Just download an app locking app from Google's Play Store. Any decent box running Android will allow this.

IMHO, get the Amazon Fire TV as its a much better hardware and built by Amazon. However, you do need to know that its a little bit more trickier to install third party apps and configure Kodi on the Fire TV than the other box. But still, better get the Fire TV & learn how. Here's an example, Installing Kodi on the Fire TV. Remember YouTube.

This post has been edited by voncrane: Sep 16 2015, 12:23 AM

Yup... Noticed it these past few days. Tweak firewall here and there, check if being blocked by Antivirus etc.. Nope. It's dead. Hope it's only temporary.

Sorry to be harsh but this question has been answered a lot. If you aren't willing to put in the effort to search and read back a few pages, or seek out howto pages and videos, please stick to Astro as its much easier that way. There's no "easy" means of duplicating what your Astro box and subscription currently does now. Basically, you buy a suitable box, install some choice apps on em, upgrade to much faster internet speed if you haven't already(5 - 10 Mbps minimum), configure said choice apps, hit the play button n relax.

Popcorn app or better, a properly configured KODI installation. Recommended minimum specs include a solid quad core processor, 2GB ram and 16GB ROM. Most importantly, full hardware acceleration & digital multi-channel audio support, solid manufacturer with regular firmware updates n bug fixes...

The delay depends on the source. The right sources stream live, but then a 5 minute delay isn't that long to deal with for practically free streaming.

The Nvidia box is not bad but yeah pricey. Go for it if you can afford it. KODI used to be called XBMC after Microsoft's Xbox... Yes, it sounds complicated but trust us, it's way easier than you think and it only starts with a few steps. I can't say this enough, a properly configured KODI installation on well supported hardware is the best. Today, installation is a breeze. In the past, one had to install KODI via third-party sources (now its in the playstore), run it and manually add sources, repos, addons, tweaks, settings, skins, manually update a playlist.m3u file for live TV, etc...but today, just install via the playstore, add a source, then a repo, navigate to said repo and run a zip file, wait a couple of minutes and ALL the best addons are automatically installed, you do one reboot and voila! It really does not get easier than that (wait, until someone else makes it even easier ). You can even backup and transfer said build across devices, Easy.
Go for the HiMedia if Chinese content and more passthru formats support is absolutely important to you. I have the Minix Neo X8-H Plus and it performs more than satisfactorily. Why? cuz in addition to its stock firmware, its tweaked. Between Minix & Himedia, I'd go for Minix (duh)....

Minix (My take):
Great support, Tweaks, Official Firmware is easy to get & released regularly (OTA updates), partial HD sound passthru support (no DTSHD-MA or 7.1 passthru available yet), Easy to root n unroot, full Android apps support, PS3 controller (confirmed, want wireless? Root box n install sixaxis app) and most well known gamepads are plug and play (root not needed to use wirelessly cuz bluetooth), Minix devs work directly with KODI devs to improve the software on Minix boxes, Gigabit lan, Smooth UI, no lags, no crashes or surprise reboots, etc.

This post has been edited by voncrane: Sep 29 2015, 08:18 PM

Essentially movie files containing HD audio formats such as AC3 / Dolby Digital 5.1, Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 / 7.1, TrueHD 5.1 & 7.1, DTS-HD MA & HR will be decoded and played on the device, however when it comes to passthru and letting your Denon AVR do the decoding, some formats will be down-sampled and sent to the AVR to continue decoding process and audio output. So in this aspect, the HiMedia lords over Minix with more options. However as you wrote, even great 2.0 speakers will output nice sounds, so you should be good. You've got a decent AVR setup, most just play using TV speakers only. I guess full HD audio support is more for cinema rooms and audiophiles.

Dude.. How old is that PC? Its wayyyy over due for an upgrade.... me thinks u better invest in a decent PC first.. Like AVFAN said, once you go TrueHD ............

Specs is okay, Quad-core CPU with 2.9GHz sounds like there's a bottleneck somewhere or perhaps sound card or driver issues? The movie files (23.98 or 24 fps only) are not like playing heavy games on high res where higher fps rates are more desirable. Bro, lets not turn this to PC thread ... Choose between the android boxes for now, then in future can sell off to buy better specs. Sadly there is no perfect box, not even from big Google (Alphabet). Them manufacturers need to continually make profit.

It would help if folks knew what type of box, what "热门电视剧2" means and what led to the suddenness.

