# Android Box Recommendations ?



## Aletank (Oct 27, 2005)

Has anyone bought a Android box lately ?
Was thinking of a Android box over a Firestick as I've a external Hard Drive I'll probably plug in, I'm thinking of a Firestick for the bedroom TV later on.
Was thinking of 2GB Ram to future proof it a bit and would like it to come with a keyboard ideally.
I've narrowed it down to a M8S but which seller ??
I've been looking on Ebay/Gumtree, was thinking of a UK seller as I thought they'd have more UK based Apps installed to get me goin until I get my head around them and for quicker delivery. A lot of sellers details say UK, Glasgow, Manchester etc but when you click on Contact Details by the bottom, they are based in China.
M8S boxes with keyboard seem to be goin for £40/£45/£50 delivered.
Any recommendations ? Anyone bought one recently ?


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## ffrs1444 (Jun 7, 2008)

You want KODI on what you decide to get , I've got the firestick with it on awsome bit of kit


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## Aletank (Oct 27, 2005)

Yeah I'll be wantin Kodi on it, just wasn't sure if Kodi discussion was allowed, a lot of forums it's not, hence me not mentioning it.


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## danwel (Feb 18, 2007)

Firestick running kodi and the beast build is awesome. Currently watching legends on mine as I type.

If i had or when I buy a 4K TV I will get the fire box


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## Fozzer (Jul 19, 2011)

I've gone for the actual Fire TV you can root it, install Kodi it's got a USB port so I've connected my 2TB drive and it's brill, loads of app choices, plus you can get it from the high street, should anything go wrong, I've got two Fire sticks as well in the bedrooms and conservatory. ..rooted with Kodi of course 😆


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## fozzy (Oct 22, 2009)

I bought a cheap MXQ box from amazon a couple of weeks ago, £24.99 delivered and it's faultless. Kodi and ALL the extras preinstalled along with auto update scripts that take care of themselves. To say i was impressed for the price is an understatement. Runs 1080p and play anything you can throw at it, although with KODI there really isn't any need for your own file downloads. :thumb:


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## Aletank (Oct 27, 2005)

What should I be paying for a fully set up/loaded Firebox ?
Any recommended sellers ?


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## danwel (Feb 18, 2007)

Just buy the fire stick or box from Amazon and load it all up yourself. It is very easy and heaps of videos on line to even guide you through the process


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## ffrs1444 (Jun 7, 2008)

They do sell on eBay I know the firestick is £50 loaded , my Mrs bought the stick for me for Crimbo and I just followed the guides on YouTube


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## Aletank (Oct 27, 2005)

Thanks for the replies !
Think I'll just order a £35 Fire Stick and have a play myself.
Am I right in thinking that *If I install -
Kodi (The Beast Version)
Modbro
Showbox*

I'll have pretty much what all the sellers are selling/advertising ?


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## danwel (Feb 18, 2007)

That's your best option mate yes. It's relatively straightforward and gets easier once you've done it once or twice.

Once you have it its just a matter of getting kodi on there and deciding which build tongonfoe as they are constantly being developed. After that you can add whatever repo's you want. With the fire stick as its not got massive amounts of space on it, 8gb is max so best to keep the build to a minimum. I will get a video of mine to show you what I have and it working


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## Liam85 (Mar 25, 2015)

I paid £60 for a pre loaded M8 box. Could have got the same box for £20 and put the beast on it. Everything you need is on the beast. Easy to install. Youtube have step by step videos.


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## Dal3D (Jul 13, 2014)

I got this one for £45 delivered:

http://www.gearbest.com/tv-box-mini-pc/pp_282313.html










Can run at 4K easily and is super fast and smooth. Kodi all pre-loaded and the more popular Add-ons like Genesis / Phoenix / addon installer already in there. Get an £8 keyboard from ebay and it all works a treat. :thumb:


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## Aletank (Oct 27, 2005)

Thanks for all the replies ! - I've just ordered a £35 Fire Stick from Amazon and I'll have a go at the install myself, hopefully I'll learn a bit more this way even though it may not be the easier option.


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## danwel (Feb 18, 2007)

Aletank said:


> Thanks for all the replies ! - I've just ordered a £35 Fire Stick from Amazon and I'll have a go at the install myself, hopefully I'll learn a bit more this way even though it may not be the easier option.


Good stuff mate you'll love it and once you added things from zip files once or twice its a doddle. Plus it's all done on stick and no need for computers at all


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## jonesyFX (May 11, 2011)

Just my 10p worth.. I've set up about 10 firesticks for family etc. (I have the Fire TV) and it's really easy to do so you've done the right thing!

