• 1
  • 22
  • 23
  • 24(current)
  • 25
  • 26
  • 96
Pick the Right Kodi Box (UPDATED FEB 2015)
(2015-02-20, 23:32)tdw197 Wrote: You don't need a powerful machine for a pvr backend, unless doing things like com skip.

Or re-encoding. Sometime people don't want to archive stuff in interlaced MPEG2.

I get what you were saying though, it doesn't take a lot to be a PVR backend at a basic level. Technically a Chromebox probably could do it all with more storage.

(2015-02-20, 23:44)tdw197 Wrote:
(2015-02-20, 23:41)nickr Wrote: Recording over the network certainly alleviates the storage problem. As far as nases go, I have a fear that I'll find some program that wont run on the nas. I prefer the flexibilty of a pc with linux, but a nas is right for some people.

Me too, my new NAS is a HP microserver running esxi, hopefully that will cover all eventualities Smile
Me too, been running a NAS box using esxi for n36l and now g8... Its the bollocks!
Primary Sony 85" X8500F LED, Yamaha RX-V685, Odroid N2 4GB running CoreElec 19.4 RC1 (Kodi Matrix), SVS 5.1 Sound
Secondary Panasonic 50" ST50 Plasma, Pioneer AV916, Asus Chromebox running LibreElec (Kodi Leia)
(2015-02-20, 20:40)poofyhairguy Wrote:
(2015-02-20, 20:12)Rickt1962 Wrote: Found this while doing a search for the BEST BOX that can do everything and Do not see the category.......... A Set Top Box stb that can do Kodi/XBMC .... And Live TV tuner since I am in the U.S. the tuner can be 2 choices DVB-s2 which works for small dish satellite FTA or ATSC for antennas both as a option would also have DVR capabilities.

So Kodi actually doesn't do any PVRing. It relies on some sort of backend to deliver the Live TV content. That changes where you need the power.

The trick is to have a more powerful system be the backend (and probably be the NAS too) and have smaller boxes like a Chromebox be the thing in the livingroom that actually is the set top box. Then you can load that backend box up with all the tuners and storage and other stuff that needs a large case, while each TV connects through the small Chromebox via your network.

That is the way to do it right.

I have a PC with HDhomeRun 3 tuner thru Comcast with XBMC so I am not a noob about these things LOL. The reason for this post was for people to Post Boxes that are already built with those Features . I have couple now with Vigica they do the DVR and have XBMC the problem is not enough memory for XBMC with large libraries. So I am looking for other brands that are Great Community already have and tested.

The Vigica C70s is great for people that want all in one box for Satellite TV or ATSC with XBMC for small library 2000 movies and 4000 TV shows and for streaming. I need more Smile

And don't want to build STB's for a lot of TV's
One HTPC Windows 7 pro 64x running WMC with 2 HDhomeRun on Comcast 6 tuners with MCEbuddy
WD MyCloud 24TB over Netgear network | 6500 movies and 40,000+ TV Show episodes
(2015-02-20, 20:47)nickr Wrote:
(2015-02-20, 20:12)Rickt1962 Wrote: Found this while doing a search for the BEST BOX that can do everything and Do not see the category.......... A Set Top Box stb that can do Kodi/XBMC .... And Live TV tuner since I am in the U.S. the tuner can be 2 choices DVB-s2 which works for small dish satellite FTA or ATSC for antennas both as a option would also have DVR capabilities.

I have one of each now Vigica C70s running Android the only problem is not enough on board storage and XBMC stops working so hoping others have found better boxes Smile
Wetek are a sponsor of openelec and have a box with built in dvb-s (not sure if it is s2).

Thank you for pointing me to another BOX ! Smile Will check it out....

hopefully others will post more to add to the list
One HTPC Windows 7 pro 64x running WMC with 2 HDhomeRun on Comcast 6 tuners with MCEbuddy
WD MyCloud 24TB over Netgear network | 6500 movies and 40,000+ TV Show episodes
(2015-02-21, 00:02)Rickt1962 Wrote:
(2015-02-20, 20:40)poofyhairguy Wrote:
(2015-02-20, 20:12)Rickt1962 Wrote: Found this while doing a search for the BEST BOX that can do everything and Do not see the category.......... A Set Top Box stb that can do Kodi/XBMC .... And Live TV tuner since I am in the U.S. the tuner can be 2 choices DVB-s2 which works for small dish satellite FTA or ATSC for antennas both as a option would also have DVR capabilities.

So Kodi actually doesn't do any PVRing. It relies on some sort of backend to deliver the Live TV content. That changes where you need the power.

The trick is to have a more powerful system be the backend (and probably be the NAS too) and have smaller boxes like a Chromebox be the thing in the livingroom that actually is the set top box. Then you can load that backend box up with all the tuners and storage and other stuff that needs a large case, while each TV connects through the small Chromebox via your network.

