DroidTV MX or Roku?

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jacksback

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Hey guys

I'm in the market for a new "smart" media player and have been deciding between the Roku and DroidTV MX

I'm pretty new to all the IPTV services but love XBMC and see that the DroidTV supports it plus Hulu, Netflix and a whole bunch of other things

Has anyone got one and how does it compare to the Roku?

The DroidTV is available locally for R1300 so is about the same price as the Roku after import duties, etc

Thanks
 
The Roku isn't a "smart" media player. It is more of a dedicated streamer. It doesn't have a web browser and only supports a few different media file formats. Roku keeps a tight control over what content is available for the device. You can't easily add any new TV stream you want - all channels in the Roku store are screened for possible copyright infringement. If you want the best possible Netflix, Hulu Plus or Amazon Prime experience then the Roku is a good choice. The Roku is ideal in a family environment as it is very stable, intuitive and user friendly.

The DroidTV is an android based HTPC with a proper web browser, flash, XBMC, comprehensive media support etc. You should be able to purchase it from one of the Chinese web sites for less than R1000. If you want more than just Netflix, Hulu Plus or Amazon Prime then this might be a better choice but it may require considerable effort to get the device to work as desired. You may need to do multiple firmware upgrades or software configurations. This is probably not an ideal solution in a family environment as it may require some skill to operate it effectively.
http://www.aliexpress.com/item/2013...26-MX-Dual-core-1-5GHz-1GB-RAM/843901171.html
http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Andr...id-TV-Box-T9-Amlogic-8726-MX-1/993606416.html
 
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Thanks Yotch

I don't like "tight control" of any product I own so I'm now leaning more towards the Android box. Thanks for the links but I prefer buying local to save on having to return the item to China if it's faulty

I'm very comfortable with Android and media players in general so firmware upgrades shouldn't be a challenge when/if needed

I'll report back here once I've made a decision

Thanks again for the detailed and informative reply
 
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Yotch said:
The Roku isn't a "smart" media player. It is more of a dedicated streamer. It doesn't have a web browser and only supports a few different media file formats. Roku keeps a tight control over what content is available for the device. You can't easily add any new TV stream you want - all channels in the Roku store are screened for possible copyright infringement. If you want the best possible Netflix, Hulu Plus or Amazon Prime experience then the Roku is a good choice. The Roku is ideal in a family environment as it is very stable, intuitive and user friendly.

The DroidTV is an android based HTPC with a proper web browser, flash, XBMC, comprehensive media support etc. You should be able to purchase it from one of the Chinese web sites for less than R1000. If you want more than just Netflix, Hulu Plus or Amazon Prime then this might be a better choice but it may require considerable effort to get the device to work as desired. You may need to do multiple firmware upgrades or software configurations. This is probably not an ideal solution in a family environment as it may require some skill to operate it effectively.
http://www.aliexpress.com/item/2013...26-MX-Dual-core-1-5GHz-1GB-RAM/843901171.html
http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Andr...id-TV-Box-T9-Amlogic-8726-MX-1/993606416.html
Click to expand...

What channels would you want to add that Roku won't allow?
 
Where are you getting it from locally? It looks like a really nice machine.
 
marine1 said:
What channels would you want to add that Roku won't allow?
Click to expand...
Some of the channels in the link below would be nice. There is a very roundabout way to add your own private channels to the Roku but the manufacturer seems to be trying to prevent even YouTube access. Some of the most popular Roku channels like Livestation, WhereverTV, Mummybox etc have been discontinued due to licensing issues as a result of new cable operators using the platform.
www.fengyunzhibo.com/space/japan.htm
 
Quick update

Collected the MX and remote yesterday afternoon, first impressions "Very nice!"

Have a very busy weekend planned so didn't have that much time to test it but quickly installed some live wallpapers (which look really cool), downloaded the angry birds game and played around with XBMC. Angry birds looks awesome on my 32" Sony and the gyroscope mouse works very well. I connected XBMC to my server via a samba share and streamed my 1:1 Blu-ray copy of Avatar (36GB), which played perfectly (Yes, I own the Blu-Ray :)). Skipping forward stutters for a second or two before the movie catches up and continues to play normally

I don't have user accounts for most of the available IPTV services so couldn't test streaming anything. Launching Hulu+, Netflix, Youtube and some of the other included XBMC plugins was very quick on the MX

Not sure if the batteries I used need replacing because the included MX remote wasn't as responsive as I would have liked, might just be that it needs to be used more (broken in). I'll test with new batteries soon

Very happy with my purchase but the real test for me is movie thumbnails and navigation speed in XBMC. Hopefully the AEON or ACE skin works well on the MX
 
Barfish88 said:
Watched the review here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GvqIEM7OFRk is it the same?
Click to expand...

Hi Barfish88

Sorry, had a hectic weekend, will post a review in the next few days

Regarding the youtube link you sent, no, that's the older version. Mine is a Dual Core 1.5Ghz with 8GB of internal storage. Look for a video review of the Gbox MX2, it's identical hardware

Oh and one thing to update on, I gave a quick demo to some friends and streamed a full HD movie wirelessly and it worked perfectly :) I was only a few metres away from my router but it's still impressive
 
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Another quick update

I installed the Ace skin and imported my rather large digital library. Was a bit worried about it being laggy and to my surpirse it isn't! The ACE skin on the MX is very fast to navigate and I'm actually very impressed how it is able to quickly update my media wall as I navigate through it. I use the "wall" view which displays about 30 covers on every page and paging down takes about a second or two to update. I use "banner" view for my TV-Shows and didn't notice any delay at all.

Updating the library and addons on startup does have a slight impact on navigation but I'm still very impressed when comparing the MX to my old Core i3 HTPC with 4GB of RAM.

Also tested streaming a youtube movie and it looked fantastic!

Issues

- XBMC sometimes hangs on exit (known issue to be addressed in next firmware update). Pressing the HOME button immediately closes XBMC so all good.

- The remote responsiveness could be better, it almost feels like the buttons are too big for the pressure sensors (Not really an issue for me because I plan on using the gyroscopic mouse for games and harmony remote for XBMC navigation). Don't get me wrong the original remote works, I'm just used to better quality remotes having used Harmonys for some time

- No info button on the remote, hopefully I can add one with my harmony. Failing that, I'll try a USB media centre remote

- Too many addons (more of an annoyance than an issue). On first boot I had multiple popups as addons updated and did their thing. Ended up disabling all updates and notifications and will look for an easy way to remove the addons and repositories I don't want

If I get some time, I'll try and upload a video of the MX in action
 
Hey guys

Made a quick demo video using my phone (excuse the quality)

[video=youtube;kg5GSmB8Dvg]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kg5GSmB8Dvg&feature=youtu.be[/video]
 
Barfish88 said:
Jack you still finding the remote laggy?
Click to expand...

Hey Barfish88,

It's not really laggy, more like it skips a press every now and then

I used the remote the whole time I filmed the demo so it does work fine
 
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Is the video playback in XBMC fine? I have been reading comments on other forums that the audio is delayed?
 
I believe there was an issue with earlier versions of XBMC. I'm running the latest version and haven't noticed any audio delay at all

Wirelessly streamed some HD episodes of "Under The Dome" last night and the sound was spot on (in sync)
 
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