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I've been lucky enough to snag a Viewpad 10e from Argos in the UK... Struggling to find any forums specifically for this pad though.
In a nutshell, its a great piece of hardware for £200 slightly let down by stuttery software. Very iPad like but with Android gingerbread.
Anyone else out there have any experience with this tab yet? Anyone know of any plans for it to get it's own forum/development community?
Cheers.
steviesteve78 said:
I've been lucky enough to snag a Viewpad 10e from Argos in the UK... Struggling to find any forums specifically for this pad though.
In a nutshell, its a great piece of hardware for £200 slightly let down by stuttery software. Very iPad like but with Android gingerbread.
Anyone else out there have any experience with this tab yet? Anyone know of any plans for it to get it's own forum/development community?
Cheers.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is it a tegra 2 device? If so we all here would at least love a full working gingerbread rom.
No - sorry - its Cortex A8
Processor 1Ghz Cortex A8 Processor
OS Android 2.3 (Gingerbread)
LCD Monitor 9.7” IPS LCD 1024 x 768 ; XGA
Brightness 400 cd/m2 Brightness
Memory DDR3 512 MB
Internal Memory 4GB
Band Wifi only
Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n
Bluetooth BlueTooth 3.0 and 2.1 + EDR compatibility
External Memory Micro SD card slot
I/O Interface Micro USB/ Mini-HDMI/ 3.5mm headset audio jack
Audio Stereo speakers/ microphone
Sensors G-sensor
Cameras Front: CMOS 1.3MP
Battery Li-Polymer 5400mAh
Charger 12V/ 2Amp
USB Micro USB
Dimensions 241.6 x 188.6 x 9.1 mm
Weight 620 grams
Accessories Power adaptor (with plugs), Quick Start Guide, 1Mobile Market QSG, Compliance information, Micro USB cable
Dude, return the tablet right now. Boycott viewsonic!
Its been over 24hrs with new toy now. Will be posting a review soon. I honestly like the look and feel so much that I'm selling my Galaxy Tab 10. I'll have some money left over as well cause the Viewpad is so cheaply priced. All that extra processor power is not needed for me, I basically use the tab for web browsing, a few notes, check the weather and the kids play angry birds! This pad is definitely suited to the job.
goodintentions said:
Dude, return the tablet right now. Boycott viewsonic!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ditto. For that price, you are better to go with a much wider support device like the Kindle Fire or Nook Color. Don't expect your new toy to get any substantial update to improve it beyond what it is now. The gTablet community has already been bitten by Viewsonic false promises. Your device will most likely had the same fate.
PS: a no name brand tablet from China can do all you want at an even lower price. Did you choose Viewsonic for the peace of mind of a name brand? Viewsonic don't make their own tablet. They outsource the manufacturing, the software and the support. All they really interest in is take your money.
Sent from my HTC Desire using Tapatalk
Honestly, I was really impressed by the response I had recently from their support dept. I really like the device and I have been through a few to say the least. Seems like it could be quite hackable and I may just use it to learn some new programming skills myself! (If I can drum up some support). In my experience, every forum/thread has loads of people frustrated by lack of support from the manufacturers/resllers but for me, the point of these forums is finding help... Ill keep my fingers crossed that the OEM is discovered soon and after that finding some hacks should get easier.
Third warning about Viewsonic, their products suffer longevity shortfalls. I am now the 3rd person telling you they have the consumer integrity of a wombat. Don't hold your breath waiting for anyone to pick it up and think it will be differently. So many people got burned via the g tablet and it's abhorrent lack of updates from the manufacturer (which when it comes to things like drivers etc for future OS upgrades becomes a critical part of the equation) not many people who have been around the android block are going to make another purchase from Viewsonic so you could very well be alone for the foreseeable future in this purchase. I don't even like having a Viewsonic monitor on my desk at work anymore. Again, take what you are hearing at face value, Viewsonic + android = meh. I enjoyed my g tablet when i purchased it and it does almost all that I need but I hoped for more and have gotten less. Keep it if you like, but 6 months from now when you are looking at another tablet you are going to be hard pressed to find anyone to buy your Viewsonic. The poor reputation flags are there already.
Keep in mind, Viewsonic is the same company that came to XDA saying they wanted feedback and input from this community about the g tablet. That was spring of this year and not a single thing has changed. They did that one firmware update in April and since then it has been nothing but pushed changes that then get pulled back.