That is the way to do it right.

I have a PC with HDhomeRun 3 tuner thru Comcast with XBMC so I am not a noob about these things LOL. The reason for this post was for people to Post Boxes that are already built with those Features . I have couple now with Vigica they do the DVR and have XBMC the problem is not enough memory for XBMC with large libraries. So I am looking for other brands that are Great Community already have and tested.

The Vigica C70s is great for people that want all in one box for Satellite TV or ATSC with XBMC for small library 2000 movies and 4000 TV shows and for streaming. I need more Smile

And don't want to build STB's for a lot of TV's

Would you not be better with one setup box /server with multiple tuners shared to other kodi boxes?

Having multiple boxes running tuners seems a bit inefficient.
(2015-02-21, 00:02)Rickt1962 Wrote: And don't want to build STB's for a lot of TV's

You don't.

You build one box full of tuners and at least one large HD. Like every tuner you want in the house period. And that box is your backend, which is then serves to the clients. The clients are either Pi 2s or Chromeboxes depending on what can be afforded.

That is best case.

Quote:hopefully others will post more to add to the list

I hope so too, thank you for the feedback! Smile

(2015-02-20, 07:20)MrCrispy Wrote: What is the actual speed difference in GUI on ARM vs x86 (i.e. Android vs Chromebox/HTPC) ? Is it really night and day for large libraries?

There has been lot of talk in the other threads about how some of these boxes have their own internal players that can playback 3D ISO as well as HD passthru.

Quote:The only way it does what it does is by replacing the default Kodi video player, like we used to do with DS Player. That means that it is a dead end, and as soon as we get Kodi 15 or whatever it will be a piece of abandonware most likely as Himedia moves onto the next box. I only like recommending solutions with fairly broad community support that use standard Kodi features, because that means it will work fine with future versions of the software. The Himedia box is a hack designed to get around current limitations that will be like a time capsule of our current limitations years from now. A Chromebox will improve with every update. The VidOn Box isn't perfect, but I feel they are providing better community support than Himedia and at least they aren't pretending they have a Kodi solution.

I agree with this, but I don't understand why current boxes will become abandonware with the next version of Kodi? Is that generally what's happened in the past? AFAIK they just run the regular Android version of Kodi, with the only 'hack' being the workaround to use the external player, which is fully supported in Kodi.

I'm going to quote some near 2 year old data, but I used XBMC on an Apple TV2 and it scarred me it was such a horrific experience. The CPU was just, just fast enough and the flash ram was mediocre, meaning on a huge library, navigating it meant crappy slow thumbnails to pull up.
My MiniITX machine with a small cheap SSD and cheap Pentium thrashes it completely, library navigation is a breeze, even at 2200 movies, 70+ TV shows.

Since my data is 2 years old though and it's 2015, you'd think we'd be close to being able to have sub $199 Android boxes with some actual grunt. I know the Samsung S6 is rumoured to use some kind of new fancy flash memory which is about 3x faster than old flash ram. When this kind of stuff is common place, perhaps navigating a large library won't be so difficult.
I'll keep my eye on these threads but I'm not convinced even in 2015, there's 'definitive' XBMC / Kodi machine available yet, still. Which has eth / wifi / couple of USB ports, HDMI out, under $200 and it's REALLY more than powerful enough for 1080p and or x.265 encodes of anime for example.
Why obsess about finding an android box to do those things when chromebox will do it now for the price you seek. Why the obsession about android media boxes at all? I know about the netflix/amazon addons. But is there any other reason?
If I have helped you or increased your knowledge, click the 'thumbs up' button to give thanks :) (People with less than 20 posts won't see the "thumbs up" button.)
The problem isn't the flash memory. Heck a NUC with a rotational HD will still feel faster on a large library than an Android box.

The problem is the Kodi GUI (like like a lot of GUIs, Android is the same way) depends on single core performance for the best experience. ARM (outside of Nvidia and Apple) nowadays is about throwing a lot of cores at the problem, rather than two powerful cores. NVidia's stuff unfortunately isn't showing up in boxes, and Appletv's are no longer a good solution. Most of the stuff we get is standard ARM, which quite frankly is poor compared to the best ARM chips. The reason Samsung isn't using Qualcomm it its Galaxy S6 is because Qualcomm used generic ARM chips this generation (aka like we find in all these highend sticks/boxes) and Samsung found that to be unacceptable.

The good news is that we are getting there. My iPad Air 2 with the A8X can decode my worst non Hi10 x264 file on the CPU. In a year or so that level of CPU power will be in cheap ARM boxes, along with a GPU that can decode HEVC at a high level. If Android TV gets Google to fix the problems we have with Android as a HTPC OS (namely 24p support and HD audio support) then maybe by then we will have something that finally puts to rest the need for an Intel box.

