Android Media Player

Hemps

Hemps

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I'm in the market for a media player to replace my bullky HTPC, was looking at the WD TV Live but it just sems old now.
Came across these Android Mini Pc's running XBMC.
Looks the business, so far http://www.pivosgroup.com/xios.html seems to be the one xbmc developers are using.
Need to RUN movies/series from external hard drive, full 1080p and Lpcm sound support.
Blu Ray copies up to 50gb in size.
Anyone of you tech heads got one of these besides Raspberry PI?

what chipsets should I be looking at avoiding.
 
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Have you looked at the G-Box Midnight? Up until recently the Pivos XIOS DS was using a slower Amlogic ARM processor (AML8726-M1) but they might have recently upgraded to the same one in the G-Box Midnight (AML8726-M3). There are some new Geniatech players that are using the dual core AML8726-M6 processor which is even faster although it may take time for suitable versions of XBMC to appear. Oval Elephant was taking orders for an M6 based player although I'm not sure that it is available yet. I think that there is now a Linux version of XBMC for the G-Box Midnight.

I'm not sure that any of the Android based players will play Blu-Ray iso's though. Maybe you should also consider a Realtek RTD1186 based player such as the Egreat R6S, Mede8er 1000X3D, AC Ryan 3D player or the latest Popcorn Hour A400 (latest Sigma chipset).
 
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Have you looked at the G-Box Midnight?
Click to expand...

At the moment that's looking like the best value.
What I like about these products is the quick firmware support and XBMC which is getting better by the day.
Having the Android market is also a plus.
 
Looking at the prices the HP Microserver and OPENELEC still make better sense to me.

Once the official XBMC on Android launches then one of the "USB" PCs may take over. That said the Steam Big Picture may change all that.
 
I'm thinking of WD Live player again as I do want it mostly as a media player and WD Live plays everything with little to no fiddling.

BUT I do like a fiddle, I'll need to buy this thing from Amazon.com as I have won $ and have around $30 in my gift card balance that I would like to use on a toy.
I'm trying to think of what benefit bringing Android into the TV room will bring?
 
I have the following (based on this thread's comments) ...

1. WDTV Live.
Probably the best multimedia streamer. Works very well.

2. MK802 Android Mini PC
Works very well but no support for my wireless mini keyboard or USB/Ethernet adaptor means it lays in the cupboard.

3. A. C. Ryan Veolo
This was an impulse buy to replace the MK802. Awesome remote. Old Android 2.3 or something. No further updates. Slow and laggy. Not worth the money charged.

4. Raspberry Pi running OpenELEC.
The source is my Plex DLNA server so I still get the goodness of Plex.
This is the clear winner. Runs WELL.
Cannot even see it. With it supporting CEC, I use the same remote for the Sammy TV it is hooked up to to control XBMC. Bonus and have the Pi hidden behind the TV.
Want more of these devices now for other TVs.

Android 2.3 already available for the Pi with ICS soon to be ready.
 
4. Raspberry Pi running OpenELEC.
The source is my Plex DLNA server so I still get the goodness of Plex.
This is the clear winner. Runs WELL.
Cannot even see it. With it supporting CEC, I use the same remote for the Sammy TV it is hooked up to to control XBMC. Bonus and have the Pi hidden behind the TV.
Want more of these devices now for other TVs.

Android 2.3 already available for the Pi with ICS soon to be ready.
Click to expand...

The remote you use, you think I would be able to use the dstv remote which can "learn" keys.
Hardware decoding on the PI, how is the quality and can it handle HD sound, my amp only plays LPCM.

http://www.amazon.com/Raspberry-Pi-Model-Revision-512MB/dp/B009SQQF9C/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1359100271&sr=8-1&keywords=raspberry+pi

The specs on these things seem so low?
 
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Hemps said:
The remote you use, you think I would be able to use the dstv remote which can "learn" keys.
Hardware decoding on the PI, how is the quality and can it handle HD sound, my amp only plays LPCM.

http://www.amazon.com/Raspberry-Pi-Model-Revision-512MB/dp/B009SQQF9C/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1359100271&sr=8-1&keywords=raspberry+pi

The specs on these things seem so low?
Click to expand...

CEC stands for Consumer Electronics Controller.
Most modern Tvs, DVD and Bluray players support it and just re brand the name. It enables you to use one remote (IE TV) to control all the linked CEC devices over HDMI.

If your TV supports CEC, then the remote you use for your TV can be used to control other CEC devices (via the TV) over HDMI.

Make sense?
 
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