[Numus]

This Win 8 tablet is basically the intel stick for less money. Nearly identical specs, but the tablet is $60.

If it helps, you can paint the screen black and pretend it's not a tablet and just use the HDMI port. It's actually smaller than some of my Android boxes.

I'm waiting for mine to catch on fire or explode, because I have no idea why they're selling them for $60.

The specs are the same as the linux version of the stick (which looks like it will only cost 90 bucks so same as the retail on that tablet). The win 8.1 version is 2 gb ram and 32 gb rom (so it can actually run some programs reasonably).

Also there is something to be said about no battery and more room to vent heat (also compact size).

I am going to put my acer revo in the bedroom (on the 720p tv) and demote my apple tv 2 to just netflix/hulu so I need something in the livingroom to replace my acer revo (which has been a good faithful device for so long). Only requirement is that it can stay powered 24/7 and has the ability to have an IR remote blaster.

[manhole]

I'm using a zotac pico pc which is more expensive than many of the options presented in the thread, but I found the form factor and inputs ideal for my travel solution. Additionally I like that I can use it for other tasks when I'm not actively watching media.

Aside from not being able to do 4k which you mentioned was not a deal breaker, it also doesn't deal with DTS MA or True HD tracks out of the box. I keep meaning to check if updating to intels latest hd audio drivers will fix this (some claim it will add DTS MA functionality on some baytrail atom devices) so maybe I will do so tonight and report back.

Out of curiosity, with the DTS MA stuff, are you trying to bitstream it to a receiver while you're traveling?

[katsup]

When I travel, I take my Nexus 7 (2013) and a slimport adapter. However, there is only 1 port, so the media has to be on the tablet to play on a TV. I use a USB OTG adapter with a flash drive to move the media over. I haven't tried, but a bluetooth remote may work. I know they got PS3 controllers working with it..

I have tried taking a FireTV (rootable) and Raspberry PI before. I preferred the PI over the Fire TV, but now I just take the tablet as it has dual purpose. Plus I can watch it on the plane.

[poofyhairguy]

My honest recommendation is you need two devices. A stick is awesome for travel, and a Chromebox is awesome at home. Asking Chromebox level performance out of a stick is too much in 2015. 4k and HD audio bitstreaming means a box. I don't know why decoding the primary DTS track is a problem, often when traveling you don't have access to a 5.1 system. I get not wanting to reencode for trips but often you are lucky to have more than tv speakers.

I mean my travel Android stick wasn't even $40. At that price if I accidentally leave it in a hotel TV it is not the end of the world.

[manhole]

Katsup, I have used nexus 7 2013 with slimport as well. I used a wireless hard drive (like seagate wireless plus or something equivalent) to stream the movies over, which allowed me to have a large capacity off the tablet. It also allowed other users on the plane/train to have access to the movies simultaneously.

The problem with that setup, aside from potential battery lives etc (it would only last for maybe 2 movies or 3 tops), was that it had an effective file size limit of around 5GB per movie. I am assuming that the 1080p rips with DTS MA would be much larger and would have difficulty streaming, and would probably not be played in the desired fashion?

[katsup]

Manhole, was this 5GB limit on your hard drive? I had bigger files on my Nexus 7 before, but I am checking again.

The Nexus 7 can read NTFS, just can't write. The flash drive I bring are formatted to NTFS which larger files.

Edit: I just put a nearly 9GB file on my the internal memory without any issues.

[manhole]

it was more like the closer it got to 6+GB, the more likely the movie would choke and/or drop frames. I think it was more a networking/wifi bandwidth limitation of the wifi drive.

This was independent of which app I used to play the movie files, it's not a hard limitation or anything.

[adithyav]

Thank you for all the replies and suggestions.

@katsup I have a Nexus 7 2013 and an iPad Mini. I prefer to use both for reading and games rather than movies because storage is an issue there.

@manhole I have tried the wifi drive (my dad has one) and I dont' know what exactly the bandwidth/throttling issue is caused by but there does seem to be one

@poofyhairguy - you're right about the not wanting to re-encode everything bit and that's pretty much the root cause of a lot of my requirements. I'm running an HTPC back at home with Kodi on it and that's feeding into a receiver so I'm used to that. I will be picking up a chromebox to experiment and set it up for my parents.

