[gregory_choo]

windwaver wrote:

Most boxes with these specs in Qoo10 are over $100. You need to select the box and additional cost will be added to base price; cannot just see base price.

lazada has better offers for android tv box.

However, I think it is a waste of money to get TV boxes with 3GB or more RAM, because the tv apps are not making use of RAM higher than 1.5GB.

3/4GB box is targeted for gamers.

[windwaver]

gregory_choo wrote:

lazada has better offers for android tv box.

However, I think it is a waste of money to get TV boxes with 3GB or more RAM, because the tv apps are not making use of RAM higher than 1.5GB.

3/4GB box is targeted for gamers.

Yeah, the 2/16GB Starhub box is sufficient but buying the same box for $50 is impossible.

[swathe]

windwaver wrote:

Yeah, the 2/16GB Starhub box is sufficient but buying the same box for $50 is impossible.

Buying a box below $199 is possible, inclusive of 6 months subscription to Netflix HD yet with change.. Starhub box is not $50 for goodness sake.

[xiaofan]

It is more cost effective to buy from Taotao and AliExpress then. I bought three boxes recently and all three of them run Android adequately and the two Amligic based devices run Arminian Linux pretty well as well. Heat may be a problem for long term reliability— a small USB fan will help a lot here.

The three boxes I have:
Amlogic S905W 2GB/16GB : X96 Mini, about S$40, no brand, Tanix TX3 Mini is of similar price or only slightly higher but may have better build quality. There are many other brand as well. Due to heat dissipation concerns the device may output only 720p even though some versions of the firmware can support 1080p.

Amlogic S912 3GB/32GB: no brand H96 Pro+, about S$75, better performance than S905W and RK3288. Gigabit Ethernet. There are a few better brand device which are a bit more expensive like Mecool M8S Pro L, Tanix TX9, Sunwell T95Z Plus, etc.
2GB/16GB versions are usually available as well at about S$55 or S$60 for no-brand boxes and a bit more expensive for branded device.

Rockchip RK3328 4GB/64GB with air mouse, H96 Max Plus, about S$80. This has USB3.0 but no gigabit Ethernet. There are better device as well with Gigabit Ethernet. But I think this is not worth buying compared to S912 based device.

Brand like Zidoo and Beelink are a bit pricey.

[dryteletubby]

I think most people here will be better suited with the mi box or Nvidia shield. If they want a hacker device, they can buy a seperate single board computer.

[xiaofan]

The Singapore Android TV box Facebook group is pretty good. No matter which box people buy (Mi Box International Version included), it is good to join the group.

In reality, Android TV sorted out some issues like high resolution YouTube and Netflix— still the use cases for people here is quite diverse with many people like to have access to Asian entertainment stuff where you may need to pay for VPN or need to use many apps which are of dubious nature. That is why people here still buying those “scam” device from local vendors.

For myself, I am paying for SingTel TV, mainly for my kids. I have older version of ChromCast and Apple TV 3rd gen. YouTube is in fact good enough for my own need for entertainment and learning use.

[xiaofan]

As for hacker device, SBCs like Raspberry Pi’s and those SBCs like Nano Pi and Orange Pi are in general better — still the Android TV boxes are of better look and are cheaper.

[dryteletubby]

xiaofan wrote:

As for hacker device, SBCs like Raspberry Pi’s and those SBCs like Nano Pi and Orange Pi are in general better — still the Android TV boxes are of better look and are cheaper.

Most SBCs come with interfaces and ports like m.2, sata, camera, gpio etc. Also a orange pi one retails for under $20 with Armbian support. Can't get a TV box for that price.

[funky05]

CPU Allwinner_H3 Quad-core Cortex-A7 CPU, 1.2GHz
GPU ARM Mali-400MP2 GPU @ 600MHz
Memory DDRIII 1GB
Nand Flash Nand Flash 8GB
Android 7.0

Is this mx pro okay? $100.. beginner Android box buyer

[xiaofan]

Allwinner H3 is very outdated for TV boxes now even though recently there are some newer Android 7.1 versions based boxes. Price should be about S$20 for 1GB/8GB and S$30 for 2GB/16GB based on Taobao (generic R69 box). Paying S$100 is crazy.

[gregory_choo]

windwaver wrote:

Yeah, the 2/16GB Starhub box is sufficient but buying the same box for $50 is impossible.

you can get mibox international version from shopee at less than $70.

the hardware build is solid because it is from xiaomi, software is from google. using google's android tv os without modification.

i.e. almost the same as the starhub box which costs $199.

[gregory_choo]

funky05 wrote:

CPU Allwinner_H3 Quad-core Cortex-A7 CPU, 1.2GHz
GPU ARM Mali-400MP2 GPU @ 600MHz
Memory DDRIII 1GB
Nand Flash Nand Flash 8GB
Android 7.0

Is this mx pro okay? $100.. beginner Android box buyer

1GB RAM is too little. You need to the get 2GB.

[xiaofan]

dryteletubby wrote:

Most SBCs come with interfaces and ports like m.2, sata, camera, gpio etc. Also a orange pi one retails for under $20 with Armbian support. Can't get a TV box for that price.

I am talking about same CPU/memory configuration here. And TV box is for people who do not quite care for the GPIO use cases. In fact I am trying them as a generic Linux desktop and the S912 3GB/32GB device is pretty good running Armbian Linux with the legacy Android kernel. My use case may be a bit simple— to test open source projects like libusb/libftdi/openocd/hidapi/etc.

But I get your point and in fact I bought quite a few Orange Pi boards recently. The price is now a bit higher due to higher MLCC capacitor price and resistor price but yes it is around S$30 for the Orange Pi PC (H3) and S$40 for the Orange Pi PC2 (H5)

[xiaofan]

gregory_choo wrote:

you can get mibox international version from shopee at less than $70.

the hardware build is solid because it is from xiaomi, software is from google. using google's android tv os without modification.

i.e. almost the same as the starhub box which costs $199.

S$70 seems to be a very good price. Most of the websites seem to sell at US$65.

HW wise it is a bit limited but good enough for its purpose. S905X, 8GB emmc, no uSD card support but it at least has 2GB RAM and Dual Band wifi. And the software will be much better than the those no-brand and even branded Android TV boxes running normal Mobile phone Android or non-certified Android TV hacks.

[funky05]

xiaofan wrote:

Allwinner H3 is very outdated for TV boxes now even though recently there are some newer Android 7.1 versions based boxes. Price should be about S$20 for 1GB/8GB and S$30 for 2GB/16GB based on Taobao (generic R69 box). Paying S$100 is crazy.

Thanks.. should I get the mi international box for a start ?