Easiest way I would say is to do the ES file explorer method (youtube is your friend!) and then install Ares Wizard, and pick a custom build. I'm currently running The Beast build but SchismTV v2 is probably my next try.


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## Arvi (Apr 11, 2007)

I've got Kodi on a Firestick and Ares Wizard. Went to watch a couple of films last night and whilst the Film Titles came up it said it couldn't load one, and the other the picture quality wasn't brilliant. There seems to be a few folder options to select films from, are some better than others?

Also can they be streamed to 5.1 as my rear speakers were not activating?


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## jonesyFX (May 11, 2011)

Which add-on were you using to watch the films? Have you got a custom build on it?

Also remember if it's a "new" film it may take a while for a decent copy to emerge.


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## danwel (Feb 18, 2007)

jonesyFX said:


> Just my 10p worth.. I've set up about 10 firesticks for family etc. (I have the Fire TV) and it's really easy to do so you've done the right thing!
> 
> Easiest way I would say is to do the ES file explorer method (youtube is your friend!) and then install Ares Wizard, and pick a custom build. I'm currently running The Beast build but SchismTV v2 is probably my next try.


Exactly same as mine mate and how I did it


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## danwel (Feb 18, 2007)

jonesyFX said:


> Which add-on were you using to watch the films? Have you got a custom build on it?
> 
> Also remember if it's a "new" film it may take a while for a decent copy to emerge.


Was same on mine too, salts wasn't so good but good old Genesis is working pretty well again


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## jonesyFX (May 11, 2011)

danwel said:


> Was same on mine too, salts wasn't so good but good old Genesis is working pretty well again


Have you tried velocity?


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## danwel (Feb 18, 2007)

jonesyFX said:


> Have you tried velocity?


It's on there but not used it yet


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## jonesyFX (May 11, 2011)

danwel said:


> It's on there but not used it yet


Very similar to Genesis.

Best thing to do is browse Youtube for best add ons etc. or join some facebook kodi groups. Really helpful


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## Arvi (Apr 11, 2007)

jonesyFX said:


> Which add-on were you using to watch the films? Have you got a custom build on it?
> 
> Also remember if it's a "new" film it may take a while for a decent copy to emerge.


I've got SpinzTV Premium Lite.


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## jonesyFX (May 11, 2011)

Arvi said:


> I've got SpinzTV Premium Lite.


I tried that and wasn't a fan.

SchismTV has multiple log ins. So one for entertainment, one for sports and think the others for kids can't remember exactly.

Ideally you want a build that has an active team behind it giving updates etc. It's all about trial and error really!


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## honestman (Oct 4, 2012)

I would suggest if your going to buy anything with the view to streaming 1080p is opt for something with quad core and not duo core. I'm not knocking firesticks as there are plenty of positive reviews out there, but Kodi by default only uses 2 cores during playback and I found some lag when watching full 1080 movies. After some research I rooted my android box and used System Tuner app to switch the CPU manager to performance and not hotplug (default setting). This cured the problem right away for me and now watch all live football and movies in HD without any issues. All 4 cpus now work around 25 -40% instead of 2 cores maxing out.

You can get the M8S S812 box on ebay for £35 which is quad core with 2g RAM running one of the latest Amlogic chips. Ares wizard is the way to go, I has PULSE Aeon Nox running which is a very clean build with no issues.


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## honestman (Oct 4, 2012)

Dal3D said:


> I got this one for £45 delivered:
> 
> http://www.gearbest.com/tv-box-mini-pc/pp_282313.html
> 
> ...


Dal,

Does this have root access mate?


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## Dal3D (Jul 13, 2014)

Not out the box but this works apparently:

http://freaktab.com/forum/tv-player...ols-au/544002-new-minix-u1-ez-root-zip-method


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## who.am.i (Jan 23, 2016)

At work,we are using rikomagic for our customers.
Usb drive size,plug in hdmni on tv,no issues with wireless keayboard/mouse,pre rooted android.
No issues with full hd streaming


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## Arvi (Apr 11, 2007)

jonesyFX said:


> I tried that and wasn't a fan.
> 
> SchismTV has multiple log ins. So one for entertainment, one for sports and think the others for kids can't remember exactly.
> 
> Ideally you want a build that has an active team behind it giving updates etc. It's all about trial and error really!


Downloaded this on the weekend. Layout seems a lot more friendly but I can't stream any films/sports! Also when I now launch Kodi it takes me straight to Schcism rather than the Kodi home screen so I can't even try and delete and reinstall it. Any ideas? A search on google just seems to bring up ways to install it rather than any trouble shooting


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## jonesyFX (May 11, 2011)

Just go on one of the log ons and go on down to add ons > programs > ares wizard > browse builds and try another build. Spinz is meant to be good. Make sure you click fresh start before you install a new build.


