[nickr]

Browser, yes chromium.

Android apps, no.

[Powlest]

Really good overview here, thanks.

I went with a Pi2 setup which is a lot better than I could have imagined, its a fantastic little box and perfect in the lounge.

I want a dual purpose box in my games room though that I'll probably dual boot with windows/openelec. Your advice is pushing me towards the chromebox route but I like the look and idea of some of the fanless mini PCs on aliexpress.com. I've got SSD drives and RAM to hand anyway, so it seems a really cheap option as well, anyone got any experience of these or can suggest why these would be a bad idea?

Was thinking i5 like this ONE

Or even a 1037u like THIS for a really cheap option.

Any thoughts?

Just some feedback as promised, I picked up the i5 box and have been running it for a few weeks now. Shipping was very fast, just 4 days from HK and I can't fault the supplier at all, comms was good as was the packaging. I've also been really impressed with the PC, I put in an additional 250 GB SSD (leads and screws were all included) and have Windows8.1 & OpenELEC on dual boot without any issues. Both work very well, with driver support in OpenELEC for all hardware as with Win8.1, the only problem I've had was some USB3.0 interference on my K400 wireless keyboard, easily fixed by putting the USB receiver on the short extension bar that came with the keyboard. Boot times are also lightning quick for both OS, as you would expect running from SSD. It came with an unregistered copy of Windows 7 pre-installed on the 32 GB mSATA HD which I replaced with OpenELEC but was useful to check everything was working and I noted it had a windows performance score of 4.9, with desktop graphics being the lowest score. I've replaced the 2 GB RAM included with an 8 GB stick I already had but this is only for windows, 2 GB is more than enough for OpenELEC.

The hardware certainly looks the part, it's a very good looking box and build quality is better than I expected. I'm running it enclosed in a hifi cabinet, it gets warm, as the case doubles up as the heat-sink but it doesn't run hot enough to cause any concern. All in all, I'd thoroughly recommend one, especially given the price.

[mpmp]

Thank you for your evaluation Powlest.

Sounds like a very capable box.

[agender]

That looks like a very sweet machine for the price, and almost has me re-thinking my purchase of a newer NUC.

[CoolKeith]

Would the 3th gen mobile based(not low powered based) Asus VivoPC VC60 be a good choice? Sure the cpu is 3rd gen, but is the mobile variant and the U variant we generally see in this size so power and gpu will be a bit better no? Or would a 4th gen Y variant with a nvidia 820 gpu be better?

[Topken]

And with Amazon adding Both USB storage and Bluetooth headset support to Fire TV it makes it that much sweeter as a kodi box

http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtm...id=2028097

[Cfgraven]

Hi, I'm currently looking into getting a device to use kodi with

Don't have a big budget £60 max

would like to use x265 HEVC mkv, x264 mkv files, from my usb hard drive, and also to stream using wifi etc..

What would be better ?
been searching on ebay and elsewhere and i see stuff like MXQ and similiar items

i can get ouya from someone which is rooted and overclocked

would you recommend ouya or mxq (or something similiar) liked mentioned max budget £60
in your opinion whats the best option within my budget
Thanks for reading

[nickr]

Your biggest problem with cheap devices is hevc support.

[wrxtasy]

Hi, I'm currently looking into getting a device to use kodi with

Don't have a big budget £60 max

would like to use x265 HEVC mkv, x264 mkv files, from my usb hard drive, and also to stream using wifi etc..

I would be looking for something with that has an Amlogic SOC, as devices with these seem to be well supported in the Open Source community. Bee-Link seem to make some decent quality gear.
http://www.bee-link.com/en/

You could look at the MK808B Plus (first page of this thread)

http://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=210220

or the recently released S82 Plus:

http://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=216083

[Cfgraven]

Hi, I'm currently looking into getting a device to use kodi with

Don't have a big budget £60 max

would like to use x265 HEVC mkv, x264 mkv files, from my usb hard drive, and also to stream using wifi etc..

I would be looking for something with that has an Amlogic SOC, as devices with these seem to be well supported in the Open Source community. Bee-Link seem to make some decent quality gear.
http://www.bee-link.com/en/

You could look at the MK808B Plus (first page of this thread)

http://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=210220

or the recently released S82 Plus:

http://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=216083

Thanks for the suggestions appreciated!

[anillilani7]

Hi everyone.

I'm in the process of setting up my CB using the wiki for standalone OE.

I just took out the write-protect screw, and noticed a sort of rattling type notice inside the box, but I'm not sure if I remember that being there before. Did anyone else notice this?

ALSO: Does anyone know what 2 sized USB drives I would need in order to:

A) "backup the current/stock firmware to an external USB drive; it is highly recommended" and
B) Install Openelec from the other USB?

Thanks

[conca]

Save yourself grief now and get a RPi 2 ... You have the cheapest and best of both worlds then without compromising video picture quality or paid services.

I all

I've RPi 2 with openElec ..... my fullHD mkv is very fluid but the video quality is very bad .... like (telenovelas effect)
The RPi 2 has the 24p full support ?
If I buy the ChromeBox may I have any quality video imporoovment ?

tnx to all

[nickr]

The RPi2 has support for all refresh rates that you are likely to encounter. use the tvservice command to see what it says it supports with your screen.

[hdmkv]

The only caveats with RPi2 are:
- Need to pay VC-1 and MPEG2 license. Inexpensive, but it's per device
- Video playback caps out at about 60Mbps. May just be sufficient for 3D Blu-rays with high bitrate peaks (still need to test)
- ISO isn't yet supported

Other than above, great little gadget for about $70 (board + 16GB mSD card + power supply + case).

[Bri1270]

Is there any noticeable difference in playback if I were to go from a 2957U Zbox to an i3 or i5 based machine?