I'm trying to help my parents cut the cord by switching them to using Android TVs. I personally have a Nexus TV, but they've stopped manufacturing them and the hardware is a bit outdated.
I've noticed a plethora of chinese made Android TVs on Amazon and am interested in them, but I've noticed a lot of them are the same thing with the seller's brand plastered onto them. I was wondering if anyone here has knowledge about what devices I can trust and which I should avoid at all costs. I'm hoping to spend at max $50 per device as I have to outfit 3 TVs with them. I'd ask /csg/, but they seem more focused on buying stuff directly from manufacturers.
Pic of the shit I wouldn't want.
Angel Wilson
>giving your parents a botnet
Caleb Reyes
Got it, I'll go out and buy $200 apple TVs. Thanks for the advice user.
Cooper Bennett
>dual core >jelly bean >A9
puke
Nathaniel Parker
The only android tv worth buying is the mi box. Everything else is overpriced and/or shit.
Kayden Perez
Have you considered getting an Amazon Firebox and Kodi?
Evan Ross
I don't know how locked down Amazon's stuff is. I planned on getting my parents Playstation Vue, as it would suit their TV needs. (Dad's gotta have all his shit, and I'm not going to try to teach him how to use Kodi VOD plugins)
Jacob Mitchell
The one with the chink android skin or the one running Google's Android TV?
Adrian Sanders
chromecast + any tablet/phone or pc
dont buy a shitty chinese android box, they are fucking terrible
Jaxson White
I installed Kodi on mine in minutes and you'd can get pretty much any IPTV or on demand show/movie through that so not too locked down as far as I'm concerned. You're not tied into needing to purchase an Amazon subscription.
John White
My parents have an amazon subscription, but I was hoping to access the google store, not just Amazon's walled garden.
Logan Ward
Roku is worth looking into
Colton Cook
MXQ Pro 4K UHD on Geekbuying for around 35 to 40 fatbux.
Jackson Price
As someone who went through 5 of these shitbirds ranging from 30-70$ I can confidently say they are all fucking shit despite the 4+ reviews on amazon.
What I finally ended up doing was building an A8-7600 FM2+ build for ~$200. Performance is stellar no matter what I chuck at this thing for a HTPC.
Zachary White
Xiaomi mibox Nvidia shield
Colton Wilson
I thought you could install playstore on Fire via a hack but have never tried
Andrew Evans
FireTV is shit don't buy one. Sideloading works on very few applications, no play store. low internal memory, kodi fucks up all the time if you background it. None of those issues exist on a normal android box.
Carson Nelson
this
Liam Kelly
You can but since gapps don't work its a crapshoot. Even something as simple as the twitch app doesn't work. Hope you like going to xda and looking at sideloading compatibility lists. Even if you have one that is rootable you can't get custom roms for it or remove the amazon shit completely. Best thing you can do is freeze amazons launcher and run a different one.
Adam Wood
This thing looks like cancer
Xavier Gray
You can't trust generic Chinese shit with AmLogic chips they lie about specs
Caleb Campbell
You don't want to hear it but the only good android tv device is the shield tv.
Noah Murphy
I got a Nvidia Shield Pro (2017) last week and it's fucking awesome.
Samuel Williams
Yeah but, $300
Liam Howard
you can get a good pre-owned Mac Mini for that kind of money 4K tv's can do their own upscalling
Brandon Flores
I too have issues of my controller being detected by radar.
Parker Wilson
>being homosexual products You might as well tell user to become a catholic priest
Parker Russell
Just get a RASPi OP. Mines going on 3 years old, and is flawless.
Android is a giant piece of shit, and there is no reason to run Kodi over that shitty shitty OS, when you can just run OpenElec as your OS.
Cameron Taylor
Honestly OP just get them a 32GB Apple tv. If they have iPhones then it's completely worth the "experience". Really, Apple is the only one who will cater to older folks. From a support standpoint, its not worth the hassle of walking them through anything and they will always have an Apple store to go to.
Jordan Reyes
Using my fire TV stick makes me want to bang my head against the wall some times. It's shit slow and casting YouTube videos from the desktop chrome browser doesn't even work even though it shows the device is there.
I might buy that mi box one day. I wish manufacturers would release streaming sticks that ran vanilla Android TV.
Ethan Hall
Roku is pretty good, famalam.
Nathan Williams
Roku 3 is nice. You can put movies on a usb stick and play them.
Logan Butler
Or fucking get neither retard
Juan Barnes
Go buy a first gen apple TV on ebay, jailbreak it, and then use XBMC.
Justin Collins
>>/csg/
Isaiah Fisher
Chinese shit, the lot of them.
Get a cheap Pi, install LibreELEC on an SD card, it'll be far more reliable than a box and last more than a year tops.
Hell, you could even get a cooling case for it for a few pounds and extend the lifetime by years
Carson Stewart
HiMedia. I got a Q10 at home. I don't use it though. My parents are. But it seems alright. Or Minix, saw one at my brother's. He's been using it for couple of years with no problem. And yeah they are chink shit. They are alright if you want something that "just works", enough for normal use, parents friendly, etc. Otherwise do as other anons said and build one with a Pi.
Justin Perez
The only acceptable answers.
Adam Morgan
>muh chinese shit is terrible Been using a MXIII box for 4 years now, use it for netflix and kodi + exodus.
Stupid niggers who pay more than $50 for this shit are retards.
Bentley Barnes
Legitimate question but what's the difference between this and a Roku?
When the Roku is significantly cheaper
James Russell
Roku gets continuous updates.
Juan Young
My dad uses Roku and he loves it. He can watch YouTube and Netflix from his HDTV on his couch.
Ryder Williams
Roku doesn't run android tv it never has and never will.
Roku is definitely a great option for normies.
Grayson Miller
Okay but that doesn't explain why it makes it better, especially if the Android TV costs more
Adam Rodriguez
You asked for the difference, not an analysis of what makes one better than the other.
Again though, with Android TV you actually use Android and for some this is a huge benefit as they get to use apps not available for Roku (ie Kodi).
Austin Parker
Normie here, have a couple roku's 3. Can confirm the love.
Cameron Thomas
Buy one with the headphone jack in the remote. Dad can watch porn without waking mom. There's even (hidden) channels for it.
Jackson Moore
It's the main purpose in the bedroom. I can watch TV while keeping the wife from bitching.
Adam Diaz
He's literally right. I bought one and i know for a fact it phones home.
David Johnson
A google one or one of the shady chinese ones?
Luke Miller
Just bought a Beelink from GearBest to stream games over internet with Moonlight when I'm at hotels when I'm traveling at work.
Everything seems to be good.
Octacore Dual band wifi GB Lan Bluetooth H.265 decoding Android 6.0 Kodi +++