Keep it if you are happy with it, I just wouldn't expect anything in terms of a large community ever coming of one of their devices.
It's been almost a year since they promised they'd release an update. Every time I've asked them about update, the only reply I've gotten is "we're working on it." I dare you to find any report of a different response than that.
Viewsonic needs to go back to producing nothing but display monitors and projectors. This company is not ready yet to play with the big boys in the computing market.
US vs UK - not exactly the same...
The G-Tablet was a US only product?!
The Viewpad 10e is only in the UK so far..... 9.7" IPS panel for £199, 9mm thick looks good value to me if your needs are not too demanding
Cant get my 10e to play videos from iplayer, any idea as to why not?
I decided to try one...
Works on live streaming for me from the app but not the others, think it could be to do with the Flash player version, read recently about other tablet users having issues with bandwidth / setting local storage to 0...
Which app did you use, couldn't find one in the 1mobile app store that came on the device
rustyfishhook said:
Which app did you use, couldn't find one in the 1mobile app store that came on the device
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
BBC iPlayer 1.04 apk from the web. It still is only working for me with live TV, Flash version 10.3, Flash 11.0 wasn't working...
Will play around with the different versions in the office today
Ok so I now have the Viewpad 10e working with BBC iPlayer.
I used BBC iPlayer 1.0.4 & Flash 10.3.185.25
I put these into a zip file on 4shared, not sure if I am allowed to share the link or not..
Hello
I'm very keen on the Viewpad 10e myself. Has anyone tried out the multimedia side of it? it would be great t be able to play 1080p movies, etc. By the sounds of the 3D stuff that comes with it, it should be a decent GPU in it, would be nice to know how it does.
Custom ROM
Does anyone know how to install a custom ROM on the device?
Hi all
I'm thinking of getting one of these too. But I'm a bit concerened about the 'dated' SC A8 CPU and the dated OS?
Some of the things I will want to do on this is video calling using Skype (yes, I know there are other alternatives, but it has to be Skype) and playing DivX/Xvid movies and some .MKV movies. Could anyone tell me if it will be good enough? I am quite impressed by the dimensions and the screen, but if the specs can't keep up then I'm thinking of a cheap and chunky Tegra 2 tablet like the POV which is actually £10 cheaper and I'll put a custom ViewComb 3.2 ROM on it...
Any suggestions/opinions?
Does anyone know how to root the device?
Just got one for my daughter.
First impressions : well-made bit of kit with a great IPS screen. worth it for the hardware, I would say.
Moon reader pro is great on it, as is perfect viewer for comics and pdf's.
Can't get the video calling working for some reason. Anyone had any joy with this ?
Have tried Tango and Fring. In both cases, the FFC doesn't seem to switch on. You can see the the other person on it, but they can't see you.
Also, with Tango, the mic is switched off, and can't be switched back on.
Some sort of firmware shenanigans going on here. Had a quick chat with Viewsonic customer support just now, who will email me back.
Bit concerned by the negative comments on this thread !
Wanted the archos 101 as HMV were doing it for £129 , but just missed the boat, and then this came to my attention in Argos. Hope I haven't landed a dud !
Well, so far, have managed to get all her bits on it. Their version of market is a bit limited, but there is enough to get you started. Go launcher was a must, after having it on my Galaxy S2 phone, and it seems to cope ok. Formatted some of her films as mp4's and the shipped 'vortex player' handles them well.
Video calling would have been icing on the cake really.
Oh yeah, and whatsapp functionality, but there are ways around that I am looking into now.
Overall so far - promising.
Root and custom rom's would really maximise this thing's potential.
Oh yeah, and won't talk to my macbook pro over bluetooth- first device ever to do that.
Hi xda-Members,
I have a simple question:
Is the Cube U9GT-2 compatible with CyanogenMod?
I've got Gingerbread on my tablet, but I'm not really satisfied with this OS, maybe because it's developed for smartphones and not tablets.
Greets Meldamos
Hi.
Unfortunately I cannot help with your question. All I know is that some people are experimentinig with ICS (Android 4.0) on the U9GT-2, and there is a beta firmware for it if you would like to give it a try.
I am also thinking of buying one of these tablets. I found it for 230 Euros (=290 USD, =190 GBP). I was just about to press the "Add to cart" button when I saw your post.
