A9 Android 2.3 1.2GHz CPU Smart TV Box

paradisiac · 20 Mar 2012 at 20:47

anyone had any experience with this, or any other android TV Box?

paradisiac · 20 Mar 2012 at 22:09

basically, I want it for bbc iplayer, itv player, sky player, 5od........ and to stream my video, pictures, music from my media server. mainly avi, mkv, jpg and mp3 files.

sven256 · 20 Mar 2012 at 23:41

Do you not have an android phone with hdmi or capable of outputting video. As it would be cheaper just to use this, as it would function exactly the same.

paradisiac · 21 Mar 2012 at 08:06

sven256 said:
Do you not have an android phone with hdmi or capable of outputting video. As it would be cheaper just to use this, as it would function exactly the same.

I have an iphone

I was looking at getting this and selling my HTPC. thing is, I have been credited for my faulty GFX card, so have £150-£160 to spend with the company, so am just kinda looking at different ideas.

I wasn't sure (as my HTPC struggles with MKV) whether something like this would manage to stream video successfully with its gfx, cpu and ram?

realBabelfish · 21 Mar 2012 at 09:22

paradisiac said:
I have an iphone

I was looking at getting this and selling my HTPC. thing is, I have been credited for my faulty GFX card, so have £150-£160 to spend with the company, so am just kinda looking at different ideas.

I wasn't sure (as my HTPC struggles with MKV) whether something like this would manage to stream video successfully with its gfx, cpu and ram?

if it was faulty cant you get a refund? smartTV style boxes are usually < £100

paradisiac · 21 Mar 2012 at 09:33

realBabelfish said:
if it was faulty cant you get a refund? smartTV style boxes are usually < £100

unfortunately I only got a credit note as it was over a year old. on the plus side, due to their error, which they have been informed of and are happy to accept it was their error, I got my GTX460 replace with a FREE GTX560 and my money back as a credit note.

yeh the box im looking at is £89 ex vat. my thing is, is it man enough to stream blue ray rips?

my only experience with android has been with faulty cheap chinese tablets, so not that clued up on what it can handle.

sven256 · 21 Mar 2012 at 22:17

My advice would be avoid the android box for a "media server" type type gadget.

It would work but picture quality maybe lacking, also there is no real "media grabber" for grabbing covers etc as far as i know.

You would be better off with a dedicated player western digital live etc if you can get one from the store in question.

Or even a bluray player with these functions built in.

But the best solution as always is sticking with the htpc. And then put something like plex on it.

paradisiac · 21 Mar 2012 at 22:29

sven256 said:
My advice would be avoid the android box for a "media server" type type gadget.

It would work but picture quality maybe lacking, also there is no real "media grabber" for grabbing covers etc as far as i know.

You would be better off with a dedicated player western digital live etc if you can get one from the store in question.

Or even a bluray player with these functions built in.

But the best solution as always is sticking with the htpc. And then put something like plex on it.

thanks for your advice. I decided to go for a Z77 mobo for my gaming pc and a dedicated gfx card for my HTPC.