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START HERE - Pick the Right Kodi Box (updated Dec 2020)
AC wi-fi speed on Mi Box is very good, enough to stream full BD rips. You can also try a USB ethernet adapter. Not all work w/Mi Box, so need to research the Mi Box thread. Also look at lon.tv.
[H]i-[d]eft [M]edia [K]een [V]ideosaurus
My Family Room Theater
Question re xiaomi mi box: does it run "android tv os" as opposed to "android os". It's difficult to tell as a lot of people refer to "android tv box" when they simply mean an android box that plugs into a tv.

If so, does that mean it will do HD netflix?
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I think it runs android tv os
(2017-01-11, 22:54)nickr Wrote: Question re xiaomi mi box: does it run "android tv os" as opposed to "android os". It's difficult to tell as a lot of people refer to "android tv box" when they simply mean an android box that plugs into a tv.

If so, does that mean it will do HD netflix?

It runs the actual Android TV OS. It's also certified by Netflix and plays 4k Netflix.
Denon X6500H 7.2.4 -> LG OLED65C9P
Main:
NVIDIA Shield Pro (2019)
Other Devices: Apple TV 4K, FireStick 4K Max (2023), Homatics Box R 4K
Retired devices: Zidoo X9S, Xiaomi Mi Box, All the old RPi’s
Thanks.
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.)
(2017-01-11, 22:22)hdmkv Wrote: AC wi-fi speed on Mi Box is very good, enough to stream full BD rips. You can also try a USB ethernet adapter. Not all work w/Mi Box, so need to research the Mi Box thread. Also look at lon.tv.
Yes the AC WiFi is very good in the Mi Box. Really all you need is at a least 802.11 N - Dual Band router to send it the WiFi signal.

AXIS AX88772 Chipset - USB to Ethernet Adapters such as this cheap (Apple clone) one have been confirmed working on the Mi Box

USB 2.0 ethernet adapter? Don't you need 3.0 for gigabit? I'm not well versed on this though.
[H]i-[d]eft [M]edia [K]een [V]ideosaurus
My Family Room Theater
Yes, you'd need 3.0 for gigabit. And I haven't redone my tests since the firmware update, but I'd still shy away from using a USB Ethernet adapter on the Mi Box and instead just run the ethernet wire into an 802.11AC access point that you can then use for that whole room.
Denon X6500H 7.2.4 -> LG OLED65C9P
Main:
NVIDIA Shield Pro (2019)
Other Devices: Apple TV 4K, FireStick 4K Max (2023), Homatics Box R 4K
Retired devices: Zidoo X9S, Xiaomi Mi Box, All the old RPi’s
(2017-01-11, 16:00)ShinyAndy Wrote: OK I give in, I tried my utmost best but my WeTek Play2 is going back to its maker tomorrow as I just could not get it to work with any of the LE builds, it crashed/completely locked up all the time and in Android it didn't seem much quicker to use than an old Pi Confused

Everything nowadays seems Android based so any suggestions for a non-Android box that will run the Kodi GUI smoothly? My only requirements are simple and all LAN based (no streaming); HD playback (HEVC would be nice), HD audio passthru, optical output as well ideally, playback of 3D SBS files (not ISOs). I've used an old ASROCK ION330 for many years and it finally died so happy to replace with another PC based box.

Price isn't that important if it's going to last, I just want something that works and if it works well with Krypton even better? Am I better off waiting for Kaby Lake based stuff to drop in price a bit, something like the Cubi 2/Beebox/BRIX or is that complete overkill?

Hello Shinyandy,
I know it s not the place, but as mentioned earlier in the thread I'm moving away from my chromebox, even tho I'm really satisfied of it.
It can play everything perfectly (no 3D ISO but your said you do not need it) and I have a USB dongle for SPDIF that works just fine with it.
I actually even have a Denon amp that goes with it Wink
It has EU power plug
I would make a nice price for it, you can private message me if interested
  • Raspberry Pi 3 - Libreelec 9.0.1
  • Odroid C2 - Libreelec 8.2.5 & Libreelec 9.0.1
Thanks for the offer but I'm looking for new stuff, plus I'm holding out for one of the ATMOS/DTS:X soundbars that should come out this year
Gents/gals, I'm currently running Kodi 16.1 on a Lenovo 420 with the following specs:

Lenovo ThinkPad T420 Core i5 2.50GHz Notebook 6GB 320GB
Intel® Integrated HD Graphics Discrete NVIDIA® NVS 4200M (1GB VRAM ) with Optimus™ Technology

I generally have good performance with Kodi but I'm wondering if I'd get better video if I ran Kodi on one of the android or ATV4 boxes. I know the processors are faster on the Android tv boxes out there. I'm not a hardware person per se so I'm not sure what I would gain if anything from buying a different box to run Kodi on?

Appreciate any feedback.

Thanks.
(2017-01-12, 17:59)nealsil Wrote: Gents/gals, I'm currently running Kodi 16.1 on a Lenovo 420 with the following specs:

Lenovo ThinkPad T420 Core i5 2.50GHz Notebook 6GB 320GB
Intel® Integrated HD Graphics Discrete NVIDIA® NVS 4200M (1GB VRAM ) with Optimus™ Technology

I generally have good performance with Kodi but I'm wondering if I'd get better video if I ran Kodi on one of the android or ATV4 boxes....
What do you mean by "Better Video" ?
Pls be specific !