You're right in saying that expecting that level of performance from something like a stick is impractical. If a two device setup is what you'd recommend, do I really need to get anything more for travel than the Chromecast?

I guess If I do get something, I'll end up going for the RPi2 when it's back in stock since of all the options mentioned here, that sounds like my best bet and is among the cheapest. Thanks again everyone.

[poofyhairguy]

The only issue I see with the Chromecast is you always need to have your laptop or some way to control/feed it. You say it is for work so if you always have a laptop I don't see an issue with that solution if it works. If you want a solution that doesn't need a laptop or Plex a Pi2 or a cheap Android stick nowadays should play most everything. Then you just hook up a HD or SD card and go.

I don't have any direct experience with the Pi, but I will say these cheap devices can play almost anything in Kodi without re-encoding. I have this really intensive test suite of video clips I run through devices to test them and see if they will serve me without having to re-encode stuff. Just a cheap S805 stick played every h264 file I have, and some of those clips are Hi10P or have a high number of reference frames or just an insane (like max the Blu Ray standard) bitrate. It has trouble on a high bitrate VC1 file or a HEVC file, but it could probably play like 90+% of my library as most of the stuff now is h264. That stick good enough I can pretty much trust that it will work, which is more than I can say for some HTPCs I didn't have that long ago. Just throw some movies on my pen drive and go without worry or testing.

Just because we don't have it all in a single stick doesn't mean 2015 isn't amazing. A Chromebox gives us a perfect living room level device, and Pis and ARM sticks/boxes are quickly becoming good enough devices for an incredible number of users.

Good luck.

[adithyav]

Thanks. Any recommendations for a particular brand of S805 stick or something I should look for?

I'd certainly like something that doesn't require my laptop and plex all the time.

[poofyhairguy]

I have the MK808B Plus Android stick and that is what I tested. It even has an Openelec build if you don't want Android. In Openelec some of the HEVC works.

[nickr]

What about a guleek i8. Even has a battery. Plug it in to hdmi, power, hard drive. Or forget the power. Mine arrived today. Won't do 4k though, I think.

[adithyav]

I have the MK808B Plus Android stick and that is what I tested. It even has an Openelec build if you don't want Android. In Openelec some of the HEVC works.

I looked at a few reviews of the MK808B Plus and it does look like very capable travel device (esp. for local media) barring some wifi issues. I have a few questions for you based on your usage of it.

Have you had any issues with the wifi on your device?
How well does it work (in the Android setup) with something like Netflix? There were a few reviews reporting stuttering issues in this regard and I'm wondering if that's tied to the wifi.
Have you managed to compare the Kodi performance of the MK808B with either an RPi2 or an ODroid-C1?
Is there any particular remote you carry with you to control the MK808B?
How stable is the OpenELEC build and does it get updates or is it just one that has been customized?

[poofyhairguy]

Have you had any issues with the wifi on your device?

Not really issues, but it isn't the strongest thing wifi device I have had. The real limitation (that most of these devices have) is no 5GHz. It is fine for streaming like Netflix, I would not steam one of my Blu Ray rips across it. But for that it does ethernet. With ethernet I made it play my biggest blu ray rip.

How well does it work (in the Android setup) with something like Netflix? There were a few reviews reporting stuttering issues in this regard and I'm wondering if that's tied to the wifi.

I think the issue is they include an old version of the app. I got the newest version off APK mirror and it seemed to work fine:

http://www.apkmirror.com/apk/netflix-inc/

Note though that pretty much any Android stick/box won't stream Netflix in full HD. The app limits that unless the device is supported specifically by Netflix (which obviously none of these are).

Seeing the clock and wifi when I use Netflix kinda drives me nuts though. I need to find an app that hides that.

Have you managed to compare the Kodi performance of the MK808B with either an RPi2 or an ODroid-C1?

No, unfortunately I have not.

Is there any particular remote you carry with you to control the MK808B?[quote]

I use an iPazzPort keyboard so that way I can also web browse easily. I have read the FireTV remote works well.

[quote]
How stable is the OpenELEC build and does it get updates or is it just one that has been customized?

It is just one that is customized, nothing official. It runs pretty well though, in fact it plays HEVC better than in Android. I had no stability issues with it, only reason I went back to Android is stuff like Netflix and emulators.

[adithyav]

Thanks for the detailed reply. Given how cheap these are, I'll probably pick up the Android box and give it a whirl.