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Pick the Right Kodi Box (UPDATED FEB 2015)
What about Asus Chromebox?
(2015-08-05, 15:18)eka1990 Wrote: What about Asus Chromebox?

Celeron 2955U Chromebox handles HD Audio and MPEG2/H264 HD video with no problems at all under OpenElec (VC-1 progressive also works fine, but there are, as with all Intel GPUs under Linux, issues with VC-1 interlaced content - which is found on some Blu-rays of TV series). You get decent deinterlacing, scaling as well, and the new development builds of OpenElec in the Linux support forums can deliver really good quality video (avoiding the banding caused in some situations by scaling to and from Full colour space from Limited colour space)

There is no hardware HEVC support in the current Chromebox, but the Celeron can software decode some 1080p HEVC stuff I believe. (Same holds for Hi10 H264 stuff)
what about Minix Neo X8-H X8H Plus?

Sorry for many posts.

I just want to find sam optimal box for me. I do now need some super machine just something that suports all full hd and good audio Smile
Personally, I would only consider the various Android boxes if you need to also run other Android apps, like Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime video, etc.
I do not care about other applications then KODI.

I want box on which I could use KODI same as on PC. ie I need box only for KODI (but to work perfect) for anything else I do not care. I have laptop which i can use for other purposes.
eka1990 I have a x8 h plus and a shield TV I picked up both from amazon to try out and see what one i like better seeing how amazon is nice enough to allow me 30days to return one of them..They both are good box so far one thing you notice is the remote for the x8 is not very good just feels cheap but who ever buys this should get a remote with a keyboard anyways..

Software for both work but the shield android tv launcher i like better the metro launcher for minix is ok for sure compared to a lot of stuff out there. Google Play on both but you are limited on the sheild on what you can install you can still side load what ever tho with the minix it lets you load pretty much anything on the play store.

If I had to choose 2day I would see how much money I had in my pocket because if i had the extra money I would get the shield but if things where tight I would not even think twice about geting the minix..
I am keen to MINIX. But lack HD audio and some good 1080p are things that tickles me.
Don't get a Minix box if all you need is Kodi. Get a Chromebox or the new Intel NUC that just came out.
But i can not buy such one for up to 150$, can i?
@eka1990, are you in a hurry?

Chromeboxes ocasionally get discounts / coupons / cashbacks that bring it down below that price, if you can wait for one that's a good option.

The Intel Braswell NUC and similar boxes start at $130 and require memory and at least a USB drive to store the OS. Braswell has the advantage of supporting HEVC decoding (not supported yet in ffmpeg). Though I would recomend the N3150 (quad core model) that starts at $160.

Another Intel x86 alternative is the newly announced Tronsmart Ara X5 TV box - Cherry Trail, which should become available this month. Cherry trail is the brother of Braswell (same architecture) and should have similar Kodi performance/capabilities. No one has yet tried this box with Kodi so I would recommend waiting until someone tests it but it should be priced within your budget.
(2015-08-06, 13:20)eka1990 Wrote: I do not care about other applications then KODI.

I want box on which I could use KODI same as on PC. ie I need box only for KODI (but to work perfect) for anything else I do not care. I have laptop which i can use for other purposes.
Then Chromebox .
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.)
(2015-08-06, 16:54)oWarchild Wrote: @eka1990, are you in a hurry?

Chromeboxes ocasionally get discounts / coupons / cashbacks that bring it down below that price, if you can wait for one that's a good option.

The Intel Braswell NUC and similar boxes start at $130 and require memory and at least a USB drive to store the OS. Braswell has the advantage of supporting HEVC decoding (not supported yet in ffmpeg). Though I would recomend the N3150 (quad core model) that starts at $160.

Another Intel x86 alternative is the newly announced Tronsmart Ara X5 TV box - Cherry Trail, which should become available this month. Cherry trail is the brother of Braswell (same architecture) and should have similar Kodi performance/capabilities. No one has yet tried this box with Kodi so I would recommend waiting until someone tests it but it should be priced within your budget.

Thx man. i am not in hurry at all, just preparing to settle all so i can wait Big Grin
Switching from WMC/Xbox Extenders to Kodi - I understand that to watch two different things simultaneously at different TV's I need a separate machine at each TV. Correct?

Current Hardware - Cat 5e wired network, HD Homerun Extend (OTA), TP-Link Managed Switch, Netgear WNDR4300 Router, 3 TB MyCloud Storage, Two Non-smart TV's (no ethernet port, only HDMI), Roku 3.

What "box" would you recommend I place at each TV to get Kodi services and Live TV?
(2015-08-07, 13:34)jjmediaman Wrote: Switching from WMC/Xbox Extenders to Kodi - I understand that to watch two different things simultaneously at different TV's I need a separate machine at each TV. Correct?

Current Hardware - Cat 5e wired network, HD Homerun Extend (OTA), TP-Link Managed Switch, Netgear WNDR4300 Router, 3 TB MyCloud Storage, Two Non-smart TV's (no ethernet port, only HDMI), Roku 3.

What "box" would you recommend I place at each TV to get Kodi services and Live TV?

I have a wetek play with integrated dual DVbs2 tuners as my main TV viewing box and my live TV PVR server.

My other clients for live TV are two Raspberry Pi2 (work very well) and a fire TV (very good performance, but poor deinterlacing).

Pretty much any kodi client will be good for TV viewing, I would steer clear of android kodi if you use just kodi and live TV. RPi2 makes a very good cheap option for second and third TV viewing.
(2015-08-07, 13:34)jjmediaman Wrote: Switching from WMC/Xbox Extenders to Kodi - I understand that to watch two different things simultaneously at different TV's I need a separate machine at each TV. Correct?

Yes. Unless you want to go down the DLNA route (which requires your TV to have a DLNA client and it sounds like yours don't?)

Quote:Current Hardware - Cat 5e wired network, HD Homerun Extend (OTA), TP-Link Managed Switch, Netgear WNDR4300 Router, 3 TB MyCloud Storage, Two Non-smart TV's (no ethernet port, only HDMI), Roku 3.

What "box" would you recommend I place at each TV to get Kodi services and Live TV?

Raspberry Pi 2s have very good 1080i and 576i/480i deinterlacing for the price and excellent support. Depending on your approach to integrating your HD Homerun into your system, you might want to run a main server box (like a Chromebox etc.) with a bit more IO throughput (GigE, USB 3 etc.) to handle recording and intermediate serving duties, rather than run the HDHRs straight into Kodi?

The Chromebox has very high quality deinterlacing - outperforming the Pi 2 I'd suggest. The AMLogic boxes also do a very good job of deinterlacing - unusually for non-Pi ARM devices.
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