Computers & Electronics

What's a good streaming device?

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Deal Addict
Aug 5, 2006
1105 posts
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Mississauga

What's a good streaming device?

There are so many streaming devices out there, what's a good brand at the moment?
I came across the Minix https://www.amazon.ca/Minix-Neo-Plus-X8 ... B00Q4NEUS0
Anyone have other suggestions or is this pretty good as is? Any rooting required or anything of the sort?
Thanks.
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Deal Expert
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May 22, 2005
21223 posts
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GTA
What are you streaming exactly?
Deal Addict
Aug 5, 2006
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Mississauga
coriolis wrote: What are you streaming exactly?
It's for my Aunt actually, she wants to watch shows from Europe, Germany, Poland, France, Sweden.
I'm sure I'll need add-ons so I'm starting to do some searching now, but figured I should start with a device first.
Deal Guru
Aug 14, 2007
12807 posts
3837 upvotes
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I got the MXQ PRO 4K today + one of those remote keyboards today for $95.00

Works great and the box itself can be had for $64.99 on amazon but I highly recommend the keyboard remote which is usually $20
Penalty Box
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Apr 25, 2013
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Get the Minix U1 instead !
Do not get any S912 boxes yet, still too new and unstable firmware.
Sr. Member
Oct 1, 2009
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West coast
I got the u1 but it is a little pricy. Couple that with the qwerty remote then it makes it really expensiveexpensive.
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Dec 23, 2006
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Oshawa
Hope @kuba doesn't mind my inquiry here, but curious what the take on this box is: https://www.amazon.ca/Android-Amlogic-Q ... ndroid+box

My mom and her friend both recently got one as someone they know sells/sets them up for people on the side. Charging $120 for the box/setup, however they've gotten him a bunch of referrals so I could get one for free. I suspect the lack of ram would be the biggest caveat especially if you were to delve into 4K content?
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Apr 25, 2013
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venividivici wrote: Hope @kuba doesn't mind my inquiry here, but curious what the take on this box is: https://www.amazon.ca/Android-Amlogic-Q ... ndroid+box

My mom and her friend both recently got one as someone they know sells/sets them up for people on the side. Charging $120 for the box/setup, however they've gotten him a bunch of referrals so I could get one for free. I suspect the lack of ram would be the biggest caveat especially if you were to delve into 4K content?
Cause that box costs around $22usd, so at $120 he's making $100 easily !
Penalty Box
Oct 24, 2015
44 posts
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I've been testing android boxes for months, the first generation of s912 boxes weren't great, but the latest versions with 3gb of ram are terrific. Smooth and responsive. There's always the chance of a defect but I'd recommend the s912 processor over anything other that a nvidia shield right now.
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Oct 13, 2009
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Iqaluit, NU
XtremeModder wrote: I got the MXQ PRO 4K today + one of those remote keyboards today for $95.00

Works great and the box itself can be had for $64.99 on amazon but I highly recommend the keyboard remote which is usually $20
+1. I received my leelbox mxq pro last week and the keyboard is due tomorrow. Leelbox has a promo on Amazon now. If you buy the keyboard together with the box they give you $3 off of the keyboard. I paid $55 for the box and $24 for the keyboard.

Great little android device. Obviously not as polished as something like an NVIDIA shield but for 1/6th the price it's a great value and does a great job as a simple streaming device.
Re: Procurement, Life & RFD
nasa25: say you won it in a raffle. That's what I do with like 86% of my purchases
infinityloop: Lying to your SO seems like an unhealthy long term strategy
nasa25: lmao
Deal Guru
Aug 14, 2007
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nasa25 wrote: +1. I received my leelbox mxq pro last week and the keyboard is due tomorrow. Leelbox has a promo on Amazon now. If you buy the keyboard together with the box they give you $3 off of the keyboard. I paid $55 for the box and $24 for the keyboard.

Great little android device. Obviously not as polished as something like an NVIDIA shield but for 1/6th the price it's a great value and does a great job as a simple streaming device.
Yea I should have ordered it off of amazon but decided to just get it at the local flea market in my area.

Now I need to go through that IPTV thread and see who has good IPTV service, if I can get discovery hd, nat geo, oasis and a ton of other premium channels I'll go for that but i have absolutely no idea where to start or what a good price is.
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Iqaluit, NU
XtremeModder wrote: Yea I should have ordered it off of amazon but decided to just get it at the local flea market in my area.