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## Arvi (Apr 11, 2007)

Thanks jonesyFX, When I load Kodi up the Spinz logo does actually come up after the Shcism logo but then goes in to the Shcism folders "Entertainment/Sports/Kids"


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## Smithy225 (Dec 29, 2015)

I had a Droidbox.co.uk x7 ultimate for over a year and it was great and just last week I've upgraded it to a T8s plus. Its an amazing bit of kit. With kodi just do a clean install of the wookie wizard and you won't have to worry about anything. Films, premier league pass, showbox, ukturk, fitness stuff its all on there and autoupdates


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## Arvi (Apr 11, 2007)

Tried Shcism and it didn't want to load anything. Refreshed Kodi and tried Genesis for films and Robocop for sports. Robocop worked for the football match initially but when I had to come out of it and then go back in it brought up an error and wouldn't load.

The seo-michael website guides to install add ons are quite straight forward to follow which is what I used but am I searching for the wrong add ons? 

I retried Spinz Premium Lite build didn't seem to install the add ons for films and sports like I had previously.


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## jonesyFX (May 11, 2011)

Arvi said:


> Tried Shcism and it didn't want to load anything. Refreshed Kodi and tried Genesis for films and Robocop for sports. Robocop worked for the football match initially but when I had to come out of it and then go back in it brought up an error and wouldn't load.
> 
> The seo-michael website guides to install add ons are quite straight forward to follow which is what I used but am I searching for the wrong add ons?
> 
> I retried Spinz Premium Lite build didn't seem to install the add ons for films and sports like I had previously.


Arvi, the builds on ares wizard come pre-loaded with add ons if you get a build from there.

you MUST do a fresh start before trying a new build.

I now use one called Gen-tec which isn't on ares.

If you would like to know how to get it PM me.


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## danwel (Feb 18, 2007)

I'm using my mates build based on Titan and it's lightweight which I like and the home page is linked to exodus which seems to be spot on at the moment.

I also run kodi on my iPad and again it's decen although I don't run a skin in that. I'm also going to put it on my Apple TV tonight once kids go to bed. Currently running a trial of plex and it's so much better than kodi although it's 6.50 a month then if you want to stream football it's another fee using iptv but I've been so impressed with the quality with zero buffering and no messing with broken links.


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## Arvi (Apr 11, 2007)

jonesyFX said:


> Arvi, the builds on ares wizard come pre-loaded with add ons if you get a build from there.
> 
> you MUST do a fresh start before trying a new build.
> 
> ...


Thanks mate, when you say fresh start do you mean clear date on the Kodi initial screen or reinstall Kodi altogether? I did the former but will try again else PM you.


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## jonesyFX (May 11, 2011)

Fresh start would be to install kodi from scratch, uninstall it and reinstall. There is a program called fresh start but depends if you have it.


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## Arvi (Apr 11, 2007)

danwel said:


> I'm using my mates build based on Titan and it's lightweight which I like and the home page is linked to exodus which seems to be spot on at the moment.
> 
> I also run kodi on my iPad and again it's decen although I don't run a skin in that. I'm also going to put it on my Apple TV tonight once kids go to bed. Currently running a trial of plex and it's so much better than kodi although it's 6.50 a month then if you want to stream football it's another fee using iptv but I've been so impressed with the quality with zero buffering and no messing with broken links.


Do you have to jailbreak Ipad for Kodi to be on it? I'm wondering if I should take my firestick with me when we go away for weekends etc but ipad would be easier unless hooking up to big TV. Assume you have to stream to TV from Ipad using Apple TV box?

Ipad may be easier to navigate through Apple TV when at home although the Firestick Remote App on ipad is great rather than the small Amazon Remote when typing.


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## danwel (Feb 18, 2007)

Arvi said:


> Do you have to jailbreak Ipad for Kodi to be on it? I'm wondering if I should take my firestick with me when we go away for weekends etc but ipad would be easier unless hooking up to big TV. Assume you have to stream to TV from Ipad using Apple TV box?
> 
> Ipad may be easier to navigate through Apple TV when at home although the Firestick Remote App on ipad is great rather than the small Amazon Remote when typing.


No you don't have to jailbreak iPad to do it although you do need a Mac and create the file in Xcode. Alternatively my mate paid £25 to get his Apple TV done as he has no Mac, I can ask him how he did it if you want as I imagine but it's only a guess but it should be same process on iPad.

Once it's on iPad you can mirror screen and watch on to through Apple TV.

Same process with Apple TV as putting kodi on iPad although Apple TV 2 only offers support up to kodi 14.2, Apple TV 3 is a non starter and Apple TV 4 you can put 16.0 Jarvis which I plan on doing tonight.


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