XBMC (Kodi) Device Suggestions Please

[Caine]

hey all

 

i'm interested in purchasing an xbmc (kodi) device, but i'm not sure which one to choose. if any of you have any experience with these devices, i would really appreciate any info you may have. 

 

thanks!

[The Cool n00B]

Raspberry Pi

 

btw, your profile pics kinda ehh and some people might take offense ;|

[SImoHayha]

hey all

 

i'm interested in purchasing an xbmc device, but i'm not sure which one to choose. if any of you have any experience with these devices, i would really appreciate any info you may have. 

 

thanks!

What type my friend? My father has a M8 XBMC device. It's rather good for its size and you can even use it as a tiny little computer as well since it has a built in broswer though you might want a mouse and keyboard.

 

http://www.amazon.com/Amlogic-Bluetooth-Streaming-Tronsmart-RJ45/dp/B00JDCO22I

[SImoHayha]

Raspberry Pi

 

btw, your profile pics kinda ehh and some people might take offense ;|

I take offense to that picture. No noobs allowed here. Lel

[Caine]

What type my friend? My father has a M8 XBMC device. It's rather good for its size and you can even use it as a tiny little computer as well since it has a built in broswer though you might want a mouse and keyboard.

 

http://www.amazon.com/Amlogic-Bluetooth-Streaming-Tronsmart-RJ45/dp/B00JDCO22I

 

in terms of type, i'm not sure. i'm open to anything at the moment. thanks for the suggestion!

[manikyath]

btw, your profile pics kinda ehh and some people might take offense ;|

honestly, if someone takes offense to that they need to take a chill pill...

 

on topic: i have kodi on a raspberry pi 2B, and it works pretty well, some things are slightly sluggish from time to time, but its defenately still better than the "ISP settop box experience"

[noisehater]

I love my Raspberry Pi 2 with Kodi but sadly a few months ago the possibility to watch Amazon Prime with it was taken away from Amazon.
If I recall correctly it was because of the change to HTML5 and DRM... I think Netflix isn't supported either. So if you frequently use streaming the raspberry is not the right choice.

[divito]

Really depends on where you're using it, what you're planning to do with the box, and other usage possibilities.

 

I have Kodi on my main PC, my laptop, my tablets, my phone, and the HTPC in my bedroom on a cheap PC. I also have a Pi I gave to my parents with Kodi, and another one myself just sitting in a drawer. They all can be used in different circumstances, but each is different. The questions I'd ask are:

 

1. What is your budget?

A Raspberry Pi, while being a cheap option, is actually comparable to Android boxes once you account for the full kits with a remote, case, WiFi, etc... Whether a Pi or Android, you're looking into the $50-200 range, depending on the model.

 

2. What else (if anything) do you want it to do?

If you're simply looking for a Kodi box and nothing else, a cheap Android box is perfectly fine. Just stick to your budget and pick solid sellers/good reviewed boxes from a preferred retailer (NCIX, Amazon, eBay, etc..). Do you want to be able to surf the web as well? If so, then you'd be more inclined to go with a Raspberry Pi if you're looking to go as cheap as possible. I generally trust it more than the Android boxes in the surfing category.

 

In the case of even more usability, a NUC/barebones option would be next.

 

That's exactly why I have a little PC in my bedroom hooked up to a TV. Not only can it run Kodi, I can use it to surf the web, watch Netflix, do light productivity if necessary or play some less-intensive games. Now, I could do that on a laptop, but watching a smaller screen between my girlfriend and I, and dealing with a laptop in the bed and the heating issues; the PC to a TV is just a simpler thing.

 

With this option though, you'll be spending at least $300 or so. My PC was originally a tiny build for my parents before I found them something else and took it back. It came to $330 with taxes and that was pretty much as cheap as I could get it at the time.

[matrix07012]

Raspberry Pi is the cheapest, but it is not plug and play and wifi is a bit harder to setup.

[pauloforte]

I have a M8 Android box with Kodi installed.

It works pretty good, haven't had any complaints yet. 

Everything else runs pretty well, menus are fluent, videos play perfectly fine at 1080p (never tried higher res than that and, honestly, don't think I ever will need to).

Streaming is pretty good too, although this is more dependent on your network than the box itself. I have some difficulty in streaming 1080p videos (which I rarely can find, anyway, so that's not that big of a problem, and 720p is perfectly fine for me as well, with a 32" TV)

 

As someone said that Netflix is not supported, you can run Netflix perfectly fine on Android.

 

I even game a bit on the little android thing. I coupled a Bluetooth gamepad and it's pretty fun (as long as the game supports controllers...).

 

Of course, if you can spend 300 euros, go for a HTPC, a real HTPC, with windows and all and some serious processing power.

 

On the side of the more expensive Android consoles, there is the MadCatz M.O.J.O., or the NVidia Shield you might want to check out, but those are more expensive than, for example, the M8.

 

Cheers

[awponder]

$70 you can buy a google tv set top box.....ac wifi....quad core....voice remote...all apps you can download from app store...including kodi.....which makes it a breeze to setup.  I have one and use it for plex mostly and it plays full blu ray rips over ac wifi, at full resolution and my pc does no transcoding.  Very solid little box and  I like the ability to just switch to youtube or hulu or netflix on the same box.  And voice search will search your plex library if you use plex so thats a plus that my apple tv will not do.

[awponder]

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/google-nexus-player-streaming-media-console-black/2445015.p?id=1219542308629     cheapest I can find it

[DJ25380]

On 1/20/2016 at 0:32 PM, Caine said:

hey all

 

i'm interested in purchasing an xbmc (kodi) device, but i'm not sure which one to choose. if any of you have any experience with these devices, i would really appreciate any info you may have. 

 

thanks!

I would suggest something line a nVidia Shield, The Shield is a bit pricey but i havent had the cache fill up yet, So you could probaly do something cheaper like a Raspberry Pi or an Android TV box