Better video could mean - HDR10 output to a compatible HDR display, 4K10 bit HEVC actually output at in a 10bi colorspace, using Hardware decoding.

Frankly unless you buy something like a nVIDIA Shield that can actually get hold of "Better Video" - 4K HDR10 content from the Amazon and Netflix streaming Apps - you will be brainwashed into thinking "Oh I must buy HDR capable Kodi hardware" by lots of marketing BS.

Even HDR or UHD 4K Blurays cannot be self ripped due to uncracked copy protection. HDR test clips on a repeat loop will soon bore you to death ! Sleepy

Android TV OS on the likes of the Shield and tvOS on the ATV4 devices will certainly give you a nice Graphic User Interface to play with using a bunch of pretty slick Apps. I personally would not be buying an ATV4 as there are some codec playback limitations with it. 10bit HEVC is problematic I believe. There are better, more open Kodi hardware options.

(2017-01-13, 06:22)wrxtasy Wrote:
(2017-01-12, 17:59)nealsil Wrote: Gents/gals, I'm currently running Kodi 16.1 on a Lenovo 420 with the following specs:

Lenovo ThinkPad T420 Core i5 2.50GHz Notebook 6GB 320GB
Intel® Integrated HD Graphics Discrete NVIDIA® NVS 4200M (1GB VRAM ) with Optimus™ Technology

I generally have good performance with Kodi but I'm wondering if I'd get better video if I ran Kodi on one of the android or ATV4 boxes....
What do you mean by "Better Video" ?
Pls be specific !

Better video could mean - HDR10 output to a compatible HDR display, 4K10 bit HEVC actually output at in a 10bi colorspace, using Hardware decoding.

Frankly unless you buy something like a nVIDIA Shield that can actually get hold of "Better Video" - 4K HDR10 content from the Amazon and Netflix streaming Apps - you will be brainwashed into thinking "Oh I must buy HDR capable Kodi hardware" by lots of marketing BS.

Sorry should have been clearer... by "better video" what i mean is that it will look kind of washed out and pixelated. Again its not unwatchable but im just wondering if one of the Kodi Boxes on the market would do a better job than my laptop is doing? I have a high end plasma display but its not 4k so at the moment im not concerned with 4k.

On another note, i mentioned the ATV4 because i already have one but from what i've been reading it doesnt seem worth the effort to use it for Kodi.

Thanks for the reply and appreciate additional feedback.

Even HDR or UHD 4K Blurays cannot be self ripped due to uncracked copy protection. HDR test clips on a repeat loop will soon bore you to death ! Sleepy

Android TV OS on the likes of the Shield and tvOS on the ATV4 devices will certainly give you a nice Graphic User Interface to play with using a bunch of pretty slick Apps. I personally would not be buying an ATV4 as there are some codec playback limitations with it. 10bit HEVC is problematic I believe. There are better, more open Kodi hardware options.
If you have an ATV4 already, there is a fork (version) of Kodi released for it by one of the veteran Kodi devs MrMC aka Davilla.

You may have seen it already, maybe not. It is worth a look.
You can find all details for MrMC here

Hi guys, fantastic discussion in the thread!

I've been lurking for months (probably over a year now, actually almost 2 years http://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=220581) to replace my aging Fire TV Stick (gen1). It is connected over 2.4Ghz Wifi to my Asus RT-AC87R router (5Ghz compatible) in the next room (so good signal strength), running 16.1 Kodi and SMB shares from USB2 hdd shared from Asus router). My tv is a 55" LG OLED 4K HDR (HDMI2 compatible). I don't have an ethernet port to connect it to, but considering installing one (should be very quick/easy given proximity to router)

I waited until CES for the new nVidia Shield however was disappointed in the lack on new hardware. Likewise, the Amazon Fire TV 2 is over a year old and I was waiting for some new tech/hardware.

My current issues;
720p and 1080p x264 files are buffering and locking up Kodi (reboot, or stop start file fixes it)
unable to play x265 HEVC files
I see micro-stuttering (not sure if dropping frames related to network, or performance)
Kodi is hacked to run (pressing HOME drops back to Amazon GUI)

My new requirements;
smooth playback
4k playback (TV is HDR compatible so HDR would be good to have)
'point anywhere' remote support
Kodi/LibreELEC/equivalent (wife friendly)

Nice to have;
emulation gaming (Mario Kart 64 for example)

I've narrowed it down to (note, I'm a tech/bleeding edge nerd-burger, but also a tight-arse Rofl)
Xiaomi Mi Box - $69 (next week)
nVidia Shield - $199 (preorder, god knows when)
Amazon Fire TV 2 - $89 (available Feb-1, other models are available earlier)

then, buying a bluetooth game controller, and upgrading my USB2 hdd to USB3 (not sure if necessary, but running out of free space).

I think I'll buy the Mi Box but need someone to validate my purchase/decision Tongue

OR...

Buy an Intel i3/i5 NUC (running all front and "backend" services on it), or even a Intel Compute Stick?
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