Now I need to go through that IPTV thread and see who has good IPTV service, if I can get discovery hd, nat geo, oasis and a ton of other premium channels I'll go for that but i have absolutely no idea where to start or what a good price is.
If you're only using iptv on one device, get iptv express (tied to your devices MAC address). $15 per month through resellers and it looks like you can get it online for $12 per month. You run it through stb emulator pro (app). This is definitely the easiest iptv setup to use (that I've seen).

If you want to use the iptv on multiple devices, get iptvsubs for $10 per month. You can run it through kodi.

Don't pay for more than a month at a time so you can test a few services out and see which one you prefer/is the most reliable long term.
Re: Procurement, Life & RFD
nasa25: say you won it in a raffle. That's what I do with like 86% of my purchases
infinityloop: Lying to your SO seems like an unhealthy long term strategy
nasa25: lmao
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Dec 23, 2006
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Oshawa
EdT586 wrote: Cause that box costs around $22usd, so at $120 he's making $100 easily !
Yeah, that was my stance on the matter when I was asked about whether I might want one - that it was a cheaper box with an inflated price point. I said at $120 I could go get my own for ~$50 and set it up myself. I just don't think it is 'future proof' so to speak especially if you want to watch 4K content, but I could be wrong, which is why I inquired. I'm not overly versed in what is required or desired when it comes to Android boxes. The nVidia Shield is intriguing, but the price sort of makes me hold off at the same time, heh.
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Iqaluit, NU
For a $50 box it's worth it even though you're not future proofed imo. It's 50 bucks. The mxq is a great little device for $55.

Oh and also the shield is worth every penny.
Re: Procurement, Life & RFD
nasa25: say you won it in a raffle. That's what I do with like 86% of my purchases
infinityloop: Lying to your SO seems like an unhealthy long term strategy
nasa25: lmao
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Apr 25, 2013
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venividivici wrote: Yeah, that was my stance on the matter when I was asked about whether I might want one - that it was a cheaper box with an inflated price point. I said at $120 I could go get my own for ~$50 and set it up myself. I just don't think it is 'future proof' so to speak especially if you want to watch 4K content, but I could be wrong, which is why I inquired. I'm not overly versed in what is required or desired when it comes to Android boxes. The nVidia Shield is intriguing, but the price sort of makes me hold off at the same time, heh.
There is not much 4K streaming anyways and then you would still need to subscribe to a 30/10 internet plan which I don't see is viable for the vast majority of consumer till maybe a decade or more which by that time your Android box would have paid for itself thousands of times over ! You can play local 4K on an USB drive or HDD no problems anyways.
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Apr 25, 2013
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nasa25 wrote: For a $50 box it's worth it even though you're not future proofed imo. It's 50 bucks. The mxq is a great little device for $55.

Oh and also the shield is worth every penny.
The MXQ were selling for $18.00usd prior to Christmas 2016 !
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Oct 13, 2009
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EdT586 wrote: The MXQ were selling for $18.00usd prior to Christmas 2016 !
Lol that's pretty wild. I have the mxq pro so that might have been a bit more than the $18.
Re: Procurement, Life & RFD
nasa25: say you won it in a raffle. That's what I do with like 86% of my purchases
infinityloop: Lying to your SO seems like an unhealthy long term strategy
nasa25: lmao
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Dec 23, 2006
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Oshawa
nasa25 wrote: For a $50 box it's worth it even though you're not future proofed imo. It's 50 bucks. The mxq is a great little device for $55.

Oh and also the shield is worth every penny.
Good to know the nVidia Shield is worth the cost. I do have excess funds to get one, but last I heard they were sort of scarce.
EdT586 wrote: There is not much 4K streaming anyways and then you would still need to subscribe to a 30/10 internet plan which I don't see is viable for the vast majority of consumer till maybe a decade or more which by that time your Android box would have paid for itself thousands of times over ! You can play local 4K on an USB drive or HDD no problems anyways.
Yeah, besides some content on Netflix I realize from a streaming standpoint it is limited presently. I'm on Rogers Gigabit for internet, so no issues there. Honestly I technically don't need an Android box (besides for convenience) as I can just use my secondary PC for the same purpose.

If my mom can get another free box I'll take it just to try out I suppose. Although the remote with it sucks, lol. I appreciate the comments and advice.

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