TV box/Android TV recommendation

I've had a Skyworth LEAP-S1 for about 6 months. It's been fantastic, but since a couple of months ago it will not contact Google servers to allow me to reconnect my TV to the box for the CEC remote function. Now, in the last few weeks, DSTV app does not work. It says it needs to be updated, so I click update, the app quits, and repeat, in an infinite loop. Sky News app no longer works despite latest update. It seems the older Android 10 OS is failing as it's no longer updated.

I suppose that's what you get with these cheap boxes. Not that this is one of the REALLY cheap ones. I wouldn't touch one for R500 on Takealot.
 
Ted76 said:
@epah Where do you see an Apple TV HD for R1000?
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@epah is an Apple Acolyte, and would rather you watch 720 resolution and use an Apple TV version that is well past it's useby date, than buy a Android device and watch at 4K resolution. :)

A Mi-Box S 2nd Generation, a Netogy Nova, would be good starting points, otherwise a Fire TV device, then you get the very dear Apple TV, and Shield TV terrortery
 
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Mi-box 2nd gen has no ethernet port. BIG fail. I might consider the Netogy box, again, although tried this before the current Skyworth box and had the same repeated setup issues with the Nova, despite trying several times. Returned it & got the Skyworth as it also has an ethernet port.

I believe the Ematic box has an ethernet port, has anyone got one and had an update from Android 9? A9 is old now. Android 12 is out, I've had many app updates to the Skyworth, but never an OS update.
 
elf_lord_ZC5 said:
@epah is an Apple Acolyte, and would rather you watch 720 resolution and use an Apple TV version that is well past it's useby date, than buy a Android device and watch at 4K resolution. :)

A Mi-Box S 2nd Generation, a Netogy Nova, would be good starting points, otherwise a Fire TV device, then you get the very dear Apple TV, and Shield TV terrortery
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720p resolution on an Apple TV will be better than any 4K resolution from any android device. So you are right.
 
I just got the Netogy Nova after a lifetime of mini pc’s (NUC, ThinkCentre, etc). R1300 takealot, same day collection.

It’s awesome. It’s fast and I can still use Kodi + Kodi remote, except I can now decode high bitrate 4K HDR, which I couldn’t do before.
 
Any Xiaomi product or Chromecast with Google TV.

Does Apple TV do IPTV apps?
 
joshuatree said:
Any Xiaomi product or Chromecast with Google TV.

Does Apple TV do IPTV apps?
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From comments elsewhere, yes there are IPTV apps, but, it would appear that are not as good as thise available on Android, where it seems Tivimate is regarded as the best, by those who "care"
 
Skyworth or Ematic or Mibox? Any recommendations for streaming? My old model Mibox is getting long toothed.
 
dabbler said:
Skyworth or Ematic or Mibox? Any recommendations for streaming? My old model Mibox is getting long toothed.
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Dunno, Mi-Box S 2, is better hardware. Very happy with the 2x Original Mi-Boxes, I have and friends are happy with the Mi-Box S, don't have or know any one with the new S 2 box. My feeling is that the Skyworth and Emantic are too close to the original Mi-Box hardware wise.
 
_kabal_ said:
I just got the Netogy Nova after a lifetime of mini pc’s (NUC, ThinkCentre, etc). R1300 takealot, same day collection.

It’s awesome. It’s fast and I can still use Kodi + Kodi remote, except I can now decode high bitrate 4K HDR, which I couldn’t do before.
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It's sad that people on the forum and elsewhere still recommend mini PCs for this role.
There isn't really a comparison, these pre-built devices are better in every way and cost far less.

Internet browsing is the only thing I've still heard people say, but who the hell browses the internet on their TV is beyond me.
 
Ted76 said:
Mi-box 2nd gen has no ethernet port. BIG fail. I might consider the Netogy box, again, although tried this before the current Skyworth box and had the same repeated setup issues with the Nova, despite trying several times. Returned it & got the Skyworth as it also has an ethernet port.

