Snowleopard2000

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Sep 25, 2016
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Hi,

My friends convinced me to do the fire stick thing with Kodi. It is so, it buffers allot, the hardware is horrible. So I decided to start researching boxes with better hardware and DroidBox is highly recommended, but I am not familiar with all the Anroid CPU's and GPU's, etc> I saw something about the Ami 912's but that those CPU's were running in turbo mode and they are having problems.

I would love to see an Android TV box with 4 or 8gb of ram and an octo core CPU and GPU, wireless AC, 64gb of storage + the micro SDXC card slot,or a hard drive/SSD option.

I saw this T8 Plus has the option for a laptop (2.5 inch hard drive), will it also take an SSD like a Samsung EVO 256gb?

My main concern is I don't want a slow box that buffers all the time. My internet connection is 1gig up and 1gig down fiber, so there should not be an issue unless the TV Box has slow hardware.

I have even looked at a low end I7 with 16gb of DDR4 ram and Windows 10 Pro just because the hardware is many times faster than any Android compatible CPU, but that will turn into a $500-$900 investment just for a Kodi TV box.

I am here asking if there are any other options? Am I stuck with a slow Android System or an expensive Windows based system?
 

Nigelar

Well-Known Member
Feb 26, 2015
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You need to understand that even if you have a fast internet connection, and a good android box (like the t8s plus), then you will still experience buffering as all of us do from time to time. The issue is at the host server end where the file or stream is "transmitted". And there is nothing you can do about that other than find another source. For example live sports streams often buffer because of their popularity and number of users.
 

Snowleopard2000

New Member
Sep 25, 2016
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Thank you, That is true, I forgot about the connection on the host servers side. Aside from that, what type of box can I purchase to limit these types of issues from my side.
 

Nigelar

Well-Known Member
Feb 26, 2015
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Most of us find the t8s (plus) or t8 mini perfectly satisfactory for normal viewing. Think they are discounted at the moment.
 
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ChrisM

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Jul 15, 2014
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ChrisMerriman.com
https://droidbox.co.uk/blog/droidbox-main-models-comparison-summer-2016/ and https://droidbox.co.uk/compare-models/ might help with a quick run down of the current models. The T8 Mini and T8-S Plus are most people's choices.

You can certainly install an SSD in the T8-S Plus. As long as it isn't an unusually tall device (9.5mm or less), 2.5" form factor, SATA connection, then it should be fine. 2Tb is the maximum size tested officially. Using an SSD won't in anyway help with Kodi or live streaming, worth pointing out. The internal 32Gb storage would be used, but these are plenty fast enough for the demands online streaming would place.

We'll see set top boxes with 3Gb RAM sometime soon I (personally) think, but 4 or 8Gb not as likely.

https://droidbox.co.uk/blog/droidbox-prices-falling-before-the-leaves has details for our 15% off promotional code.