Between now and that day a lot of people will buy dead end Androidboxes in this hobby and that will be sad, hence my thread to try to steer people to the right (Chrome)box.

(2015-02-21, 00:50)poofyhairguy Wrote: The problem isn't the flash memory. Heck a NUC with a rotational HD will still feel faster on a large library than an Android box.

The problem is the Kodi GUI (like like a lot of GUIs, Android is the same way) depends on single core performance for the best experience. ARM (outside of Nvidia and Apple) nowadays is about throwing a lot of cores at the problem, rather than two powerful cores. NVidia's stuff unfortunately isn't showing up in boxes, and Appletv's are no longer a good solution. Most of the stuff we get is standard ARM, which quite frankly is poor compared to the best ARM chips. The reason Samsung isn't using Qualcomm it its Galaxy S6 is because Qualcomm used generic ARM chips this generation (aka like we find in all these highend sticks/boxes) and Samsung found that to be unacceptable.

The good news is that we are getting there. My iPad Air 2 with the A8X can decode my worst non Hi10 x264 file on the CPU. In a year or so that level of CPU power will be in cheap ARM boxes, along with a GPU that can decode HEVC at a high level. If Android TV gets Google to fix the problems we have with Android as a HTPC OS (namely 24p support and HD audio support) then maybe by then we will have something that finally puts to rest the need for an Intel box.

Between now and that day a lot of people will buy dead end Androidboxes in this hobby and that will be sad, hence my thread to try to steer people to the right (Chrome)box.

On the Apple TV2 the problem was without question the flash performance. The program would change page and 12 more movie thumbnails had to load and god damn was it slow compared to a decent intel machine with an SSD.
Perhaps this could be alleviated by XBMC having a pre-fetch for the next page coded in (like ACDSee and XnView pre-loading the next image in rotation)
Regardless, changing page in the movie library was atrocious and I've never used a machine which wasn't a PC which did it acceptably.
This is a vacation house that has a 8' dish and 3' dish using diseqc switches 4x1's going on DVB-S2 tuners with gig Ethernet and 1.5 meg DSL and since I will not always be around to set things straight when a server is down. It is a whole lot easier with each person watching TV in different rooms have control of their Box. Someone can be watching Live TV up to 4 different channels limited to the LNB's and others watching XBMC using My Cloud on SMB. Once a year switch out the drives to ones up to date with newer movies and TV shows Smile

The dream Android STB would be 16 gig internal memory but all the ones Ive seen only have 4 gig or Kodi would some day have the ability to relocate the Data folder to a SD card or Thumb drive on the box. You can do this now with HTPC's but not Android unless you can get one that is Rooted so you can move Kodi off the box to a SD Card

P.S. Again this all stems from all the Artwork for Fanart and folder pic's and you run out of memory with 4 gigs other then that The new STB's on Android are great ! Low power very quick to play anything Smile I already have been in contact with the Vigica manufacturer about upping the Memory ! The box only cost $ 76.00 triple the memory add $ 20 to price Smile And you got a great STB
One HTPC Windows 7 pro 64x running WMC with 2 HDhomeRun on Comcast 6 tuners with MCEbuddy
WD MyCloud 24TB over Netgear network | 6500 movies and 40,000+ TV Show episodes
(2015-02-20, 15:41)poofyhairguy Wrote:
(2015-02-20, 07:20)MrCrispy Wrote: What is the actual speed difference in GUI on ARM vs x86 (i.e. Android vs Chromebox/HTPC) ? Is it really night and day for large libraries?

Yes, it is HUGE. A Haswell core is over 40% more powerful at the same clock speeds than a ARM A15 core. Also you have to figure that Kodi's GUI has demands on the GPU too, which is about twice or more powerful in a Chromebox. Add in the fact many GUI events are dependant on single core performance and its not close even if the ARM/AMD box has like 8 of those weaker cores.

It is night and day. If you want an elite Kodi experience it is an Intel chip or bust.


Quote:I agree with this, but I don't understand why current boxes will become abandonware with the next version of Kodi? Is that generally what's happened in the past? AFAIK they just run the regular Android version of Kodi, with the only 'hack' being the workaround to use the external player, which is fully supported in Kodi.

You brush it off, but the external player hack is a BIG deal. Why?

1. You don't know the quality of that internal player today. When I get a box I run like 20 test clips through it to determine its power- all the worst stuff. That is why I sign off on a Chromebox- it survived Poofyhairguy's test. Sure that external player can decode a 3D Blu Ray ISO, but will it play a high bitrate VC1 file? How about properly deinterlacing a 1080i file? Will it decode a 720p Hi10 file? I bet the answer is No, No, and No seeing as how that wasn't the marketing checkboxes the player creator was going for. So what you end up with is a "futureproof" box that can't even play today's stuff.

