[busta.rhymes]

Hi guys,

I currently sold my nvidia Shield TV do to the fact that the device is a bit to pricey for me sitting at 250$ with the remote.

Ive been without kodi for some weeks now and i am actualy looking at getting back to kodi and am looking for my next Kodi TV Box. My Target Pricepoint would be something from 80 to 100€.
I know about the Choose youre Hardware Thread but am sort of an advanced user and want to chat with some folks.

Ive had,
Amlogic S802 Android box
Chromebox with Openelec
nVidia Shield TV

Rasspery Pi is nothing for me realy because i sort of dont realy like the build youre one thingy.

To me it is realy important to have some what functioning 23.976 hz 24hz 50hz 60 hz switching. Now i know that this does not work with nexus player yet but i have read that it will come with Android M. And the Nexus Player is quite temting for its performance pricepoint. Now having HD Audio would also be nice but i dont think that this is doable at the pricepoint yet.

I am also looking at a Amlogic S805 devices because it sort of sits in the same price range as the Nexus Player. I am attracted to the H265 and Frame Rate Switching and the pricepoint. But i already had a S802 Box and this is even slower so i am kind of scared since my Chromebox with openelec realy set some bars.

I also gave the Wetek Play Openelec Box a closer look but i am scared of the 3 Year old Dualcore Hardware. Although Openelec for 100€ is quite temting.

Anyone have any suggestions?

[busta.rhymes]

So ive read around a bit in the Hardware Thread an it seems Minix Neo X6 with Amlogic S805 would be a good way to go for me.
Always thankfull for replys.

[wrxtasy]

Yes agreed. The AMlogic S805 is good bang for the buck if you don't care about HD Audio and want 1080p HEVC.

Kodi Isengard runs nicely on Android 4.4.2 on the S805, if you have mature Firmware. The MINIX and HardKernel guys have proper 23.976/59.94Hz video output and refresh rate switching running nicely in their Android Firmwares.

If you can Overclock the S805 to 178000Mhz and stick it in Performance mode, everything naturally runs even better.

It sounds like you want something nicely integrated that just works out of the box.
MINIX are the guys that have a nicely sorted H265 device in a polished package, as you have already read about.

---

What happened to the Chromebox ?
That blows every other Kodi Isengard device out of the water, bar 1080p HEVC Hardware decoding.

[busta.rhymes]

Yes, thanks,

the onlything scaring me off is the performance of the chip. When i look at Antutu Scores about 16000 where Nexus Player Scores 40000.
But if it has perfect Frame Switching then i guess its the way to go for me.

[wrxtasy]

Are you compressing files, decrypting or running a whole bunch of Apps at once and need a lot of CPU grunt ?
My Overclocked Amlogic S805 reports 18,000 on Antutu. I have little to complain about. I don't need HD Audio either.
Perfect 24p sync and Dynamic Refresh rate switching work well, I could not use a Kodi device without these two important features.

Its mostly the GPU/VPU and the very important mature Firmware that count when you are looking at Kodi video performance on AMlogic S802/805/812 devices.
For that the MINIX X6 / S805 is a nice 1080p HEVC package.

Enjoy

[busta.rhymes]

Yeah i went ahead and orderd a Minix X6, i will report back as soon as i get it.

[sandogo1]

I have a ftv,ftv stick,pi 2 running open elec and a new neo x8 h plus and so far I really like the pi 2 openelec runs so good don't get me wrong the x8 is nice and has all the bells and whistle but you really cant beat the price of the pi 2 and how great it runs next up for me to try is the nvida shield tv will let everyone know how it does next week after i get it

[wrxtasy]

Have you tried playing 1080p HEVC on the RPi2 ?

[noggin]

Have you tried playing 1080p HEVC on the RPi2 ?

I'm still not understanding the HEVC thing?

Is everyone re-encoding their DVD and Blu-ray libraries and their off-air TV recordings? Is storage that much of an issue. I guess I'm relatively unusual in that I only re-encode for viewing on portable devices that don't have the storage or can't replay the native copies I have of everything.

I realise other people source their content via different routes... I'm guessing that is where HEVC is appearing to be an issue?

The only HEVC content I have is 2160/50p and 59.94p off-air recordings of UHD tests - and until I can get HDMI 2.0 and 2160/60p HEVC decode in a box I'm not sure I see the point. (Be interesting to see if the nVidia Shield would play it...)

[wrxtasy]

I wanted a 1080p HEVC player specifically for TV shows I might stumble across in my travels through the Interwebs. Ones that are not available from Paid streaming services where I live. A lot never see the light of day here, never ever.

And for that yes 1080p quality and file sizes matter when you live in a 1st world country with a 3rd world Internet service.

[busta.rhymes]

Yeah ive been noticing a lot of h265 releases show up in the last time to. So i think h265 is a good thing to have looking forward. Plus RPi is no option for me because i just dont like the way these things are put together. I like retail boxes.

[sandogo1]

What did you think of the shield Tv setup ... How is the software any issue freezing locking up compatibility issues

[nickr]

Is there any reason not to go back to chromebox?

[nooryani84]

This one has been on my mind lately (if I were to get a new box) http://kodi.wiki/view/WeTek_Play

I currently use my desktop as my Intel NUC needs a new wireless keyboard... So I would still recommend an Intel NUC or raspberry pi 1 or 2, unless you want something that runs Android as well.

Edit: So checked out a video and specs on the Minix X6... yep, probably A LOT better than the WetTek Play

[wrxtasy]

Its used to be pretty pretty frustrating for a new user trying to choose a decent device to run Kodi well at an affordable price, you either have to put up with:

a) Underpowered old Hardware but well sorted Firmware, like users have found with the Vero/CuBox and the Wetek.openelec/Play recently
http://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=...pid2054255

or

b) In the Android marketplace, buggy incomplete Firmware. but with great low cost capable Hardware

Thankfully for pure Kodi use the Chromebox and RPi2 came along and changed all that and in the Kodi / Android Market space MINIX released their well sorted AMlogic NEO X6/8 series.

The flashy Dark Android Robot marching its way into the fight with a bristling piece of Kit slug across its metallic arm is of course the NVIDIA Shield. Video and Audio features still need to be added in Firmware however before its a serious Kodi contender to the likes of a Chromebox.

http://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=...pid2055425