[AuXBoX]

If your looking for a direct boot XBMC check out :The Little Black Box

Looks pretty good

[jonc22]

Can you get this to work on a Mag-250

[garycocs]

They buffer even on a 100 mbit wired connecton? Those are some big files :-).

The M3 Pivos XIOS has 1GB of ram, but only 100mbit ethernet. Unfortunately it's also still on beta software even after so long.

Thanks for getting back to me, I guess it's hard to figure out is it the connection or the encoding that is creating the bufferring? Any easy way to find out?

[Numiah]

No buffering what so ever on my xios. Even with 40Gb BluRays that is.
She gets slower with these kind of files, but still works a treat !
I'm on Linux btw

[nickr]

You don't need gige on a media pc.

[Shteve0]

Useful thread

I have an ATV2 just coming out of storage for our main room in a few weeks, but with Premier League Pass about to launch over here in NZ, with a 4.0+ ready android App, I'm keen to try out an android box for the man shed. At home I'll be running a HP home server through ethernet to the router, then largely wireless from there.

Seems to me that there are three main options on the market at the mo;

G-Box Midnight MX2 (c. $100 + shipping)
Little Black Box (c. $130 + shipping)
Pivos XIOS DS (c. $90 + shipping).

Also looks as though the MX2 gets the highest user reviews on Amazon.com. Is that a fair reflection of where I should be putting my money?

[daign]

I use a gbox midnight running static v2b ROM and it boots directly into XBMC. You can run Android Variants as well as Linux variants that boot directly into XBMC. It lags at times in scrolling but overall is a cheap solution. Comes with a remote etc. Streams 1080p @ my house built in 1964 using powerline ethernet adapters. my old WDTV didnt stream in the same network locatiuon.

[Shteve0]

Cheers Daign. Is that the original midnight or the MX2?

[baob]

Can I ask what I'm afraid is a newb question ?

Would these Android devices (I'm thinking of the midnight MX2 in particular) have the ability to pull movies from network storage (in my case, a WD Mybook live I think) via SMB(samba), AFP, or something else ?

Or do they have to have local storage, like USB stick or local hard drive ?

I'm thinking of DVD quality, if the data rates are going to be the deciding factor.

[nickr]

XBMC on all devices works the same and has access to all the same connection methods as any other version. In other words "yes".

[baob]

XBMC on all devices works the same and has access to all the same connection methods as any other version. In other words "yes".

Great, thanks. I knew it behaved the way I wanted on a Mac, but I had no idea how implementation-dependent that was. You've made things clear.

Looks like there's no reason not to go for a G-Box Midnight MX2 .... I think I'll be ordering one soon.

[daign]

Cheers Daign. Is that the original midnight or the MX2?

I'm using the older Midnight. Got it off of amazon for like $35 or so. Stock ROM sucked ass. Booted into android. I didnt want android TV I wanted XBMC directly booted. So I ran the Static ROMs.

Their new ones probably boot directly into XBMC, as navigating android with 4 directional buttons SUCKS.

This is worth a read though, they're not acknowlidging XBMC's licensing at all on the MX2 box... Shame. I'm not using mine any more due to having Apple TV 2 for netflix...

http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid...pid1421864

I'd sell it if you're interested. Box, remote, power, all documentation and the ROM is already loaded. I'll even throw in a copy of the rom on SD card. Send me a PM if you want it Its the midnight.. Wow I just checked. This company matricom bought them and took all the ROMs down... Odd.

Mine is revision 2.2. Looks like the new version is better but doesn't support XBMC's licensing rights which sucks.