Android Review - G-Box Midnight MX2
#1
Hello,

I thought I would start contributing to this forum and post a review on Matricom.net ' s G-Box Midnight MX2.

First I would like to start off by saying that I had 3x Apple TV 2's and was using them to watch XBMC on all my TV's. I loved it, they worked great, the only downfall was apple's patches and trying to defend against us using it & jailbreaking it to watch XBMC on. That being said I went to android, as they are easier and more user friendly to utilize XBMC.

When I made the switch to the MX2's I had mixed feelings. They were obviously less expensive which was great! But they seemed to lag a-lot more while the processor was processing commands and loading programs. The Apple TV 2 wouldn't do this! The controller sucked on the MX2 as it would only work "sometimes", I click the button twice for the most part to get it to work.

The fact I can load google play on this and download anything, is great! I even have USB options, keyboard, mouse, etc..!! awesome!

But the boxes now seem to be freezing and bricking by themselves. 2/3 boxes I have went into boot loop. One box I was able to patch with a beta firmware, the other bricked and wouldn't let me boot into the recovery screen to load a new firmware or anything! This is a known issue by everyone in the community including the vendor. Problem now is that the vendor, "Matricom.Net", has awful customer service. Now I didn't expect them to be perfect, but giving me the run around for a month+ and still not receiving a replacement box or my box repaired is crap. Not to mention a $20 shipping fee to get it fixed.Confused

Not to rant, but these boxes are great! ...or will be great, when all the bugs are worked out and stuff. You need to be tech savy for this box to be any good to a person, be able to fix your own box, be able to flash your own box, etc.... If you at all rely on the vendor (Matricom.net) then your not going to be a happy camper as their customer service just plain sucks! Who knows, maybe one day that will change for the better too!

I'm sure in the future, after I get my monies worth out of these boxes, I will just build a PC specifically for playing media on my TV, load LINUX to it, and run XBMC off of that! It will be far superior in every way, except the pocket book! (I would say just as pricey as buying an apple tv... haha)
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#2
Actually, I think you have every reason to rant.
You paid money for something that should perform its function and also receive customer support that's at least half way decent.
Don't get me wrong,..I'm not trying to bash them,...them seem to be doing a good job on their own.

The problem is that there are a lot of people that see these "cheap" devices as their entry point into home theater systems.
After all,...isn't it easier to sell the cost of this against a full blown custom build to your spouse. Smile

And another thing,....these companies get off pretty easy since a lot of us here are "tinkerers" and aren't afraid of fixing things on our own.
Who needs directions right?
But in all honesty, these companies would do themselves a huge favor to themselves if they just bit the bullet and delayed shipping until they have fully tested the devices.

A good quality device that works better then 99% of the time and has great customer service is worth its weight in gold.
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#3
(2013-11-12, 22:05)GortWillSaveUs Wrote: .....................
A good quality device that works better then 99% of the time and has great customer service is worth its weight in gold.

Nod
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#4
I'm a newbie to xbmc and was very interested in purchasing a g-box mx2 to get my feet wet. I'm looking for an inexpensive way to get started, does anyone have any suggestions? If not a mx2, maybe something else...
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#5
I just got an OUYA and it seems to run XBMC just fine. I mainly use it to stream tv shows and it works great at that. I haven't tried playing any HD movies through it yet though.
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#6
(2013-11-13, 03:12)dramadhin Wrote: I'm a newbie to xbmc and was very interested in purchasing a g-box mx2 to get my feet wet. I'm looking for an inexpensive way to get started, does anyone have any suggestions? If not a mx2, maybe something else...

http://www.amazon.com/Intel-Next-Computi...ywords=Nuc

Celeron nuc plus 2 gb ram plus 4 gb usb stick....
Install openelec
Cheap and reliable solution..

Later on you may upgrade usb to an ssd..
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#7
(2013-11-13, 08:37)solamnic Wrote:
(2013-11-13, 03:12)dramadhin Wrote: I'm a newbie to xbmc and was very interested in purchasing a g-box mx2 to get my feet wet. I'm looking for an inexpensive way to get started, does anyone have any suggestions? If not a mx2, maybe something else...

http://www.amazon.com/Intel-Next-Computi...ywords=Nuc

Celeron nuc plus 2 gb ram plus 4 gb usb stick....
Install openelec
Cheap and reliable solution..

Later on you may upgrade usb to an ssd..

A great cheap box I'm sure but at more than twice the price of some android boxes it's hardly a cheap one to get his feet wet on.
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#8
Agreed...

but - maybe its better to buy something that will actually work with no problems at all.

Going cheap will only cost more Smile
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#9
It's a hard one to judge. Better hardware will get a better more reliable result. Unfortunately new users tend to want to go as cheap as possible, see how well XBMC could work and then later they upgrade. If someone is confident they are going to stick with it then I agree that getting the nuc would be a better option.

A decently set up android box does quite well nowadays.
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#10
(2013-11-13, 14:35)T800 Wrote: ... Unfortunately new users tend to want to go as cheap as possible ...

Nod
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#11
(2013-11-13, 14:39)solamnic Wrote:
(2013-11-13, 14:35)T800 Wrote: ... Unfortunately new users tend to want to go as cheap as possible ...

Nod

Actually,...I always want to go cheap,..just ask my wife. Oooops,...just realized,..tomorrow's our wedding anniversary. Confused
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#12
(2013-11-13, 09:34)T800 Wrote:
(2013-11-13, 08:37)solamnic Wrote:
(2013-11-13, 03:12)dramadhin Wrote: I'm a newbie to xbmc and was very interested in purchasing a g-box mx2 to get my feet wet. I'm looking for an inexpensive way to get started, does anyone have any suggestions? If not a mx2, maybe something else...

http://www.amazon.com/Intel-Next-Computi...ywords=Nuc

Celeron nuc plus 2 gb ram plus 4 gb usb stick....
Install openelec
Cheap and reliable solution..

Later on you may upgrade usb to an ssd..

A great cheap box I'm sure but at more than twice the price of some android boxes it's hardly a cheap one to get his feet wet on.


Thanks for the advice guys.
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#13
Hi - yet another noob here,

Also keen to get in on the XBMC action and have been considering either Midnight MX2 or a MiniX Neo X7 or an MK902 or ... a Raspberry Pi B

I'm a big fan of android, and the MiniX videos on youtube look great, however I would also, one day, like to be able to record broadcast TV, which I know the RPi could do, but was wondering if it would be possible on an Android box Huh

Has anyone tried a USB TV stick on an Android box?
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#14
Anybody wanting a G box mx 2 , i have one for sale. 4 months old 75.00 plus shipping. I bought it on Amazon for 97.00.
NUC I3 Haswell with external 4TB HD, Windows 8.1
Onkyo TX-NR626 Receiver
LG 55" LCD
Cat 6 wired ethernet
Controlled with:
Logitech Harmony 880 remote
Lenovo N5902 remote keyboard/mouse
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#15
(2013-11-13, 15:23)GortWillSaveUs Wrote:
(2013-11-13, 14:39)solamnic Wrote:
(2013-11-13, 14:35)T800 Wrote: ... Unfortunately new users tend to want to go as cheap as possible ...

Nod

Actually,...I always want to go cheap,..just ask my wife. Oooops,...just realized,..tomorrow's our wedding anniversary. Confused

Shhhhhhhhhhhh....
never go cheap on the wife....

you will never get lucky..... Cool
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