Haha... That's a lot of media players. I used to have the Noontec A9, sold it off after getting the X7. I know its a dream la to think about purchasing that one box that rules them all, but got to hope right... Media players are just like other forms of technology, manufacturers can't bring themselves to design the very best cuz after then, there's nthg to sell, equals no growing profit. Quite ambitious of you for hoping to hang on to your current box for the next 2 years I don't think i can..
Hey, if approached what features would you want in the "ultimate" media player?

This post has been edited by voncrane: Aug 15 2014, 08:28 PM

Realtek ARMbase player coming soon.

i hv 3 spots to play with these toys, that's why so many players!
2 yrs is possible becos my needs are good now, unlikely to change so quickly.
moreover, need to budget for new pc n maybe 4k tv as existing may kaput anytime now.
the androids do a good job with online stuff incl xbmc and chinese content incl hd.
the bd players are reserved for bds only, limited collection, though.
the media players are dedicated to higher quality media files incl iso/bdmv; ac ryan does a better job than the himedia androids for video and audio quality for my home theaters.

i need to be convinced if the next gen of androids will be better in terms of video/audio output quality and streaming capability. some people say quad core is better than dual core, i hv yet to see that. n will explore if it's the android or router or something else the reason i can't samba iso/bmdv dtshdma via wifi well, while 1080p dts is fine.

This post has been edited by AVFAN: Aug 15 2014, 09:34 PM

Spot on. Unless a pal comes over and takes my current box off me, I intend to stick to it till a truly worthwhile upgrade shows up.

ya, no need to rush. be it quad core or octo core!

the thing is with so many roadblocks in country laws, copyrights, powerful biz lobbyists, sea cables, isp providers and regulators, i actually fear we may be having the best right now. progress in future technology may be completely negated by regress in new regulations - as far as a user is concerned.

i say that becos i can now get 1080p (called "super hd" in china) streams smoothly from both xbmc and china sites. i'll just be happy if they dun cut me off!

This post has been edited by AVFAN: Aug 17 2014, 06:59 PM

Dear all tai kor,

I plan to buy an android tv box, but totally noob on this.

Can recommend any good model to me?...

sellers will sell u anything.

users can suggest only if u provide:

.. wat broadband u hv
.. wat u want - movies, tv shows, live tv, news, sports, documentaries, cartoons...
.. wat u want - chinese, english, korean, japanese, malay, french... eng with chinese subs, chinese with eng subs, korean with jap subs...?
.. willing to pay a small monthly subscription?
.. got time to muck around and learn wat the device can and cannot do or need someone to set all for u?
.. want usb playback for hd video, 3d video, dtshdma audio or ok with tv audio?
** hv u read n understood all of this thread n the links given?

** "i want all of it" can't do
** "i want all astro hv" can't do
** "i just want to "click n click" like dvd player or astro decoder - can't do


This post has been edited by AVFAN: Aug 17 2014, 07:54 PM

yea, if i`m afraid they simply sell to me (which usually happens)

-using 8mbps Time Fibre
-i want movies, korean drama, tvb, sports, documentaries, cartoons.
-everything with eng subs.
-hd enough, my tv no 3d function.

sorry just read a lil but sound complicated already, i thought can buy already then easier to learn

This post has been edited by AVFAN: Aug 17 2014, 08:45 PM

Since totally noob, please read first before buy, if buy first and device don't work up to expectation? There are tons of howto videos and others reviewing different android boxes on youtube. A bit difficult to just recommend one particular box as earlier posts will tell you.

Here we go again...

This post has been edited by voncrane: Aug 17 2014, 09:58 PM

i'll copy n paste next time.

minix neo x7 look cool. still doing some comparison for x7 n himedia Q6II.
any of u guys own these 2 devices ?

so mean la you all

no easy to use tv box meh..

i am familiar with himedia but nothing about minix.

q6ii or q5ii or q16, pretty much work the same way except memory or color of box.
i use a lot of the built in chinese apps for mandarin movies n tv series.
xbmc was not all smooth but became ok with gotham 13.1.
usb playback is ok, video, audio, subs, formats incl 3d, dtshdma good enough.
samba file sharing thru wifi is easy for android to android or pc to android.
besides q6ii, think u can explore a bit of q16 and the new q5iii quad core.

if u r not going to use mandarin features, himedia may not have anything extra to offer.

This post has been edited by AVFAN: Aug 19 2014, 03:20 PM

actually, just trying to tell u that it is not plug n play like dvd player or astro.
if the seller is patient, most of what u want will be properly installed, u get answers when u ask questions.
if not, it can be nightmare to diy all by yrself as a noob.

if u hv a fren who has one of these boxes (better still if same box) and willing to assist, that will be very helpful.

Minix Neo X7 user here. Feel free to ask performance related questions. However, better you check out the updated Neo X8-H with Amlogic S802-H CPU, rather than X7's Rockchip version for future proofing..etc.

i am interested with the product.

currently i am having unifi 5mbps. can i use minix to watch other local channels such as tv1, tv2, tv3, al hijrah etc?

for minix, what channels does it comes with?

most important is can i use minix to watch movies (MKV filetype) that i downloaded and save in my external hd? can it run youtube?

hope you can share your experience. thanks.

is this xbmc is something like a centralized server where u click what u wanna see? it's not like those iptv services right + u need to pay for it?

xbmc is an open source code center, foc.
by itself, it is just a shell architecture, not very useful.
u need to do a bit of work to install addons and plugins to get good stuff.
at the least, u get youtube n news like cnn, al jazeera and some others.
at the most, u get hd movies, tv series and live sports.
mostly in english.

read:
https://forum.lowyat.net/topic/3139601

Okay, need to understand that the x7 and possibly all minix boxes are not your typical "chinese" boxes that are sold with IPTV services. Its just a "vanilla-type" android firmware loaded on a hardware and customized to hook up to your tv. Now to directly answer your questions.
*VIP5 is enough as its what i've been using but i'm contemplating upgrading to VIP10 or higher for faster downloads.
* Yes it plays .mkv files stored locally on the box or off a flash or external hard drive.
*Doesn't come with any channels but you can install subscription based apps like Netflix, Hulu, and IPTV apks like CloudTV, IDST Monster Pro etc. There are free android apps in the Google Playstore that you can also install to watch local and some international channels but expect poor pq as those apps were designed for the smaller screen size of a mobile phone and not your TV.
*I personally use and prefer XBMC for watching pretty much everything including live local and international TV. Using a customized m3u list that XBMC reads at start up to stream live TV (around 480P & above res) including TV1 - TV9, TVi, 1News, Muzik Aktif, RTM Parliamen, Discovery channel HD, Aljazeera HD, CNN HD, BBC News HD, Animal Channel HD, Travel Channel, Nat Geo... etc.
*The X7 runs YouTube. I prefer using the XBMC YouTube app instead of the default Google released YouTube app for watching YouTube videos, cuz it lists and displays videos better and I can set the addon to stream 720P/1080P (when available) by default.