2. Kodi updates its internal play over time for better media compatibility, codec compatibility and better picture quality. With an external player you get none of those improvements, you are stuck with whatever that external player did the day you bought it. That is what I mean by abandonware.

3. (the big one for me) If these box makers really wanted to improve the Kodi experience they would work to build the opensource libraries so this stuff can be done in main Kodi (like Intel does quite frankly). Instead they take the easy way out of an external player to make a buck. I don't mind someone making money, but that means the motivation of those who craft the future for your box is lost as soon as they release the next model. Meanwhile the Chromebox will be used/loved by years of Kodi fans, and the community will craft the support needed to keep the boxes running at top shape with every feature possible.

Honestly it is not close to me.


Thank you. I wasn't trying to brush off or make light of the external player support, I agree with your points. In fact I do have a Chromebox which I bought after I gave my HTPC to someone else. I'm just looking for a cheaper alternative but it seems like nothing really matches it for the price point.

I don't know how much money the Chinese oem guys have to spend on software, from what I've seen their margins are very thin and they are in constant flux with new models every month. The exact same problem (lack of software support) applies to Android tablets as well. My guess is it takes a lot of time and talent to write proper libraries to decode all kinds of content and then contribute it back to Kodi codebase, it takes the legions of open source coders and Intel a while to do it, I wouldn't expect the same from an oem, and they often won't be allowed to disclose proprietary chipset details.

If and when Android TV 5.0 is a real product and lifts these limitations and adds proper hw support, then the game might change.
poofyhairguy thanks for your clear and concise posting on hardware.
I am no techie and still a newby have been attempting to use XBMC/Kodi with a Matricom G-Box MX2 for nearly a year now. Frustrating!

I feel it is time to get a new box for Kodi. I am looking to spend around $200. And I have not done anything like
it but believe I can install OPENELEC /Kodi ( per the instructions of Matt Devo). Plan to use as a standalone.

So I am looking at the Chromebox. Since my router is a TM-AC1900 Dual-band built by ASUS, I am under the impression that it would make sense to get an Dell Chromebox.
Because I want to use the AC band and the 5GHz operating frequency to connect to the Chromebox by WIFI. The WIFI router to Chromebox distance is about 67 feet and line of sight.

Dell Chromebox 3010 Desktop Computer - Intel Celeron 2955U from New Egg with shipping is $178

I believe the Kingston 2GB 204-Pin DDR3 SO-DIMM DDR3L 1600(PC3L 12800) Laptop Memory Model KVR16LS11S6/2 will work to bring the Chromebox to 4GB memory. New Egg has it for around $20.

I typically use Private Internet Access as my VPN. Anyone know if a Robolinux 7.5.3 OpenVPN Setup will work ?

Any comments or suggestions before I start?

sfa
(2015-02-21, 00:42)nickr Wrote: Why obsess about finding an android box to do those things when chromebox will do it now for the price you seek. Why the obsession about android media boxes at all? I know about the netflix/amazon addons. But is there any other reason?
I agree with this statement and that of Poofy's. Too many compromises with the all in one Android attempted solution - they are at best a hobby box and not worthy of a main lounge / home theatre Kodi solution using a remote control from an armchair.

The RPi 2 really has set a new benchmark for a cheap pure Kodi box solution if you don't need HD Audio. Buy a kit with a quality power supply and bury it behind the TV or in a cabinet. It is the Kodi device to get if your cannot get a Chromebox in your part of the world. Cheap to upgrade to the next version too once you have the Kit with all the parts.

Get the Chromebox or one of its derivatives for HD Audio and the superior - affordable Kodi experience.
Supplement both with a Amazon Fire TV stick or Chromecast for paid streaming services if you have a Dumb TV.

Job done Smile

So I have a Fire Stick with Kodi side loaded and it works well. I figured I can keep that in the bedroom. Now I'm looking for something a more powerful to put in the living room to go along with my XBOX One. Since my XBONE has all the paid streaming apps, I really only need a device that runs Kodi smoother and faster than the Fire Stick. After reading this thread, I've come to the conclusion that the Chromebox is the way to go, and ASUS Chromebox was brought up multiple times. Will the Asus Chromebox M004U with only 2Gig DDR3 give me the least amount of load time browsing through the library (like Genesis)? Also, does it support 5G wifi?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6883220572
  • 1
  • 22
  • 23
  • 24(current)
  • 25
  • 26
  • 96

Logout Mark Read Team Forum Stats Members Help
Pick the Right Kodi Box (UPDATED FEB 2015)26