I believe the Ematic box has an ethernet port, has anyone got one and had an update from Android 9? A9 is old now. Android 12 is out, I've had many app updates to the Skyworth, but never an OS update.
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i had the Mecool KM2 which is the Skyworth Leap S1 by a different brand name (its identical in everything besides the branding and naming) and i can tell you that the Netogy Nova is streets ahead in terms of performance and picture quality and has more modern functionality due to its features and it plays way more local file formats when used as a media player for local content ..... the streaming stuff will be around a "much of a muchness" with whichever box you use

the Nova sometimes complains and fusses when you first get it but after a few repeated attempts and using the original ancillaries (power supply and HDMI cable that comes with it) you can then set it up to work for as long as it lasts
 
dabbler said:
Skyworth or Ematic or Mibox? Any recommendations for streaming? My old model Mibox is getting long toothed.
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Those are all pretty old boxes

The Netogy Nova or Mi Box 2nd generation are the ones to look at now

The Mi Box 2nd generation will be a tiny bit faster than the Nova - though hardly noticable. It will - however - have Dolby Atmos & Dolby Vision support, a well use Google TV as an interface.
The Netogy Nova has 16GB Storage, an Ethernet port and an extra USB port (2 in total) and microSD slot. It runs Android TV 11
 
dabbler said:
Skyworth or Ematic or Mibox? Any recommendations for streaming? My old model Mibox is getting long toothed.
Click to expand...

i used to recommend the Ematic out of all those since it was basically a Mi Box S that had the ethernet port as well same CPU and GPU - the Skyworth had a newer GPU

BUT

now the Netogy Nova and Mibox S 2nd gen are the ones i would recommend - i had a Nova which broke and i replaced it with a mi Box 2nd Gen but i still want some of the features that the Nova had so i'm going to get another Nova soon because for me the perfect scenario is having both of those (the nova just has better looking video quality but the Mi Box 2nd gen plays some files that the Nova cannot and the Mi box 2nd gen also gives you Atmos as well as proven DV playback (thats Dolby Vision)

the older boxes will not give you any of the following format capability ..... AV1, HDR10+, DV and Atmos Audio - so i reckon just chose between the Mi Box S 2nd Gen and Nova - those are currently the two most up to date boxes available in SA for cheap (between R1k and R1.3k)

OR

the Nvidia Shield Pro if you can afford to spend that much (its close to twice the amount of an Apple TV which is generally more than twice the Mi Box S and Nova) - the Apple TV will also give you DV and HDR10+ as well as Atmos capabilities but both the Apple TV 4k and shield might not give you AV1 codec support ..... the shield gives you everything as well as more ram and storage for your money but the shield and Apple TV 4k are really IMHO higher end devices more suited to the guys with huge A/V setups with 12 channel AVRs and 12.1 channel Atmos speakers, but to go big you have to spend big ..... while the Nova and Mi Box are great to use for a year or two and then to upgrade to newer more modern cheap devices as time passes
 
Gnome said:
It's sad that people on the forum and elsewhere still recommend mini PCs for this role.
There isn't really a comparison, these pre-built devices are better in every way and cost far less.

Internet browsing is the only thing I've still heard people say, but who the hell browses the internet on their TV is beyond me.
Click to expand...

mini PCs stopped making sense when 4k ultraHD came about because most mini PCs either use onchip GPUs or if they have slots then those are low profile and currently there are no low profile graphics card that can do ultra-HD (maybe there are one or two but those will cost as much as the PC if not more than the PC)

why mini PCs made sense in the past in the full HD days - you could add extra ram or a stronger CPU for stability and you could use the strongest GPU that featured all the capability you required so it had a fair amount of upgrade ability whereas when UltraHD was launched the mini PC became a moot point in the debate pretty quickly - besides now you can get the UltraHD playback capability starting at around R500 for a cheapie android box and the mini PCs that match that playback capability will start closer to R6k+
 
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