Chinese Set top TV box

[WkdPaul]

So, I currently have a HTPC with Kodi on, the problem is that the Chinese live streaming addons display mangled text, tried changing the PC's locale to Chines and reinstalled Kodi with the addons but it doesn't work (not for me at least).

 

ALSO .. it's mostly for my (Chinese) parents in-law, they can barely operate a microwave, so a PC is out of question, en as of now they don't use one (seriously, try to troubleshoot a PC 11,000km away).

 

Anyways, what I'm looking for is a good set top box (gonna be plugged to a 1080p 40" TV), that supports Chinese, has Kodi and is (as much as it can be) simple to use.

 

 

As of now, my selection is rather limited;

 

http://himedia.ca/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1&products_id=24

 

 

If anyone has suggestions and input, that would be appreciated, unfortunately my wife knows almost nothing about tech so she's only good as a translator ...

 

[Mr.Meerkat]

On 9/9/2016 at 6:18 PM, wkdpaul said:

Chinese live streaming addons display mangled text, tried changing the PC's locale to Chines and reinstalled Kodi with the addons but it doesn't work (not for me at least).

That just reminds me of Japanese or Chinese displayed on an installation of UK/US English windows 7 would just be lots of squiggly lines  

 

On a side note, if you lived in Edinburgh (and they speak Mandarin not canto...) then I coulda helped...but I don't know anything about set top boxes so...ermmmm...

[WkdPaul]

5 minutes ago, Mr.Meerkat said:

That just reminds me of Japanese or Chinese displayed on an installation of UK/US English windows 7 would just be lots of squiggly lines  

That's the problem, even when the Chinese language is installed I'm getting unreadable text, any other program will display Chinese (simplified) symbols correctly, just not Kodi ... 

[Mr.Meerkat]

Just now, wkdpaul said:

That's the problem, even when the Chinese language is installed I'm getting unreadable text, any other program will display Chinese (simplified) symbols correctly, just not Kodi ... 

I feel it may be the live streaming addon being the issue here...since I don't know much about kodi, is there a installation of kodi that's Chinese as it's actual base language? 

[WkdPaul]

7 minutes ago, Mr.Meerkat said:

I feel it may be the live streaming addon being the issue here...since I don't know much about kodi, is there a installation of kodi that's Chinese as it's actual base language? 

Good question, though it doesn't really matter anyway since I was trying to make this work for my wife's parents, and seeing that they have a hard time with PC in general, that would be useless.

 

That's why I'm looking for a good Android TV box that supports simplified Chinese. My wife and I have less problems with them since we gave them an iPhone and an iPad

 

[AlanAlan]

13 hours ago, wkdpaul said:

Good question, though it doesn't really matter anyway since I was trying to make this work for my wife's parents, and seeing that they have a hard time with PC in general, that would be useless.

 

That's why I'm looking for a good Android TV box that supports simplified Chinese. My wife and I have less problems with them since we gave them an iPhone and an iPad

 

Hey Pual, what kind of chinese shows can you watch?

[WkdPaul]

4 hours ago, AlanAlan said:

Hey Pual, what kind of chinese shows can you watch?

Don't remember the Chinese titles but the main TV shows I watch with my wife and daughter are;

 

Where are we going Dady

Go fighting

Running man China

 

... Reality TV shows are SOOOO MUCH better in China (it's always about teamwork instead of what we have in North America: bitchin, fighting and backstabbing).

[AlanAlan]

3 hours ago, wkdpaul said:

Don't remember the Chinese titles but the main TV shows I watch with my wife and daughter are;

 

Where are we going Dady

Go fighting

Running man China

 

... Reality TV shows are SOOOO MUCH better in China (it's always about teamwork instead of what we have in North America: bitchin, fighting and backstabbing).

How about TVB?

[gtx1060=value]

7 hours ago, wkdpaul said:

Don't remember the Chinese titles but the main TV shows I watch with my wife and daughter are;

 

Where are we going Dady

Go fighting

Running man China

 

... Reality TV shows are SOOOO MUCH better in China (it's always about teamwork instead of what we have in North America: bitchin, fighting and backstabbing).

Don't worry, your chinese tech junky is here, do not buy a htpc instead buy the new xiao mi tv box. 

[gtx1060=value]

2 minutes ago, gtx1060=value said:

Don't worry, your chinese tech junky is here, do not buy a htpc instead buy the new xiao mi tv box. 

it uses the internet to directly link to your favorite chinese tv channels in 4k or hi def (depending on which box u buy) cctv 13, cctv 7, hunan, etc

[WkdPaul]

4 hours ago, AlanAlan said:

How about TVB?

I don't listen to dramas, though my wife does.

 

19 minutes ago, gtx1060=value said:

Don't worry, your chinese tech junky is here, do not buy a htpc instead buy the new xiao mi tv box. 