What do you thing about this tablet? Do you have it long? Are you happy?
Also can you please PM me with the information of where you bought it from and if you were happy with the transaction (if it was an online buy)?
Thanks
Little review of U9GT-2
Well I have this tablet for 2-3 Weeks now and I don't regret it. I bought this tablet over an online-shop called cect-shop, because the support is in german and it has a warranty of 1 year. And there it costs 200€ with 25€ express shipment (there in 3 days from china to germany ^^) and 25€ toll. All in all I paid around 250€, much cheaper than here in germany where it starts at 350€ up to 700€ and not almost on a level of the capacity this tablet has. By the way if you ask cect-shop, they'll send you a stylus pen with your tablet for free.
The tablet uses Android 2.3 with Honeycomb style, not bad but could be better. The OS seems not to be build for battery saving, because the power runs of after 2-3 days in standby.
I asked the manufacturer about ICS and got the answer that they're working on it, but still need time to finish the compatibility with U9GT-2. They'll publish it on their homepage I think.
On the look it get often mistaken with an Apple iPad but it's not exactly like one. The capacitive display works fine, it discerns up to 10 fingers but you are not using 10 finger actually ^^
The sound is pretty good I think, even if I don't really know how the standard quality of tablets are. The big trouble is like I said the OS. But it's a thing you can change and does not affect the quality of this tablet.
If anyone has precise questions feel free to ask. I'm not good at writing a review.
Thanks for the valuable info.
Few questions more if you are kind enough:
1. Can you confirm the manufacturer's site? I have found one web address in China and never managed to connect
2. Can you confirm the thickness of it? Is it realy less than 10mm? Does it actually feel like an i-pad when you are carrying it around?
3. The material on the back side is it realy aluminium?
4. I have noticed that on different sites they give slightly different specs from cect.Ie pandawill gives a CPU of 1Ghz, thickness of 7mm and battery capacity 8000mAh, though cect gives 1.2Ghz, 9.7mm and 7600MAh. This is a problem with the Chinese sites / products / clones I guess... Nevertheless, since you are in Germany, you must have heard or seen an Easypix Easypad, have you? I am between the cube and the Easypad 970 (at easypix.eu). They look very similar. Do you have any personal feedback on that ?
5. Finally, does the screen look and feel like being IPS or not?
Sorry if I bother you too much, but it's the first time I buy a gadget withut actually testing or seeing one, so I am a bit concerned. Thanks
christis said:
Thanks for the valuable info.
Few questions more if you are kind enough:
1. Can you confirm the manufacturer's site? I have found one web address in China and never managed to connect
2. Can you confirm the thickness of it? Is it realy less than 10mm? Does it actually feel like an i-pad when you are carrying it around?
3. The material on the back side is it realy aluminium?
4. I have noticed that on different sites they give slightly different specs from cect.Ie pandawill gives a CPU of 1Ghz, thickness of 7mm and battery capacity 8000mAh, though cect gives 1.2Ghz, 9.7mm and 7600MAh. This is a problem with the Chinese sites / products / clones I guess... Nevertheless, since you are in Germany, you must have heard or seen an Easypix Easypad, have you? I am between the cube and the Easypad 970 (at easypix.eu). They look very similar. Do you have any personal feedback on that ?
5. Finally, does the screen look and feel like being IPS or not?
Sorry if I bother you too much, but it's the first time I buy a gadget withut actually testing or seeing one, so I am a bit concerned. Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Okay let's start:
1. Yes the manufacturer is available. There are also 2 supporter for questions available via skype. They're on workdays online so you can ask them directly. But there english seems not to be very good so better you keep your questions simple
2. I measured it now, I don't warrant than my results are exactly but they're 243mm x 190mm x 10,5mm (length x width x height). I have never had an iPad (too expensive for a tablet) but it feel very comfortable if I carry it around and it's not very heavy. I don't have a balance here but I think it's around 500-700 gram. Well it doesn't feel heavy for me that's all I can say actually.
3. YES it is aluminium and what a luck it is, because on the 3. day it got pushed against a aluminium pole and has only a really small dent left. A plastic hull would have cracked I think.
