Does a non terrible media player exist

I

InternetSwag

Expert Member
Joined
Jan 24, 2012
Messages
3,955
Reaction score
329
Location
Cape Town
Hi all

I have a spare monitor that I'm trying to convert into some form of media player for a not well off family member.

I'll be paying for whatever solution it ends up being, so I'm weighing up the options.

Personally I feel like just buying some old chitty pc would work better than a media player, but then I need to go actually look for something. Or maybe a pc on a stick? A MI box would be cool, but from my understanding these media boxes are actually terrible. Am I wrong? Cause looking at reviews it seems half don't support Netflix, half don't support dstv, half become outdated or shouldn't be updated etc.

Any assistance welcome
 
Have a MyGica 495X lying around here, plus a wireless mouse. Look up if it will suit your purpose and you can have it for R300

This is under half-price. I used it for a week but it won’t load Britbox so got an Amazon Fire Cube
 
InternetSwag said:
Hi all

I have a spare monitor that I'm trying to convert into some form of media player for a not well off family member.

I'll be paying for whatever solution it ends up being, so I'm weighing up the options.

Personally I feel like just buying some old chitty pc would work better than a media player, but then I need to go actually look for something. Or maybe a pc on a stick? A MI box would be cool, but from my understanding these media boxes are actually terrible. Am I wrong? Cause looking at reviews it seems half don't support Netflix, half don't support dstv, half become outdated or shouldn't be updated etc.

Any assistance welcome
Click to expand...
Have you tried a decent encoder like Handbrake?

What you want is a google certified Android TV like a Ematic, ~R1200, its very decent and can play pretty much anything though VLC.
 
The mi box, Ematic and nvidia shield are pretty solid and I listed them in terms of their speed from my experience. The mi and nvidia ones have the backing of big companies so should get support for a long time. Im not sure about the ematic but its popular.
 
Speedster said:
ROFL at Apple TV
Click to expand...

As a preferer of apple, I would have to agree with you there. As a device it’s pretty decent, but it’s the one device where apples lockdown gets in the way of using the apps I want.

I’d need a us Apple account for it to work properly, and then it’s outside my family as you cannot add members outside your account region.

I think for the yanks it’s probably the best option, but outside yank-land for anyone who wants things more useful than Netflix it’s just going to be a waste, especially with there being actually better Android devices out there.

Besides I have the AppleTV app on my MiStick
 
CranialBlaze said:
As a preferer of apple, I would have to agree with you there. As a device it’s pretty decent, but it’s the one device where apples lockdown gets in the way of using the apps I want.

I’d need a us Apple account for it to work properly, and then it’s outside my family as you cannot add members outside your account region.

I think for the yanks it’s probably the best option, but outside yank-land for anyone who wants things more useful than Netflix it’s just going to be a waste, especially with there being actually better Android devices out there.

Besides I have the AppleTV app on my MiStick
Click to expand...
I have an AppleTV 2 that I am going to jailbreak today. At the moment it is basically a Netflix box.
 
InternetSwag said:
Hi all

I have a spare monitor that I'm trying to convert into some form of media player for a not well off family member.

I'll be paying for whatever solution it ends up being, so I'm weighing up the options.

Personally I feel like just buying some old chitty pc would work better than a media player, but then I need to go actually look for something. Or maybe a pc on a stick? A MI box would be cool, but from my understanding these media boxes are actually terrible. Am I wrong? Cause looking at reviews it seems half don't support Netflix, half don't support dstv, half become outdated or shouldn't be updated etc.

Any assistance welcome
Click to expand...
Actually the mibox and MI TV stick do support Netflix, but the Nvidia shield at 5k is the best of the lot.
 
epah said:
Get a shield or Apple TV, the rest are all **** and you will be hard resetting everytime you want to use it.
Click to expand...
Think you had some duds, in the 2 years with my mi box never had to hard reset it, the TV Stick just works.
 
InternetSwag said:
Hi all

I have a spare monitor that I'm trying to convert into some form of media player for a not well off family member.

I'll be paying for whatever solution it ends up being, so I'm weighing up the options.

Personally I feel like just buying some old chitty pc would work better than a media player, but then I need to go actually look for something. Or maybe a pc on a stick? A MI box would be cool, but from my understanding these media boxes are actually terrible. Am I wrong? Cause looking at reviews it seems half don't support Netflix, half don't support dstv, half become outdated or shouldn't be updated etc.

Any assistance welcome
Click to expand...
Mi box constantly lags and is just terrible to use. You cannot stream 4K with it, even 1080p is a hit and a miss. I got an Apple TV 4K and it runs like a dream.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top
Sign up to the MyBroadband newsletter
X