So I'm gonna be a little general right here.
I'm a Minix U1 user and I love that box, smooth and can fulfill my needs.

I have several places we rent out for homestays and guests often request for cable TV. The minix U1 can sometime be a little complicated especially to aunties and uncles.

Is there anything out there which is very simple to use like Astro-like and require minimum tweak to get it going?

I'm a bit tech savvy myself so updating firmward once awhile is no issue at all.