4. Don't look at the GHZ, many sellers push or fake them, maybe caused by stupidness or advertising. The U9GT-2 has a Rockchip 2918 CPU. Look for the specs on google. The battery is an advertising medium. I doesn't has 8000 mhA or even 7600 mhA. I has 2 x 4000 mhA batteries but they just sum them what they shouldn't do. Like I said the OS is not optimized for tablets and it really takes too much power in stand by. When playing you don't recognize the power loss. I played 3 hours a game called "deadly dungeon" (a dungeon crawler) and the battery has got from 63% to 49%. Well I've not saw the easypad, but they're exactly the same. They've got the same capacities and even the same OS. Throw a dice from 1-3 easypad and from 4-6 U9GT-2, that would be my solution ^^... Well I don't know if easypix is working on a ICS for easypad, just know that cube is working on it.
5. Well I don't know what you understand of a "feeling" for IPS. It looks like a monitor how you see it everywhere today. Don't know if you still have a cathode ray tube (I have one), but there is a difference. Of course, the games are sucking because they're not build for 9,7" displays . Some games are smoother with the resizing, others are bad. But the quality of the display is very good. Of course, not standard on notebooks over 15,6" (which I prefer) but for 9,7" it's high resolution.
Hope my answer could help you and other people who struggle on buying a china-tablet
PS: I've got many friends who look suspect at the tablet, like it could break every second, and I'm just smiling and laughing about their prejudices.
Fantastic answers.
Thank you very much for your effort.
I will follow your advice with the dice after the holidays
Happy Christmas
christis said:
Fantastic answers.
Thank you very much for your effort.
I will follow your advice with the dice after the holidays
Happy Christmas
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
STOP!!! xD... Hope you did not buy it.
Forgot to mention that the EasyPad 970 can only use 8GB Flash HDD. U9GT-2 use 16GB! You get the double storage for the same price.
Sorry for my late answer, did not recognize the difference in the first place.
Sh*t. I bought one a few days ago
I generally know what NAND flash is, but not sure about its' importance. Mine still says 5.9 Gb free, after fully loaded with apps (I know they've got nothing to do with the NAND, but I can't seem to find a way how to run out of space in NAND). In any case, it is better to have double the capacity with the same cost, no matter what.
By the way, that NAND is some soldered microchip, or it can be a micro SD card on the motherboard so that it can "easily" be upgraded in the future if the need arises?
Nevertheless, I am happy with the tablet. Already rooted and experimenting. A couple of snags though, but I will find my way around them hopefully.
By the way, is there a way to hard - reset the tablet by hardware (since there is not a pin-hole or something)? Any combination of buttons pressed during power on?
The internal flash memory is installed in form of chips. Two in the Cube, as can be seen at tabletrepublic.com/forum/android-tablet-reviews/disassembling-cube-u9gt2-414.html, presumably one in the easypad. Apparently the 8GB of the easypad are partitioned in 0,5GB for apps and the rest for data while the 16GB in the Cube are partioned in 1GB for apps and the rest for data. I have read that by installing the cube firmware on the easypad 970, one can get 1 GB for apps, too. Personally, I think 8GB internally is plenty because media files (movies etc.) usually are stored on external SDHC cards anyway for fast swapping.
My 2 cents...
I recently bought one while I was in Beijing on holiday and was really amazed with the battery life with Android 2.3, considering I was streaming movies non-stop for 14 hours straight (in comparison with and iPad 2). The multi-touch keyboard sometimes has a lag although most the UI seems to be relatively smooth.
The camera located at the back also took decent pictures during day and night.
Overall this is a neat unit under $350.00 AUD considering most other units requiring a stylus or long fingernails to operate. I will be looking at rooting the device in a few weeks after I do a bit more research.
Let me know if you have modded your unit and your thoughts.
Thanks
Cube U9GT2 USB host controller issues
Hello everyone,
I'm hoping to solve a problem here, I just purchased a Cube U9GT2 Tablet 9.7
running: Android ICS 4.0.3 with a Kernel Version:3.0.8+.
With a build number: rk29sdk-eng4.03 IML74K eng-yangyun.20120108.124417 test-keys.
It came with an OTG/USB Cable and has both a USB and a USB/OTG port.
Let me just state this, I have tested all cables, ports and jump drives and have reformatted them to fat32, they were Fat32 also.
The problem I'm having is ICS can't see any jump drives I hook up to it. I installed a program from the Market called, USB Host Ctrlr. It ran a info check after install, and here is what it said:USB Host Controller Version Number:0.42 S3C USB Host Driver NOT Found! Root Hub Present. USB Host Mode is active.
