at how well supported OpenElec and Kodi are on the Pi / Pi 2 in comparison to other ARM SoCs - even those now getting official OE builds.

[crackers]

I've had the i4Pro for the better part of a month and, well, it works flawlessly for me. We watch BluRay-ripped to MKV with full DTS-MA passthrough at 24fps with absolutely no blips. Out of the box. Bang. Done. And I leave it running, no sleep/hibernate 24 hours a day.

Now, I don't have a fancy setup, just a garden variety Samsung HT system for the 5.1 and HDMI output to the TV, so maybe that's the trick. Or there were some iffy components for earlier builds.

And my wife thinks it's cuter than baby penguins, so it's kind of a winner around here...

Oh, and I also have a couple of original Pi B's as well. They work pretty decently on a wired connection, but I can't get anything worthwhile over wireless (congested area), so they're not utilized until I get better reception rigged up.