Best device to run Kodi?
#1
There are so many devices to run koi that i'm having trouble picking one.
I have ran XMBC on my Raspberry PiB for about 10 months. I have nothing but trouble with the pi, which has stopped working again at the moment. I regularly have trouble with the SD cards and the power supply. The software crashes a lot, i have to reset it over and over again to get it working and it takes hours to get any media on.
I want to watch films ( a week) and stream sport, again perhaps a game per week. I really just want something more reliable and faster to load.
I tried to buy an Amazon Fore stick from Argos today but they are sold out. I'm not sure if a Fire TV box would be better (hard wired)? I can also see that Roku3 and Chromecasts, as well as nexus boxes etc are all popular.
Any advice?
Reply
#2
I use mine daily and found any android based solution is generally a let down. I have a fire tv stick as a secondary device, it's not bad for the money but sluggish and can randomly exit sometimes (possibly run out of ram). I had a chromecast and found it to be generally a pain send streams to it from an android phone, sometimes codecs not being supported, streams stopping halfway through and general annoyances trying to actually send it from a phone.

By comparison running kodi on my windows laptop or HTPC it's really smooth even with a large library, heavy skins and live TV epg. Windows isn't without it's own issues though, mainly generic windows issues interfering with kodi usage.

I'm also getting a new device as well and I've narrowed it down to three which seem suitable:

-Chromebox, seem great all rounders in performance, size and OS options, £149.99-£200 ish
-Acer revo r85L, similar to chromeboxes but an odd shape, comes with a remote, slightly better specs, free windows, remote, HDD space and only £129.99
-Wetek, runs openelec or android, will be more sluggish due to cpu/gpu and not as mature platform, comes with tuners built in though and only £75 ish

I think personally I'm going to get the revo as my main box for good performance with openelec for stability. I'm going to get a wetek just for the DVB-S2 tuners and use it as TV backend for my main box and fire tv stick.
Reply
#3
since you've had your pi for 10 months, I'm assuming you have the Raspberry Pi 1 version.
The Pi 2 has been released (6 months ago) it is super fast compared to first pi (even without overclocking)
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Raspberry-Model-...B00T2U7R7I

try this and flash your card, since you don't need to overclock I'm assuming you would have better luck with the sd card not corrupting (though that issue has been long adressed)
can you install the latest openelec yourself? if so install the latest on your new pi2 and report back.
if your card is still naf I suggest you buy a new one from raspberry pi foundation. but def recommend buy the new pi over the last one
Reply
#4
Pick the Right Kodi Box (UPDATED FEB 2015)

Other popular choices besides the ones mentioned there...
Zotac Zbox BI320, HP streamer, Google Nexus player, Nvidia shield, HP 260 G1, Wetek.
All have threads out there on this forum.

I like and have the AFTV but not a popular choice these days it seems.
AFTV (non-rooted + Kodi)
WD My Book Live NAS
Reply
#5
I'd also recommend using an approved (micro)SD card and power supply. I believe this can make a big difference to stability as you have been suffering issues.

Take a look here for details:

https://www.raspberrypi.org/help/faqs/#powerReqs

http://thepihut.com/collections/raspberr...wer-supply

http://elinux.org/RPi_SD_cards

http://thepihut.com/collections/raspberr...d-adapters

I cannot recommend thepihut from experience, but the official power adapter should be ideal - it is rated at 2A, which will supply enough power for your Raspberry Pi and accessories.

I believe that Samsung and Sandisk SD cards are generally recommended for better reliability.

As the other users have mentioned, make sure your Pi is running the latest firmware. Apparently the command: "rpi-update" will do this (depending on what OS you are running).
Reply
#6
Hate to say it, but my smoothest run of xbmc/kodi is on my Windows 10 box. I have ran into zero issues from kodI or windows that relate to each other. The output is pushed to my TV with an HDMI cable from the video card.
Reply
#7
I think the Intel Braswell is promising with hardware HEVC and 4K support.

Just upgraded my setup to Windows 10 with ASRock N3700-ITX (US$120), played x265 1080p videos without any issues.
And I use the same HTPC for some PC games (old school, emulators or new), NAS and anything a computer can do.

For lower cost, the Celeron N3150 should play video just fine, US$90 for all-in-one motherboard, get a 64GB SSD, 2x2GB memory (must use dual memory) and a case, total should come under US$200.
Might also find an old cheap retail Windows 7 and get Windows 10 for free.
Reply
#8
Could someone please suggest the best kodi hardware to connect to my TV?

I would like a device which can passthrough dts hd to my amp and be controlled by just a remote.

I'm happy to use a keyboard or mouse to configure kodi and addons but once setup would prefer just to use a standard remote.
Reply

Logout Mark Read Team Forum Stats Members Help
Best device to run Kodi?0