help me choose - i'm lost
#1
Guys, i'm a newbie . I was dead on buying a s912,and just before the purchase i found this forum out and started reading for about 6-7 hours non stop and now i'm really really lost.

I'm on a budget and i have the following options:

a) S905x with android 6.0 - arround 80 USD Locally - i would of liked Mi box but it's not available localy and does not ship from Spain to Romania.( no time to order from China)
Beelink MINI MXIII II ( it comes with android 6) - i can also throw in here a custom rom if its going to be better

b) Acer Aspire M1-601 Celeron® J3060 1.6GHz Braswell, 2GB DDR3, 32GB SSD and wifi included - arround 158 USD Locally
c) Intel NUC NUC5PPYH with N3700, 4gb Ram, 64GB SSD - 200USD for Second Hand ( arround 1 year and something warranty)
d) ASRock Beebox N3000 with 8gb Ram, 128 GB SSD - 180USD for Second Hand ( arround 1 year and something warranty)

What i'm looking is - very good / fast / fluid kodi experience. I own 5.1 system trough an AVR and a LG 3D 4k TV.
What would be my best option ??
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#2
a) Mi Box is also available from:

https://www.thesolutionshop.co.uk/product/mi-box/

If you need Android the Mi Box is a far better option than any AMLogic S905x Android 6.0 device. Superior Firmware, A proper Android TV and the excellent Wireless Voice Remote are definitely wanted features. Plus 5.1 AC3/DTS & HD Audio and things like WiFi will actually work.

I would not use Android Kodi on any S9xx cheap generic AMLogic Android Box. I can almost guarantee you 5.1 DTS Audio passthrough will be broken. WiFi is a lottery.

BUT if you are willing to do a bit of DIY the Beelink MINI MXIII II can run LibreELEC Kodi from a microSDHC card (or internal eMMC Flash). This will then do all Hardware options (b thru d) can do with even a few extras like HDMI-CEC, Hardware HEVC decoding, full 5.1/7.1 HD Audio support and Dual LibreELEC / Android booting.

And it won't be slow if you use the recommended, for AMLogic - Samsung EVO or Sandisk UHS-1 Class 10 microSDHC card.

For a faster, easier, LibreELEC AMLogic device, with eMMC Flash Storage, there is the well proven ODROID C2.
The C2 can be bought from Pollin.de for € 74.95

No idea which Intel platforms will do 1080p MVC 3D. The Intel NUC with SSD of course will be the fastest but you have to pay. AMLogic with eMMC will not be that far behind for a fluid Kodi for day to day use.

Personally I would budget for a Wireless Mini Keyboard remote as well for all platforms. Wireless makes a BIG difference. I use the MINIX A2 Lite.
The Mi Box can get away with using only its excellent Wireless Bluetooth remote. It really is a nice Simple remote. Smile

Excluding 3D, for what you want you don't have to spend a lot of $$$

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#3
thx alot wrxtasy for the reply. I actually think i got a "deal" i hope for Intel NUC NUC5PPYH with N3700, 4gb Ram, 64GB SSD. I ended up paying 160USD. Hope i didn't overpay.
it was actually an impulse buy, before i read your post Smile)
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#4
If 3D wasn't a must, a Chromebox running LibreELEC would of been great and cab be found around the $100 range on eBay.

Sent from my HTC 10
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#5
The one issue with any Intel platform prior to Apollo Lake = Haswell, Braswell, Broadwell...

Is lack of 10bit HEVC Hardware decoding. A decent NUC should be able to Software decode most 10bit HEVC 1080p content, 10bit 4K will very likely struggle. So for 100% certainty nothing beats Hardware decoding.

This is why requests for Hardware help should always include what type of Video content is actually going to be played AND at what Resolution.

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#6
(2017-02-03, 10:15)staticrzr Wrote: Guys, i'm a newbie . I was dead on buying a s912,and just before the purchase i found this forum out and started reading for about 6-7 hours non stop and now i'm really really lost.

I'm on a budget and i have the following options:

a) S905x with android 6.0 - arround 80 USD Locally - i would of liked Mi box but it's not available localy and does not ship from Spain to Romania.( no time to order from China)
Beelink MINI MXIII II ( it comes with android 6) - i can also throw in here a custom rom if its going to be better

b) Acer Aspire M1-601 Celeron® J3060 1.6GHz Braswell, 2GB DDR3, 32GB SSD and wifi included - arround 158 USD Locally
c) Intel NUC NUC5PPYH with N3700, 4gb Ram, 64GB SSD - 200USD for Second Hand ( arround 1 year and something warranty)
d) ASRock Beebox N3000 with 8gb Ram, 128 GB SSD - 180USD for Second Hand ( arround 1 year and something warranty)

What i'm looking is - very good / fast / fluid kodi experience. I own 5.1 system trough an AVR and a LG 3D 4k TV.
What would be my best option ??

wrxtasy is going to hate me for this but... Confused

I am finding the S912 XPlayer box to be pretty good. I had major problems with it out of the box, but after loading a custom 6.0.1 rom from freaktab.com its been amazing. It runs Krypton (RC4) quickly (not as quick as SPMC 16.5.5 but WAAAAAY faster than when on stock). I go SPDIF TOSLINK to AVR and with a test build of RC4 I get AC3/DTS passthrough with no hiccups. I tested the majority of my library yesterday and its looking pretty good as my main media device. The *only* issue I have is I can't play back ISO files. And this could be because Im on the last nightly before release so it could already be fixed. Right now I don;t care and just drop out to SPMC when I need to play those.

@wrxtasy - Remember when I said WiFi never worked? Well that was a half-truth since I stupidly never turned on the WiFi to begin with Sad After I turned on WiFi it does indeed work, but still prefer wired over it.

So again not an endorsement so to speak, but an FYI that you can use (this specific) S912 device if you are willing to put some spit and grease on it.
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#7
(2017-02-03, 15:17)wrxtasy Wrote: The one issue with any Intel platform prior to Apollo Lake = Haswell, Braswell, Broadwell...

Is lack of 10bit HEVC Hardware decoding. A decent NUC should be able to Software decode most 10bit HEVC 1080p content, 10bit 4K will very likely struggle. So for 100% certainty nothing beats Hardware decoding.

This is why requests for Hardware help should always include what type of Video content is actually going to be played AND at what Resolution.

ok, thx alot for the info. My NUC should be arriving on monday. Ill get back to you once i have it Big Grin
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