The Droid TV thread

Yotch said:
@Megandroid: I have a very similar keyboard as well as the T2 air mouse and I am going to be packing away the keyboard. It works fine but it's not nearly as easy to use as the mouse. Android is designed for touchscreen phones and an air mouse seems to be the best substitute on a TV screen. You can swipe up and down or left and right along a page of movie icons by moving the mouse through the air while holding down the OK key. To achieve the same effect on the MK-02 you need to depress the left mouse button while simultaneously dragging L/R/U/D across the touch pad. You can do everything with the air mouse using one hand while you definitely need two on the keyboard. To change the volume on the air mouse you just move your thumb to the volume up or down button. On the mini keyboard you need to first press Fn + F5 or F4 (try doing that with one hand!). Android has a very intuitive onscreen keyboard which can be operated while watching the screen using the mouse. On the mini keyboard you will probably need to first find the correct key by looking at the mouse and then confirm that you have entered the correct character by looking at the screen.

Here is a video which shows the T2 air mouse in action ...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QWpPBzDw3rk
See the third Amazon review from another G-Box MX2 user ...
http://www.amazon.com/2-4GHz-Remote...=UTF8&qid=1405519635&sr=8-4&keywords=T2+mouse

Here is another option if you really want the keyboard part ...
http://mybroadband.co.za/vb/showthread.php/596959-Mele-F10-pro-remote-(with-keyboard)-review

EDIT: This Bluetooth receiver apparently works with the MX2 so a keyboard might also ...
http://www.gboxcanada.com/#!g-box-midnight-bluetooth-dongle/c1icn/c1q3/image2jp
Click to expand...

@Yotch Thanks for the valuable input. I couldn't really make up my mind whether to go with a keyboard/trackpad option or the T2 type airmouse option. Maybe the Mele F10 pro be a better option. Wouldn't that give me the best of both worlds? I think I saw a review somewhere on this forum about the Mele.
 
If you compare the hardware specifications of the M8 with the DroidTV MX, the M8 has 2GB Ram vs 1GB and dual WiFi (2.4 and 5GHz) as well as a faster quad core processor with a better graphics processor but only 2 USB 2.0 ports. From a purely hardware perspective it is a better buy. It is a recently launched product so the firmware may not yet be as stable as that of the DroidTV MX. Here is a recent video of an M8 which is probably very similar to the one from AVSupply.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vw--cBwO_fI
 
Yotch said:
It is a recently launched product so the firmware may not yet be as stable as that of the DroidTV MX
Click to expand...

I finally cheated on my DroidTV MX (:love:) and played with the M8 the last few days

Good news - the firmware is stable and fast
 
@AVS: Good to know! Is the faster processing speed noticeable when using something like XBMC?
 
AVSupply said:
Yes, faster and with a 1080p XBMC interface. There are still slowdowns when it's updating addons, etc. but it's very slight
Click to expand...
What's the likelihood of these boxes running the android TV software when it's released?
 
Magandroid said:
@Yotch Thanks for the valuable input. I couldn't really make up my mind whether to go with a keyboard/trackpad option or the T2 type airmouse option. Maybe the Mele F10 pro be a better option. Wouldn't that give me the best of both worlds? I think I saw a review somewhere on this forum about the Mele.
Click to expand...

@Magandroid: I really like the T2 air mouse. It has the kind of design ergonomics that you would expect from Apple or Logitech. All the keys work straight out of the box with the DroidTV MX without any user configuration (Volume Up/Down, Arrows, Back, Menu, Home, Mouse On/Off, Pg Up/Down, Mute, etc. I haven't tested it against any of the combination air mouse/keyboards such as the MX3 or the Mele F10 Pro but it really works seamlessly with the DroidTV MX in my opinion. You need a much larger remote to incorporate a full qwerty keyboard. I don't really find it difficult to use the onscreen android keyboard with the T2 mouse but you may feel otherwise. The use of external bluetooth keyboards with tablets and cell phones seems to be dwindling.

Android onscreen keyboard ...
http://mybroadband.co.za/photos/showfull.php?photo=35853
MX3 air mouse/keyboard
http://www.avsupply.co.za/product_info.php/mx3-gyroscopic-mouse-keyboard-remote-p-637

Various reviews of the T2 air mouse, MX3 and the Mele F10 Pro which may help you decide ...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s_JPZk3mvh0
http://mybroadband.co.za/vb/showthread.php/596959-Mele-F10-pro-remote-(with-keyboard)-review
http://www.amazon.com/Aerb-Multifunction-Wireless-Keyboard-3-Gsensor/dp/B00K768DHY/ref=cm_cr_pr_pb_t
http://www.amazon.com/Mele-F10-PRO-...8&qid=1406076740&sr=1-1&keywords=Mele+F10+Pro
 
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@Swift-wp: Google hasn't had a lot of success with Google TV so far so it remains to be seen what kind of impact Android TV will have. You will definitely get your money's worth from one of these android media players like the DroidTV or the M8. I have had my unit for around 6 weeks and I have been able to stream a lot of shows that are unavailable on Netflix or Hulu Plus. Over the next year I am sure that I will get at least R100 per month's worth of value out of this device and justify the initial outlay.
 
