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Hi there!
I do not agree.
I am the proud owner of a CX-919 Android mini PC running XBMC. I love it.
It sits behind my TV, out of sight, you cannot hear it, it has a quad core processor, 2 GB ram, 8 Gb flashdisk and a quad core graph CPU. Unbelievable in such a small box. And it is fast! Furthermore it can be used for airplay (Ipad, Iphone, Itunes) and you can install all apps from the Android Play Store. Everything out of the box.
The only problem with running XBMC is not the computer, but XBMC. XBMC is not yet capable of hardware support under Android so video playback is being dealt with by the microprocessor in stead of the graphics chip. But my supplier shipped it with a custom XBMC and it can run 720p with no problem. On top of that I installed Navi-X which is capable of hardware support so I can play 1080P or even more without any problem!
What I am saying is that if you just want to look at 720p in XBMC, it is great. And I just know that in the near future the hardware support issue will be tackled. From that moment on there is absolutely no reason to stick to a normal PC to run XBMC.
Back in the old days there were roughly three platforms that could run an OS with a mouse. There was windows 3.1(1), Macinosh and Atari ST. Windows came on 9 floppies. The software for the Mac and the Atari ST just on one. Yet it was much more powerful than the windows thing. Those 'Tosses' as they were called, were much better written, much more economical and more logical. Nowadays things did'nt get better: Android is approx 85 Mb (SDK version) where Windows 8 takes a full DVD...
That is why an Android Stick can be so powerfull. The CPU just does not have to cope with all of the weight of Windows. Android runs smooth and is great for XBMC.
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2013-08-09, 15:08
(This post was last modified: 2013-08-09, 15:09 by solamnic.)
A really bad thing about android players is that when a new model is released all previous models tend to go to oblivion ( in matter of firmware development) ..
There are many examples of those xx core devices that cannot be upgraded to 4.2.2 android - or later when released- simply because the next ultra bigger xx+2 core was released ...
So i wouldnt buy any xxxxx core player with the hope that maybe one day would work perfectly with xbmc...
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You should look into one of these devices.
- Raspberry PI
- The Little Black Box
- Pivos Xios
- Ouya
Nothing compares to a i5 though.
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I just picked up a raspberry pi it is working great so far with XBMC, overclocked to the max preset, openelec installed to USB, and running the Amber skin. Much better performance than I expected the USB/overclock tweaks really eliminate any lag and still seem stable.
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The point being with a system like tlbb is the underlying Linux is purely for running xbmc. You don't see it you just see xbmc.
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forest
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I would go with linux and have it automatically launch xbmc at boot.
It's neat that XBMC runs on Android now, but Android devices become obsolete in the blink of an eye. Very few of them receive significant updates after they're released, and I can't think of a single one that has been kept current. I want a device that I can keep updated with the latest OS, utilities, and security fixes for years after the vendor has stopped supporting it. I also want access to all the source code in the system (including drivers and boot images) and the ability to recompile or replace any part of it that I don't like. Anything that automatically phones home to Google or anyone else, or that requires me to give up functionality to prevent it from doing so, is unacceptable. Linux is the clear choice for me.
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eskro
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until a box like OUYA wins!
it just needs a little more and it'll be a winner!