I'm no developer or even a decent novas, but with decent instructions I can execute. Any ideas how to fix this, The price was Killer, when one is buying from a Chinese Company, the support is pretty limiting when you only speak English.
That's why the great price, I'm not complaining, I just want to get this resolved if possible.
In regards to the Tablet, I really like it a lot! pretty fast, smooth interface, easy to navigate, decent keyboard, (but I'm use to a smartphone).
It plays movies very nice, screen is plenty bright, It can use a Micro-sd card up to 32 gigs. Have not had any crashes yet, had it about 2 weeks. They have raised the prices about $13.00 I had to try one at that price, plus shipping was Free! I ordered it late on a Sunday night in USA, got it in 3 days DHL shipping, Hard to beat. Anyhow if anyone can help here, it sure be very appreciated. I would even be willing to pay something if reasonable.
If anyone is interested i can provide brand new AUTHENTIC CUBE U9GT2 at the price of euro 240.00.
The price include express shipping to all around the world (4-5 business days).
I am sending from European country so residents of EU will not pay additional taxes or VAT !!!
Let me know.
pashiamas said:
If anyone is interested i can provide brand new AUTHENTIC CUBE U9GT2 at the price of euro 240.00.
The price include express shipping to all around the world (4-5 business days).
I am sending from European country so residents of EU will not pay additional taxes or VAT !!!
Let me know.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Pls check your PM
I'm trying, (probably lot many people) to decide between the current dual core tabs and the quad core.
I will be using this tablet for most anything you can use a tablet for - lots of art applications, streaming movies and music (flash required), some sort of g-sensor/accelerometer, and bluetooth, as I already have a good bluetooth keyboard that pairs nicely with my Android Phone.
I currently own the Acer A500 but I'm still within my return period. I'm strongly leaning towards returning it and getting a quad-core tab but I like the features such as the full size usb port and I want to be able to use that for an external HD for movies, music, etc. Of course, a lot of web surfing will be included. I will be using it for some office features but mostly through Google Docs, as that's what I use on my current mini-notebook (which I'll probably get rid of once I have the tablet decided on for sure). Price is a thought but I want a 10" inch screen and front facing camera so I can use internet video chat, etc. which I think means I'm in the $500 dollar general price range.
I find the Asus Prime intriguing but I'd like to have a USB port without having to have the dock to get it. I read somewhere about either Toshiba or Lenovo coming out with a quad-core with full size usb but I can't find the release date on it now. I'm willing to wait a bit, but also know there is always something better around the corner and at some point I need to just pull the trigger as they say. Some people want to know about basic computer literacy...I'm comfortable with Android and some basic rooting etc - have had an Android phone for 2 years and followed the development closely for some time prior to that. I've rooted my phone & my husband's from about the first week we had them. In addition, I used to run a triple boot laptop with two linux distros and a Windows install so I'm fairly comfortable with the ins and out of doing something like that.
I guess my questions are, has anyone heard of any release dates for quad-core tabs beyond the Asus Prime? Are there any other tabs that you'd say "forget the quad core and go for... instead?" Any info on release dates (other than the general sometime in 2012 would be uber cool to hear).
Oh, I'll also be using it in the hospital quite a bit with multiple surgeries coming up and digital magazines and e-books are definitely part of what I'll be using it for.
Thanks so much in advance! I look forward to your advice!!
Rae
You DEFINITELY don't need a quad-core phone if you are mostly looking for reading books and watching movies.
Look for tablets with extended battery life (larger batteries).
Also you might want to take a look at eReaders on which CyanogenMod has been ported, allowing you to run Android on devices with awesome displays for extended reading.
GoodLUCK!
Ainol Elf II. 'Nuff said.
ok
i have just bought an archos 80 16gb turbo (although i aint sure which version yet) off ebay and i have a few questions.
i have read that all the units ship with 1gb ram and that archos have simply limited them to 512mb in the bios? if this is true is there anyway to unlock the rest of the memory?
i have also read there are no less than 3 different versions of the same device a 1ghz 512mb ram a turbo 1.2ghz 512mb ram and finally a turbo 1.5ghz 1gb ram. what is the easiest way to identify which one you have.
if one doesnt buy the codec pack and you have a file that isnt supported say a video encoded with ac3 can one simply use an alternative media player like vlc or mxplayer? i read that if you do use something else and hook it up to the tv via hdmi the media is not played back in full widescreen mode. can anyone confirm or deny this.