A dedicated box? Not to my knowledge. Perhaps you should start your search first in the Play Store and third party app sources for a suitable android app designed with the features you need, obtain the apk file and go test it out on some boxes. Alternatively, you can home-build a karaoke system by installing addons like XBMC Karaoke, Mikey's Karaoke or equivalent in KODI, that might be enough for you. Which means, just buy a box with good KODI, mic and sound support, install and setup the addon. Google is your friend.

This post has been edited by voncrane: Oct 5 2015, 04:20 PM

To be honest.. I wouldn't know as i'm not a karaoke fan... Voice....

As you say, mic support is definitely not on top of majority of media player users or manufacturer's list. Sure, video chat can be held via skype, hangouts etc. Beyond that? Not a major concern. people are more concerned about HD audio and video playback. You are better off buying a dedicated karaoke box and an android box separately. its all about your budget.

Yup... The H.265 codec offers better compression and faster/cheaper delivery over lower bitrates, at an almost 2:1 ratio when compared with previous standards. Very important in this 4K embracing time.

Bro... Please don't get me started about hard disk space. Discovered Yify rips then and was like wow, quality on small size monitor & larger screen... not bad plus very good GB size. Bought a 3TB external HD and thought, no way it'll be filled up so quickly. A year later, I discovered high bitrate Blue-Ray mkv and ISO files with TrueHD sound, needless to say, I'm now forced to thinking of a decent NAS system with minimum 8-12TB capacity for full backups of all media, systems and fast content delivery across devices. Price??...

This post has been edited by voncrane: Oct 6 2015, 06:39 PM

None... Both is crap.. Can't even play 240p .3gp files.. Very slow n laggy, takes 10 minutes just to startup and 15 seconds per remote press to show on screen... Running android 1.6 and no hope of future upgrades.

#Sarcasm...

Sure an ASUS or equivalent router with USB and cloud support will work. Nah, my router stays as my router and should concentrate on doing a great job at that. At most, setup as a makeshift seed-box. Besides, for security, I would avoid hooking up a main backup drive to a router, no matter how much claims the router makes.
*Routers have been known to be hacked or contain malware, they'll easily spread to my drives, corrupt em or worse, have sensitive files uploaded to anywhere.
*RAID support on NAS
*The router will likely keep the hard disks spinning non-stop and external hard disks are not built for 24/7 spinning.
*More security, speed and flexibility.

For now till budget, time n space permits... Plug n play.

What are your preferences and or requirements? Do know that with the RM as is today, a box lower than RM300 will not perform so well. Expect issues or reduce expectations.

This post has been edited by voncrane: Oct 8 2015, 04:13 PM

Hey, I hope you didn't take offense at my previous post as I was joking. About your question, the top range of both boxes can easily handle your requirements above. The real test is finding and maintaining iptv sources. You can either get them on your own and maintain ("free") or you pay some $$ to the numerous third party iptv providers and maintainers out there. Should you go for the latter, be careful as paying for such is well..."illegal" and as such, they can be shutdown at anytime without refunds obviously. Also, make sure the apk file & service is compatible with your chosen box. For Himedia boxes, usually boasts more compatibility with HK media. Personally, I prefer the support and reliability that comes with a Minix product.


Edit: Also see AVFAN's post below..

This post has been edited by voncrane: Oct 8 2015, 07:30 PM

See AVFAN's post... Please read it all the way and fully understand. No android box can realistically duplicate the Astro or Hypptv experience. Can you get it to be close enough or even much better? 100% Yes!!. However, that involves a lot of personal time and effort put into understanding how things work. Else, please simply continue with your Astro subscription. While 5 Mbps is "just" okay, recommended speed is at least 10Mbps or even better 30Mbps. Plus you also mentioned that you need channels for your mum, most older folks really won't want to go through the hassle of switching apps, checking this source, that source and dealing with buffering channels, when with the push of a few buttons on an already familiar interface, get instant channel streams with no buffering. So make it easier for them, keep the Astro subscription.

Very true. I'd rather pay for higher bandwidth and stream than about RM200+ per month extra in addition to broadband costs. Have definitely saved a lot over the years. Some iptv apps like Tvapp, CloudTV, etc do allow easier channels switching. Think about mum ya..

Don't think you need to configure anything as its supposed to be plug and play, the system does the configuring on its own in the background. Works that way on most boxes I've come across. So maybe check the cable is plugged in properly on both ends.

Try CloudTV, u might get lucky... Free streams come and go, not religiously maintained as their premium listings.