Yeah heard good things about the Xiaomi Mi Box ... the problem is my wife won't help me look into it (she said that since I'm the one that knows tech I should be able to find a good one ... still, I can't read Chinese, simplified or not, and English reviews are scarce!) lol

[gtx1060=value]

You don't need to look into it, i have one, and it's amazing. It has an octa core processor, 4gb ram and has every single chinese movie or tv show you could dream of. also has many different streaming channels so if ones down you can use another. relatively cheap compared to buying a htpc too

[AlanAlan]

1 hour ago, gtx1060=value said:

You don't need to look into it, i have one, and it's amazing. It has an octa core processor, 4gb ram and has every single chinese movie or tv show you could dream of. also has many different streaming channels so if ones down you can use another. relatively cheap compared to buying a htpc too

How much do you pay for the content?

[gtx1060=value]

18 hours ago, AlanAlan said:

How much do you pay for the content?

I don't pay crap for the 4k content. I pay 200 dollars for the xiao mi box, which is basically a chinese android tv box, and i get to watch all the streams and shows for free provided my bandwidth is high enough 

[AlanAlan]

20 minutes ago, gtx1060=value said:

I don't pay crap for the 4k content. I pay 200 dollars for the xiao mi box, which is basically a chinese android tv box, and i get to watch all the streams and shows for free provided my bandwidth is high enough 

Can you watch tvb for free? 

[WkdPaul]

16 hours ago, AlanAlan said:

Can you watch tvb for free? 

yes, I just did a quick search and you can stream TVB!

[gtx1060=value]

7 hours ago, wkdpaul said:

yes, I just did a quick search and you can stream TVB!

are you going to buy one or no? If you do, either buy it from xiao mi or try to find a reputable dealer on alibaba who won't scam you

[WkdPaul]

3 minutes ago, gtx1060=value said:

are you going to buy one or no? If you do, either buy it from xiao mi or try to find a reputable dealer on alibaba who won't scam you

Yeah I'll buy when I will go back in China around November.

[gtx1060=value]

2 minutes ago, wkdpaul said:

Yeah I'll buy when I will go back in China around November.

Sorry if im being a little too nosy but if you are flying air canada to go to china you can save a lot more money by going to a chinese travel agency and booking through them, If you could take a train or flight to pearson where you could then board hainan airlines (5 star airline, the only one in china, air canada is a 4 star airline) and it would be cheaper for economy on a 787 than on an air canada flight. I've used the airline several times to go back to china and their service is superb and the food isn't half bad either. 

(a ticket in november would cost about 1000 dollars round trip)

[WkdPaul]

1 minute ago, gtx1060=value said:

Sorry if im being a little too nosy but if you are flying air canada to go to china you can save a lot more money by going to a chinese travel agency and booking through them, If you could take a train or flight to pearson where you could then board hainan airlines (5 star airline, the only one in china, air canada is a 4 star airline) and it would be cheaper for economy on a 787 than on an air canada flight. I've used the airline several times to go back to china and their service is superb and the food isn't half bad either. 

We'll actually use Air China since they now have a direct flight Montreal-Shanghai ... 17h instead of 22h for the same price.

 

But yeah last time we went through a travel agency in Chinatown, saved more than $200 per ticket!

 

[gtx1060=value]

Just now, wkdpaul said:

We'll actually use Air China since they now have a direct flight Montreal-Shanghai ... 17h instead of 22h for the same price.

 

But yeah last time we went through a travel agency in Chinatown, saved more than $200 per ticket!

 

If you are flying with air china don't order their eggs or any type of fish. i had a fish linguini dinner and it tasted like rubber. 

[gtx1060=value]

Just now, gtx1060=value said:

If you are flying with air china don't order their eggs or any type of fish. i had a fish linguini dinner and it tasted like rubber. 

A lot of people actually got sick by eating the air line food

[gtx1060=value]

are you going to be staying in shang hai the whole time? If you are going anywhere more to the south, electronics get cheaper, in guang zhou a msi gtx 980ti only cost about 750 dollars Canadian. Obviously it'd be better to buy a xiao mi box at a cheaper price if you are already going to be going that way. if not, buy directly from the xiao mi store - no offence, but since you are not chinese, sellers will try to scam you with fake product at a ridiculously low price but really it's just rocks inside. (True story, some poor white guy tried to buy an iphone 6 for 500 dollars and got a bunch of rocks. )

[WkdPaul]

14 minutes ago, gtx1060=value said:

are you going to be staying in shang hai the whole time? If you are going anywhere more to the south, electronics get cheaper, in guang zhou a msi gtx 980ti only cost about 750 dollars Canadian. Obviously it'd be better to buy a xiao mi box at a cheaper price if you are already going to be going that way. if not, buy directly from the xiao mi store - no offence, but since you are not chinese, sellers will try to scam you with fake product at a ridiculously low price but really it's just rocks inside. (True story, some poor white guy tried to buy an iphone 6 for 500 dollars and got a bunch of rocks. )

Haha yeah I know all about that, my wife is Shanghainese, she's going to be the one buying and bartering, she's an expert at it!

[samiscool51]

On 9/12/2016 at 0:14 PM, wkdpaul said:

I can't read Chinese, simplified or not

if you use chrome it has a translator build in and will ask if you want to translate the page for you

you can also get the plugin from the store