i see there are a few cooked up roms. is there anyway to save the system images and basically make a back up like one would using cwm on a phone?
i am looking forward to getting it but having briefly owned a 70it my expectations arent very high to be honest. i know that at the end of the day it is gonna be an all plastic affair with a dodgy screen and a usb port that breaks easily. however the price was cheap and for my needs (mainly gonna use it as a portable media player which has the bonus of a screen) it should hopefully do he job. who knows i may be pleasantly surprised.
time will tell. lets put it this way for the price paid i would rather be buying this than any other tablet out there at the moment despite all its flaws. it just has a raft of functionality more so than nigh on all the other tablets out there for comparable money.
if only they included full flat out codec support without asking for more money by unlocking the codecs then one couldnt ask for anything more from a budget device. thankfully devices also dont hold value very well making it (via the second hand market) a super cheap way to own an android tablet that is packed full of features... i can only hope i keep it for longer than the 70it!
If your device has 1GB ram, you will only see it if you update to ICS. Honeycomb only supports 512MB or less.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2
Hey there guys, I was wondering if anyone could tell me what the best Android TV device is on the market. Only catch, it has to be rootable. I do not really care if it is a dongle or some other kind of unit. As long as it is rootable, and runts 4.2 + android.
Any suggestions or ideas?
Thanks in advance.
Anyone?
Best Android TV
Hi. The best on my opinion is the Razer Forge, if you plan to play games on top hardware developed for Android and enjoy 4k streaming(full HD). About rooting possibility, don't know yet but almost all devices like these allow it if not now, early will.
Forgetting my advise you won't fail buying a Minix X8 H Plus... Its 4k even.
Best regards!
nicaroxo said:
Hi. The best on my opinion is the Razer Forge, if you plan to play games on top hardware developed for Android and enjoy 4k streaming(full HD). About rooting possibility, don't know yet but almost all devices like these allow it if not now, early will.
Forgetting my advise you won't fail buying a Minix X8 H Plus... Its 4k even.
Best regards!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What about a gbox q?
G Box Q
Awesome specs, but not available in my country yet! Better price either. Some reviews gave outstanding performance on 4k. Why not?
nicaroxo said:
Awesome specs, but not available in my country yet! Better price either. Some reviews gave outstanding performance on 4k. Why not?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks dude.... I appreciate it
I bought a Tronfy MX-IV, looking at some of the other boxes it has the same design as the Beelink. Quite satisfied with it. Runs 4.4.2 with Kodi 14.2, 4k support. But i do recommend buying an airmouse. Most of these boxes come with a simple IR remote.
kidjolly said:
What about a gbox q?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The G Box Q is an older MX2 Dual Core System.
Depending on what you need I'd go with the following in this order.
Google Nexus ADT-1 <- GET THIS
nVidia Shield TV <- Or that
If you want to Game! since these both have the nVida Tegra 4 GPU, and you can hack the ADT-1 to use the nVidia Service to play Half-Life 2 in it
On the Chinese side....
Minix Neo x8-H Plus <- Probably the BEST DEVICE you can get for ~150.00€ GigE, 802.11ac, Hardware decode of h.265 >2160p*
Beelink S82 Plus (Or any other Generic S82 Plus [2G/16G] Device you can find. Amlogic S812 SoC) <- Again these should be slightly cheaper though they are S812 SoCs they lack a number of features such as GigE 802.11ac and Hardware decode.
Slightly cheaper still are the current dead-end products such as the MXIII, S82 / S89 - S802 SoC Boxes. The "Trick" here is to miss the 1G/8G Units and, go straight on for the better 2G/8G, which have 802.11 a/b/g/n, and Bluetooth. These all have Arm Mali GPUs which are great, but not really in the same league with nVidia. If your just want a cheap efficient replacement for that HTPC then these are the right Boxes for you.
*NOTE You have to make sure your getting the *-H Plus version the lower Plus version with out the "H" only does Software decode >720p.
You'll note it in the slight price difference. In the end its about what you're willing to pay up font for!
If you're waiting for an Android TV Device, wait for the Nvidia Shield Android TV. It will be the most powerful device there, and it will also be able to output 4k and 7.1 surround sound. I have the Razer Forge TV, and while it's nice, I don't have Netflix Support.
