Streaming box /media player

[Crumbl0x]

It's the same with any OS. Apps become slower over time. You need to do some maintenance once in a while by clearing the app cache etc.

I've had an ematic box for over a year now and haven't had any major issues. Still runs as smooth as when I got it. I would recommend it over a Mi Box for the simple fact that it has a LAN port.

For the price there's nothing better out there. The next step up would be a Shield but that's beyond most people's budgets...

Nah, I've never seen this slowdown behaviour (and in fact sometimes a speed up) with modern iOS, consoles and Linux, and am only accustomed to slowdown on Windows and Android (I may be biased here). I agree that maintenance needs to be done once in a while but this is a fact of a poor excuse of being unoptimised in the first place. In my case however, I've barely had the Ematic for a year and it violently began to degrade in performance, but as I've mentioned it might just be defective which would've assured me otherwise if I didn't read similar reports here on MyBB before deciding to chalk it up to case-by-case issues.
These days all I can comfortably use it for is as an expensive Chromecast, because with most apps making the experience insufferable (looking at you especially, MotorTrend) and my OCD for microstutter overwhelming me, I simply cannot use these range of boxes anymore.
Again I will say, for that price it goes for these days and being lucky enough to not care so much for suboptimal performance in menus and hopefully getting a good unit, it's still a hell of a bang for buck, and I will never compare my HTPC experience with it because that price is now comparable to a local stock Shield and wouldn't make sense otherwise.

 

[Crumbl0x]

I have both a Nvidia Shield Pro and a Nvidia Shield TV ( the silinder shaped one). If it is purely to be used for streaming then the Shield TV is more than adaquate. It is small and light can be easily be tucked away behind a TV.

Apart from this, the only other advice I can give
1. is to get a streaming box with a LAN port
2. make sure the supplier provides frequent/ regular OS updates.

Oh btw, have you tested to see if enabling a VPN on your Shields while using a LAN cable kills the connection? It would really be a pity if only the Ematic did that and I would hope they implement virtualWiFI to mitigate that in the future

 

[Mike Hoxbig]

Oh btw, have you tested to see if enabling a VPN on your Shields while using a LAN cable kills the connection? It would really be a pity if only the Ematic did that and I would hope they implement virtualWiFI to mitigate that in the future

It's a general Android TV issue...

 

[elf_lord_ZC5]

Well, another option, between the Ematic/Mi-Box and nVidia Shield would be the new Google Chromecast TV, which unfortunately doesn't have a network port.

 

[Smokey mcpot]

I’m using a mini pc, Liva Z to be exact. Plays 4K and streams anything without any issues at all. Media boxes were not all that good and we’re just limited in terms of what it offers. With the pc I can stream and do anything else I want without any hassles

 

[DrJohnZoidberg]

I’m using a mini pc, Liva Z to be exact. Plays 4K and streams anything without any issues at all. Media boxes were not all that good and we’re just limited in terms of what it offers. With the pc I can stream and do anything else I want without any hassles

What OS is it running?

 

[Smokey mcpot]

What OS is it running?

Windows 10.

 

[DrJohnZoidberg]

Windows 10.

That sounds like a major hassle

 

[Smokey mcpot]

That sounds like a major hassle

Haha not for me it isn’t. Someone has purchased one from me and when he gets it I think he plans on using Linux on it. I’ll get feedback from him with his experience.

however in my case does exactly what I need it to do. Stream, stream and stream. Occasionally I’ll do some invoices, quotes, browsing etc while lounging on the couch. Daughter has used it to do some coding for school (they have the same units at her school) as well as other robotics/app creation homework. However the main purpose is media and it’s doing it quite well. Especially impressed with the fact that it does 4K

 

[DrJohnZoidberg]

Haha not for me it isn’t. Someone has purchased one from me and when he gets it I think he plans on using Linux on it. I’ll get feedback from him with his experience.

however in my case does exactly what I need it to do. Stream, stream and stream. Occasionally I’ll do some invoices, quotes, browsing etc while lounging on the couch. Daughter has used it to do some coding for school (they have the same units at her school) as well as other robotics/app creation homework. However the main purpose is media and it’s doing it quite well. Especially impressed with the fact that it does 4K

If it works for you then that's all that matters. I would however not recommend this for somebody that wants a 10 foot ui streaming device. It's a real pita if you want to watch things on streaming apps, plus you have to deal with Windows updates and other things that will require you to have a kb+mouse a lot of times.

 

[Smokey mcpot]

The updates are scheduled to run at night so we never really get them. Unit is always powered on.
Ssd boots up in like 10 seconds.

mini keyboard works wonders, have also got an additional wireless keyboard and mouse for when “work” gets done.

i suppose a dedicated media device would probably be less hassle for someone who wants strictly media, however I found it was slowing down and at times quite buggy needing resets .

 

[DrJohnZoidberg]

The updates are scheduled to run at night so we never really get them. Unit is always powered on.
Ssd boots up in like 10 seconds.

mini keyboard works wonders, have also got an additional wireless keyboard and mouse for when “work” gets done.

i suppose a dedicated media device would probably be less hassle for someone who wants strictly media, however I found it was slowing down and at times quite buggy needing resets .

I've got a HTPC in my entertainment unit (and one of those tiny Bluetooth keyboard and mouse combos) but would always choose to use the Shield or the built in TV apps. Just way easier navigating around with a media remote and having working HDMI CEC, a YouTube app and proper HDR support to name a few. In my use case the HTPC has zero benefits over using the Shield for general media consumption. I'll only fire up the HTPC when i want to play a PC game in the living room.

 

[Smokey mcpot]

Ah exactly like I said, strictly for media it probably would be better for most. I prefer having something with a wider use case than just a media player.

I guess everyone’s needs will come into play when deciding on this.

 

[Zaque]

@nelis if you have a windows pc/ server why not get a Xiaomi Mi Box S, install VLC and add a sharedrive if you are downloading sperate movies anyways using torrents, its a google certified device, that can have DSTV Now, Netflix etc running off of it, you can cast from devices on the same wifi network to play music or share phone

 

[krycor]

Guess im a bit too late but checkout UPnP (universal server? It’s a Java server) that works with UPnP or DLNA. I’ve done this on a few old basic smart TVs where Plex seems a bit unstable.. (new or intensive decode capability not fully supported. Saw this on LG WebOs 2? Old)

Also Plex has this functionality built it which I can try if you want.