There's a seller, search in FB for Open TV Box, seller is Joyyen, sells a good spec within your budget... my house community has bought more than a dozen from him...

300MB - 1GB sizes... Well, as long as those are not H.265 files... Based on your description, the Mibox 3rd Gen should be sufficient. Granted you understand some Chinese languages and your major concern remains playback of local content and not media streaming thru apps like KODI or Popcorn time, etc. IMO, GPU (handles media codecs, decoding etc) > RAM (fast temporary memory, useful for streaming) > Unified Storage (the more, the merrier... Means more space to cache after RAM, App installs & cache, etc).

May I ask the ROM is for what kind of storage? Why is it important to be large preferably 16 GB?

Could Himedia Q16 or H8 octa or Minix H8 plus play HD content from youtube? I read the thread somewhere saying China tv box can only play 720p, not 1080p?

Is it better to go with Android box rather than linux box like ac ryan? I can't better explanation from Google.

This post has been edited by lateboomer: Feb 18 2016, 08:18 PM

1. The answer is just above your post.
2. I can confirm that YouTube @ 1080p res is achievable on the Minix Neo X8-H Plus through the YouTube app.
3. Different OS, with both having advantages & disadvantages. Simply put, want android apps? Stick with an android box.. Know your way around Linux systems & prefer it? Then get 1. IMO, get a decent android box.

I can confirm Himedia Q16 can do 1080p YouTube with the YouTube app.

Octa H8 should be same.

I think all quad core kitkat 4.4.2 onwards can do.

Older models with dual core, jelly bean may not.

Thank you voncrane and AVFAN for the explanation. I think you said the answer is the top post means ROM is good for caching more data after the RAM.

the rom is partitioned for os, system apps and user apps.

typically, for an 8gb rom, after os/sys apps, there is 5-6 gb left for yr own apps and folders.

a std app is small, but a large app like kodi can take >1gb if u put in a lot of addons.

some apps like popcorntime need anything 1-8gb to capture a 1080p movie.

you can see why a 16gb memory box will be better.

however, if yr broadband is limited, u will probably not use apps like popcorntime.

so, an entry level 1gb/8gb quadcore should be suitable for now.

This post has been edited by AVFAN: Feb 19 2016, 02:27 AM

Thank you for the details. Appreciate that. Anyway, if playing music files wav from external hdisk, the output is via optical, not hdmi or usb audio?

ext hdd, video or music, mp3 or flac or wav, depending on the output available on the device, it can be hdmi, optical, coaxial or l/r stereo. some devices have all 4, some may be just 2.

This post has been edited by AVFAN: Feb 19 2016, 03:17 AM

Hi all, just got myself a Himedia H8.

Problem came.

The playback stutters even the loading of Youtube video is ahead of the playback. Anything wrong with the hardware?

Yeah & in addition as AVFAN explained.. You r welcome...

Try a factory reset. Also what firmware version is it running? Perhaps, it shipped with a buggy firmware and there's an update.

Like to know whether it is really necessary to install anti virus software in Android TV box.

Also lots of virus going round in this TV Box world?

What are the top 2 anti virus software for this?

Thanks.

The setting indicates it's using the latest firmware ... so are you saying that it should playback movie smooth as silk if clips are preloaded? Sorry I'm really new to this and I expect it to function just like any other devices I have.

The Himedia Q16 has gigabit lan port but H8 doesn't have one. Isn't this a critical disadvantage for H8 since for streaming for HD it is better to use gigabit port?

himedia hardware is good, unlikely that's the problem.

try cutting off power, restart.

is yr youtube the web or app version? the latter works better.

what internet speed r u on? ethernet or wifi?

no real need. unless u are using the box for surfing and downloading all kinds of suspicious stuff.

u can find several free anti-virus in playstore.

While there are android viruses out there. It's not really necessary on the TV box as one should be careful while using it. Besides, it's a media player and shouldn't be used as anything else. However, if better safe than sorry applies, then I'd recommend Avast or 360 security.. Grab from the play store.

Well, based on the hardware specs of the HIMEDIA H8 Octa Core alone, it shouldn't have any issues.. Sorry, I can't offer more info as I have not personally experienced the device.

Depends on if one has a gigabit network to take advantage of the hardware.

Noted and thanks. Will try Avast (since you listed that one first!) Ha.

Try install Youtube TV apk.

Since there are so lack of 4k materials and hardware, I think it is not a big miss if skips 4k feature.

So could anyone recommend good tv box with 2 GB ram, 16 GB emmc rom, support trueHD, dtsHD, atmos passthrough, support BDMV, BD-ISO container and all the goodies except 4k feature? Would the price be much cheaper?

This post has been edited by lateboomer: Feb 19 2016, 04:00 PM

I thought u already bought Himedia?

Anyway most boxes with 16gb even some 8gb or lower already has 4K capability.
4K hardwares are getting more common although content are still not much.