Sgt.JimmyRustles said:
If you're waiting for an Android TV Device, wait for the Nvidia Shield Android TV. It will be the most powerful device there, and it will also be able to output 4k and 7.1 surround sound. I have the Razer Forge TV, and while it's nice, I don't have Netflix Support.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
specs look awesome for that, but you think it would be rootable? and run Kodi? (not a big fan of Plex)
snoozy said:
specs look awesome for that, but you think it would be rootable? and run Kodi? (not a big fan of Plex)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Forge can run Kodi, as well as the Nexus Player, so I'd assume the Shield TV can as well. Though I'm returning my Forge TV, as the No Netflix has really gotten to me.
Ichijoe said:
The G Box Q is an older MX2 Dual Core System.
Depending on what you need I'd go with the following in this order.
Google Nexus ADT-1 <- GET THIS
nVidia Shield TV <- Or that
If you want to Game! since these both have the nVida Tegra 4 GPU, and you can hack the ADT-1 to use the nVidia Service to play Half-Life 2 in it
On the Chinese side....
Minix Neo x8-H Plus <- Probably the BEST DEVICE you can get for ~150.00€ GigE, 802.11ac, Hardware decode of h.265 >2160p*
Beelink S82 Plus (Or any other Generic S82 Plus [2G/16G] Device you can find. Amlogic S812 SoC) <- Again these should be slightly cheaper though they are S812 SoCs they lack a number of features such as GigE 802.11ac and Hardware decode.
Slightly cheaper still are the current dead-end products such as the MXIII, S82 / S89 - S802 SoC Boxes. The "Trick" here is to miss the 1G/8G Units and, go straight on for the better 2G/8G, which have 802.11 a/b/g/n, and Bluetooth. These all have Arm Mali GPUs which are great, but not really in the same league with nVidia. If your just want a cheap efficient replacement for that HTPC then these are the right Boxes for you.
*NOTE You have to make sure your getting the *-H Plus version the lower Plus version with out the "H" only does Software decode >720p.
You'll note it in the slight price difference. In the end its about what you're willing to pay up font for!
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This guy is giving sound advice and seems to know what he is talking about.
I have bought several devices and have come to find that MINIX has the best boxes and makes the most progress with them. Plus it seems to have the biggest development community pumping out ROMS and early releases of firmware.
I currently have both and MINIX x8-h and a MINIX x8-h plus. I normally keep them rooted and on the latest FinlessBob ROM. They play everything I throw at them, from locally stored videos, to YouTube, to Amazon Prime or Netflix, or other less talked about streaming apps.
KjK89 said:
This guy is giving sound advice and seems to know what he is talking about.
I have bought several devices and have come to find that MINIX has the best boxes and makes the most progress with them. Plus it seems to have the biggest development community pumping out ROMS and early releases of firmware.
I currently have both and MINIX x8-h and a MINIX x8-h plus. I normally keep them rooted and on the latest FinlessBob ROM. They play everything I throw at them, from locally stored videos, to YouTube, to Amazon Prime or Netflix, or other less talked about streaming apps.
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Can you play Netflix in HD on those Boxes? What about Google Play Movies?
I don't think I've ever seen a build.prop from a Minix Box yet. But, for the rest of those Amalogic Boxes... Including the newer k200 (S812 SoC's). The Line:
media.amplayer.widevineenable= has been set to false. The upshot here is that Google Play Movies WILL NOT WORK, until you flip that bit to true, and reboot.
As to Amazon Prime... I wasn't able to get it working on my MXIII... A case of to many inter-operating Apps.. Install this, to install that so that App A) can call upon App b) (The Player), to work... Oddly enough the Kodi add-on just WORKS! Even with HD stuff... As for Netflix though? I'm not a customer of theres just yet.
Ichijoe said:
Can you play Netflix in HD on those Boxes? What about Google Play Movies?
I don't think I've ever seen a build.prop from a Minix Box yet. But, for the rest of those Amalogic Boxes... Including the newer k200 (S812 SoC's). The Line:
media.amplayer.widevineenable= has been set to false. The upshot here is that Google Play Movies WILL NOT WORK, until you flip that bit to true, and reboot.
As to Amazon Prime... I wasn't able to get it working on my MXIII... A case of to many inter-operating Apps.. Install this, to install that so that App A) can call upon App b) (The Player), to work... Oddly enough the Kodi add-on just WORKS! Even with HD stuff... As for Netflix though? I'm not a customer of theres just yet.