@yotch if you were to buy again would u go DroidTV MX or m8?
I'm not clued up on these things so what is the purpose of a better GPU/CPU? Are there some files/hd stuffthat the DroidTV struggles with?
What is the purpose of optical out?
 
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So I've installed Openelec on my DroidTV since my wife didn't want to deal with launchers and the like and I must say it's working great. Also has native 1080p playback and uses very little resources.
 
neoassasin said:
So I've installed Openelec on my DroidTV since my wife didn't want to deal with launchers and the like and I must say it's working great. Also has native 1080p playback and uses very little resources.
Click to expand...

Nice :)

Did you install 4.0.7?
 
@silkman: The M8 is a faster and more capable device than the DroidTV MX. If you can stretch your budget to cover the extra R300 it is probably the best option from a hardware point of view. You get an additional 1GB of Ram (market price ~R100), dual band WiFi (2.4GHz and 5GHz) (+R100?), Bluetooth support (+R50?) as well as a faster processor/graphics hardware on the M8. The M8 is better equipped to play back 1080p content since it should be capable of higher frame rates (smoother motion etc.). If you want to save a bit, the DroidTV MX is still a really useful media player. I currently own an Egreat R6A-II media player which is very similar to the Mede8er 500X2 and the DroidTV MX is a much more powerful device. I am aiming towards getting roughly R100's worth of value from the DroidTV each month over the next year which shouldn't be very difficult. Earlier tonight I streamed some CNN, watched a downloaded movie and listened to some downloaded music on the DroidTV.

Here are two videos which really show off the graphic capabilities of the M8. The first shows online streaming of a 1080p 3D movie and the second a 4K downloaded clip. Most i7 laptops without additional graphics hardware would struggle with the 4K playback!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=euIyyipiFQs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ebUQ8hYX4Fc

I have only tested a few mkv, mp4 and avi video files so far but I haven't found anything that hasn't played. There are many different apps that you could try if you run into any problems with the preloaded ones which is probably very unlikely.

The optical output is for surround sound. I don't have a need for this feature but have been very happy so far with the sound quality from my internal TV speakers.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TOSLINK
http://www.cnet.com/news/hdmi-vs-optical-which-digital-audio-connection-to-use/

You should get a lot of value out of either machine. If you have any problems AVSupply always does his best to assist.
 
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Amlogic S802 has finally put Android TV boxes in a decent position, performance-wise. I'm really stoked with this generation of devices
 
Yotch said:
@silkman: The M8 is a faster and more capable device than the DroidTV MX. If you can stretch your budget to cover the extra R300 it is probably the best option from a hardware point of view. You get an additional 1GB of Ram (market price ~R100), dual band WiFi (2.4GHz and 5GHz) (+R100?), Bluetooth support (+R50?) as well as a faster processor/graphics hardware on the M8. The M8 is better equipped to play back 1080p content since it should be capable of higher frame rates (smoother motion etc.). If you want to save a bit, the DroidTV MX is still a really useful media player. I currently own an Egreat R6A-II media player which is very similar to the Mede8er 500X2 and the DroidTV MX is a much more powerful device. I am aiming towards getting roughly R100's worth of value from the DroidTV each month over the next year which shouldn't be very difficult. Earlier tonight I streamed some CNN, watched a downloaded movie and listened to some downloaded music on the DroidTV.

Here are two videos which really show off the graphic capabilities of the M8. The first shows online streaming of a 1080p 3D movie and the second a 4K downloaded clip. Most i7 laptops without additional graphics hardware would struggle with the 4K playback!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=euIyyipiFQs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ebUQ8hYX4Fc

I have only tested a few mkv, mp4 and avi video files so far but I haven't found anything that hasn't played. There are many different apps that you could try if you run into any problems with the preloaded ones which is probably very unlikely.

The optical output is for surround sound. I don't have a need for this feature but have been very happy so far with the sound quality from my internal TV speakers.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TOSLINK
http://www.cnet.com/news/hdmi-vs-optical-which-digital-audio-connection-to-use/

You should get a lot of value out of either machine. If you have any problems AVSupply always does his best to assist.
Click to expand...

Thanks Bro- so to clarify - if I'm setting up a projector with surround sound, the Droid will not be capable of surround sound cos there's no optical out? Or will the receiver handle the surround sound?
Also If I needed more than 2 USB ports will I be able to use a USB hub with the M8?
Thanks again for the help
 
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