Has anyone here bought an adroid tv box from china via aliexpress? At around usd100, you can get a rk3288-based box, typically with 2gb of ram and 8/16gb of expanded memory with an additional up to 32gb of micro-sd card. There is even one with a 5mp camera for skype use, the cs928.

With xbmc now in native android environment, plus tons of free tv channels, can easily replace astro. And if not enough, can always subscribe to paid-tv, if you have good internet service at home.

Hi AVFAN,

I am talking about relatively 'famous' brands like Tronsmart (go ahead and google or youtube search their products). Below are two links from Aliexpress.

http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Tronsmart-O...2047221828.html

The above one at USD99.99 is for 8gb of ROM and 1.8ghz speed of the latest RK3288 SOC.

http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Tronsmart-O...2030288298.html

And this one above is a bit more expensive at USD119.99, but it comes with 16gb of ROM and a faster processor speed of 2.0ghz (same RK3288).

You can find subscription service packages ranging from USD90-120 per year with channels typically found in Astro. So, yes you can possibly replace astro if you don't mind not having the exact same channels available.

http://www.aliexpress.com/item/CS928-Quad-...211319.html?s=p

This one, the CS928 (the older model CS918 is can be found in lelong or mudah, but can be found even cheaper in Aliexpress).

there are quite a few youtube reviews on tronsmart (r28 being the latest, with rk3288 chip), and it appears to be quite widely used. if you search for tronsmart, you can find 2 mentions of the products under the name.

re the subscription iptv packages, i have recently tried out one and it is quite reasonably good, although cannot match the picture quality of astro byond. i am currently arranging to trial another one from china, at usd90 per year. i am looking into getting a proper android box to replace the current one i have (still running on 4.0). Hopefully, on kitkat 4.4.2, i can get rid of the bottom black bar.

i think the price is really good, considering that they are selling this at around usd140-160 in aliexpress.

I think a tv box with marshmallow is important cause can format an external card as internal memory up to 32gb - Lollipop tak boleh.

I am waiting for tv boxes with s912, or even the higher ones with realtek rtd1295 like the zidoo x9s whcih can do direct recording via the 2nd (input) hdmi - currently on pre-order at usd149 in geekbuying.

Beelink GT1 is running 6.0. Not sure if it does ac wifi or not. Some sites say yes, but geekbuying or gearbest doesn't say.

Beelink GT1 is running 6.0. Not sure if it does ac wifi or not. Some sites say yes, but geekbuying or gearbest doesn't say.

wanna ask...what is the expected result from speedtest from my 100mbps time service using this beelink gt1, assuming that it is placed next to the router (dlink dir-850l)?

dont think it has a power on/off button, this gt1

Bro,
Donch like wan lah. Just asking innocent questions nia. I am very curious if the ac wifi is up to scratch if I place the beelink gt1 (using ac wifi) close to the router

Bro,
Donch like that wan lah. Just asking innocent questions nia. I am very curious if the ac wifi is up to scratch if I place the beelink gt1 (using ac wifi) close to the router

please keep us informed about this gt1, i am really interested if i should go for it. wanna know how the ac wifi performs, and if it has any issues handling all the different 4k videos (10bit, hevc, high-bit rate etc). i am considering this box (for its cheap price) vs a rtd1295 box (zidoo x9s or x8, or other boxes using this same soc).