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Good questions, but my answers my not be the most fulfilling. When I first tried Netflix, I was using a friends account and did not specifically test HD playback. I do not use Netflix at the moment, so I'm not able to test again.
As for Amazon Prime i followed the app (a) to app (b) stuff and I think the way it works now is when I click on the app icon it actually takes me into the browser and allows me to select the movie I want to play and then it opens in MX Player.
KjK89 said:
Good questions, but my answers my not be the most fulfilling. When I first tried Netflix, I was using a friends account and did not specifically test HD playback. I do not use Netflix at the moment, so I'm not able to test again.
As for Amazon Prime i followed the app (a) to app (b) stuff and I think the way it works now is when I click on the app icon it actually takes me into the browser and allows me to select the movie I want to play and then it opens in MX Player.
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Yeah this to me seems wrong on soo many levels... I shouldn't have to jump though hoops just to watch something. It also doesn't do much to help when the stuff they have (Amazon Germany), is third-rate junk at best, and isn't even worth the One off payment of 50€ per annum at worst. Thankfully my two-week cooling off period is about to close soon ( I think tomorrow, or Thursday IIRC)... I shall definitely be making sure to cancel my 30 Day Trial ASAP!
Ichijoe said:
Yeah this to me seems wrong on soo many levels... I shouldn't have to jump though hoops just to watch something. It also doesn't do much to help when the stuff they have (Amazon Germany), is third-rate junk at best, and isn't even worth the One off payment of 50€ per annum at worst. Thankfully my two-week cooling off period is about to close soon ( I think tomorrow, or Thursday IIRC)... I shall definitely be making sure to cancel my 30 Day Trial ASAP!
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I hear you! I think its important to note, that this is a problem caused by Amazon tho, not the device manufacturer. Amazon does not have a very effective way of accessing prime videos on Android. I use prime because I do a lot of shopping on Amazon, so to me the movies are a bonus and now that I have it set up the right way, it really isn't too hard to use.
KjK89 said:
I hear you! I think its important to note, that this is a problem caused by Amazon tho, not the device manufacturer. Amazon does not have a very effective way of accessing prime videos on Android. I use prime because I do a lot of shopping on Amazon, so to me the movies are a bonus and now that I have it set up the right way, it really isn't too hard to use.
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But, it is Amazons problem... The world is moving the hell away from MicroSoft's Silverlight as fast, as it can... Perhaps you might have heard that Goggle finally started removing NPAPI from Chrome... The bit that made Silverlight work on it? And, we're talking about PC's here now, NOT Android!
Besides I have to ask myself... If I must use something as bad as the MX Player (As more in what it devolved into, then what it used to be!), to render Amazon Prime in the first place.... Why even bother with any DRM in the first place? And, IF I needed such a Renderer, to, get this working... (Something that truly escapes me!), This might explain to my why I'm otherwise unable to use it outside of XBMC/Kodi. Which does work.
But, I suspect the "Difference" between you, and I is that you're using Amazon.com (US) - With the best Content going... While I'm on Amazon.de (Germany), - Which only has utter CRAP on it! As to the other "freebees" I don't own a Kindle, and I don't need any Free Shipping from them either. I joined this "venture" from the other-side as a VOD Provider with other goodies tossed in. Perhaps that was my failing here...
I have two MXQ android tv boxes in the house and they're working great, I also have rooted firmware installed on them which also includes gamepad support but I haven't tested that as I brought the mxq solely for using kodi.
snoozy said:
I bought a Tronfy MX-IV, looking at some of the other boxes it has the same design as the Beelink. Quite satisfied with it. Runs 4.4.2 with Kodi 14.2, 4k support. But i do recommend buying an airmouse. Most of these boxes come with a simple IR remote.
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Yes this device is not bad. Tronfy is also a tv box brand not that hot. Mind if i ask where did you offer it?
As i see a thread about Minix Neo X8-H. The tv box comes with an M1 air mouse. Many uses for the air mouse. Light and with great material.
So if MX-IV comes with one, that's perfect
The Tronfy MXIV doesn't come with an air mouse, but those are pretty cheap. Aside from that, it's a great box. Just waiting for Lollipop firmware and it will be perfect (as the Android TV Play Store and a lot of the apps are 5.x only).