Best Kodi Box

[alanchow]

Alan, any change to your recommendation on Tronsmart?  I've looking at the Cinema Experience Kodi app and I want to get a TV dedicated to that in my theater "lobby" (hall outside).  I might do some other things as well.

 

Has anybody used Cinema Experience?  It looks fantastic.

 

Depends on your budget and what media you want to play.

 

If you can justify it i'd go the i5 intel nuc with KODIbuntu installed as this will play pretty much everything you throw at it including 4K content, 3D content and pass through your DTS-HD / MA surround sound tracks.

 

If you don't want to spend that much get the Tronsmart.  This will play pretty much all 1080p MKV's and pass through DTS surround sound.

 

If you want to go ultra stringy go for a Raspberry Pi 2.  This will play pretty much all 1080p MKV's and pass through DTS but will have slow navigation, media library import and anything else CPU related.

 

There are probably other Android based boxes apart from the Tronsmart that you can use but i personally haven't tested anything in the past few months.  Best bet would be to goto Kodi.tv and see what they recommend if you want to go down the route.

[howieumd]

Hi Howie,

Yes as mentioned you need to install LANmote to navigate the android OS. The driver will work on any KODI version from 12.0 onwards including the Latest RC builds

I don't have a shield but a quick google search returns this result on how to root

http://greenrobotgamer.com/shieldzone/root-shield-android-tv/

 

Thanks Alan.  I'm going to try to root it, thanks for the link. 

[howieumd]

Alan, any change to your recommendation on Tronsmart?  I've looking at the Cinema Experience Kodi app and I want to get a TV dedicated to that in my theater "lobby" (hall outside).  I might do some other things as well.

 

Has anybody used Cinema Experience?  It looks fantastic.

 

 

Depends on your budget and what media you want to play.

 

If you can justify it i'd go the i5 intel nuc with KODIbuntu installed as this will play pretty much everything you throw at it including 4K content, 3D content and pass through your DTS-HD / MA surround sound tracks.

 

If you don't want to spend that much get the Tronsmart.  This will play pretty much all 1080p MKV's and pass through DTS surround sound.

 

If you want to go ultra stringy go for a Raspberry Pi 2.  This will play pretty much all 1080p MKV's and pass through DTS but will have slow navigation, media library import and anything else CPU related.

 

There are probably other Android based boxes apart from the Tronsmart that you can use but i personally haven't tested anything in the past few months.  Best bet would be to goto Kodi.tv and see what they recommend if you want to go down the route.

 

I've done a TON of research on this, over the past few weeks.   Just to give you a little more details:  

 

I ended up going with the i7 Intel Nuc.  This years model i5 will play the same, just a difference in processor power, and will support 4K content, 3D and the sound pass through that Alan mentioned.  The only issue with it, that I found out after the fact as it was the only thing I didn't spec out before I bought it, is that it only supports HDMI 1.4a.  1.4a will support 4K, but only up to 30 fps.  That is my only disappointment with my Nuc, and I'm surprised they didn't go with HDMI 2.0 on this years models quite honestly.   However, it also has displayport, which I believe does support 4K 60 fps, but most receivers out there don't have a displayport in (mine doesn't), so I didn't do a ton of research on the displayport end as it's moot for me.

 

The Tronsmart Draco has an incredible hardware layout, but due to their firmware issues, it still isn't capable of passing through DTS (which was advertised as something it could do) as well as other higher end formats, and has some other issues with Kodi and other apps.  Follow the below link and you can see the frustration with a ton of people who have purchased it.  Tronsmart has also been very poor with supporting it too, but ultimately AllWinnner, who makes the CPU, is the real culprit behind its current firmware issues and it doesn't seem like a stable firmware will come any time soon.

http://forum.tronsmart.com/forum/tronsmart-draco-aw80-stock-firmware-release/572-20150523-beta-for-draco-aw80-android-4-4?limitstart=0#.VaMoQZVRHyo

 

After all my research, I've found that if you have a 4K TV and care about having the best box on the market that supports 4K content, the NVidia Shield is the only way to go at this time, to get 4K at a true 60 fps, as it has HDMI 2.0.   All reviews have been great from what I've come across.  It can also be used for gaming, and the kids love it for that purpose too, though that's not the main reason I got it.  The only issue I have with it is that it doesn't come rooted like the Tronsmart, but thanks to Alan finding that link on how to root it, that seems to be a non-issue now.  

[alanchow]

I've done a TON of research on this, over the past few weeks.   Just to give you a little more details:  

 

I ended up going with the i7 Intel Nuc.  This years model i5 will play the same, just a difference in processor power, and will support 4K content, 3D and the sound pass through that Alan mentioned.  The only issue with it, that I found out after the fact as it was the only thing I didn't spec out before I bought it, is that it only supports HDMI 1.4a.  1.4a will support 4K, but only up to 30 fps.  That is my only disappointment with my Nuc, and I'm surprised they didn't go with HDMI 2.0 on this years models quite honestly.   However, it also has displayport, which I believe does support 4K 60 fps, but most receivers out there don't have a displayport in (mine doesn't), so I didn't do a ton of research on the displayport end as it's moot for me.

 

The Tronsmart Draco has an incredible hardware layout, but due to their firmware issues, it still isn't capable of passing through DTS (which was advertised as something it could do) as well as other higher end formats, and has some other issues with Kodi and other apps.  Follow the below link and you can see the frustration with a ton of people who have purchased it.  Tronsmart has also been very poor with supporting it too, but ultimately AllWinnner, who makes the CPU, is the real culprit behind its current firmware issues and it doesn't seem like a stable firmware will come any time soon.

http://forum.tronsmart.com/forum/tronsmart-draco-aw80-stock-firmware-release/572-20150523-beta-for-draco-aw80-android-4-4?limitstart=0#.VaMoQZVRHyo

 

After all my research, I've found that if you have a 4K TV and care about having the best box on the market that supports 4K content, the NVidia Shield is the only way to go at this time, to get 4K at a true 60 fps, as it has HDMI 2.0.   All reviews have been great from what I've come across.  It can also be used for gaming, and the kids love it for that purpose too, though that's not the main reason I got it.  The only issue I have with it is that it doesn't come rooted like the Tronsmart, but thanks to Alan finding that link on how to root it, that seems to be a non-issue now.  

 

Nice post.  I hope you're enjoying KODI and our driver.

[howieumd]

Nice post.  I hope you're enjoying KODI and our driver.

 

Thank you.  Yes, KODI is awesome, and your driver makes it even better when using it with Control4.  Both KODI and your driver go hand in hand.  I'm definitely a big proponent of it, and can't wait for the full version of your driver to be completed.

[turls]

Thanks guys, since this is a "lobby" screen, a lot of my content will be static, and I might not even have audio.  There is a chance I would mirror some theater content but to get the movie poster look the screen will be rotated and have an odd aspect ratio for most content.  I still might go with a NUC though, just because I like the looks of the hardware.