I grabbed an Android TV box...
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@irj said in I grabbed an Android TV box...:
@breffni-potter said in I grabbed an Android TV box...:
Post back here after 2 months of usage.
Not quite two months of usage (about 6 weeks), but I wanted to report back before I forgot about this thread. The android TV has become our main media box on our tv. I bought another one to replace my firestick on our tv in our bedroom.
It is still running much faster than my firestick ever did, and all classic roms (Nes, SNES, gameboy, N64) run very smooth without issues. We are also playing through several android games such Xcom, KOTR, and more all of which run flawlessly. We are able to download Netflix and Amazon Prime videos offline to take with us when traveling to my parents house for the kids. Which is not possible with Firestick.
I had an Android TV box forever ago when it was still froyo/honeycomb. It was an awesome little box for cheap. I can only assume they got a lot better.
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Oh yeah, we use the FireStick sometimes and it is so obvious that our AndroidTV box crushes it, even just for menu navigation.
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I tried the ASUS one when it first came out. I may have been to early on the bandwagon. I tried it, apps would crash, or just not work. When I called support I had to be escalated twice before I found anyone who even knew what the product was, then they just said they didn't know how to help me. After a week, i returned it for a refund, and best buy had stopped selling them. It was cool, it just didn't work for me.
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Does it come with a remote (like a FireStick) or do you need to use a mouse and keyboard?
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@rojoloco said in I grabbed an Android TV box...:
Does it come with a remote (like a FireStick) or do you need to use a mouse and keyboard?
It comes with a remote, but it is terrible (IR). I bought this air mouse with keyboard for $14 on amazon.
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What is the Channel selection like on the Android TV?
I assume it supports the basics a la Netflix / Hulu / Vudu / Amazon ?
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@dafyre said in I grabbed an Android TV box...:
What is the Channel selection like on the Android TV?
I assume it supports the basics a la Netflix / Hulu / Vudu / Amazon ?
Depends on what you build. Mine has Netflix, Amazon, Weather Channel and lots of others, but not HBO Go.
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@dafyre said in I grabbed an Android TV box...:
What is the Channel selection like on the Android TV?
I assume it supports the basics a la Netflix / Hulu / Vudu / Amazon ?
I have all of those except Vudu. In theory it supports any android app. Some apps do benefit from the airmouse vs the d pad like netflix. The aftermarket remote I have allows you to switch been mouse d pad on the fly.
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I will say that the way the airmouse remote works requires a little learning curve. After a half hour or so it becomes very natural.
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@irj said in I grabbed an Android TV box...:
I will say that the way the airmouse remote works requires a little learning curve. After a half hour or so it becomes very natural.
I got one with mine and it was weird at first. Interesting though.
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@stacksofplates said in I grabbed an Android TV box...:
@irj said in I grabbed an Android TV box...:
I will say that the way the airmouse remote works requires a little learning curve. After a half hour or so it becomes very natural.
I got one with mine and it was weird at first. Interesting though.
Once you get used to it, It is hard to go back. Because you are able to navigate much faster using mouse and dpad at the same time.
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@irj said in I grabbed an Android TV box...:
@breffni-potter said in I grabbed an Android TV box...:
Post back here after 2 months of usage.
Not quite two months of usage (about 6 weeks), but I wanted to report back before I forgot about this thread. The android TV has become our main media box on our tv. I bought another one to replace my firestick on our tv in our bedroom.
It is still running much faster than my firestick ever did, and all classic roms (Nes, SNES, gameboy, N64) run very smooth without issues. We are also playing through several android games such Xcom, KOTR, and more all of which run flawlessly. We are able to download Netflix and Amazon Prime videos offline to take with us when traveling to my parents house for the kids. Which is not possible with Firestick.
@IRJ I would like to get this setup for my daughter. (and me of course). Any game simulator apps you recommend for getting the classic Rom's setup on the android box?
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@fredtx said in I grabbed an Android TV box...:
@irj said in I grabbed an Android TV box...:
@breffni-potter said in I grabbed an Android TV box...:
Post back here after 2 months of usage.
Not quite two months of usage (about 6 weeks), but I wanted to report back before I forgot about this thread. The android TV has become our main media box on our tv. I bought another one to replace my firestick on our tv in our bedroom.
It is still running much faster than my firestick ever did, and all classic roms (Nes, SNES, gameboy, N64) run very smooth without issues. We are also playing through several android games such Xcom, KOTR, and more all of which run flawlessly. We are able to download Netflix and Amazon Prime videos offline to take with us when traveling to my parents house for the kids. Which is not possible with Firestick.
@IRJ I would like to get this setup for my daughter. (and me of course). Any game simulator apps you recommend for getting the classic Rom's setup on the android box?
I use john SNES and NES emulators. I also use Awe64 and reicast for Dreamcast games.
The beauty of android is that you have a plethora of free and paid emulators to choose from. Most consoles have at least 10 different emulators to buy.
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@irj said in I grabbed an Android TV box...:
@fredtx said in I grabbed an Android TV box...:
@irj said in I grabbed an Android TV box...:
@breffni-potter said in I grabbed an Android TV box...:
Post back here after 2 months of usage.
Not quite two months of usage (about 6 weeks), but I wanted to report back before I forgot about this thread. The android TV has become our main media box on our tv. I bought another one to replace my firestick on our tv in our bedroom.
It is still running much faster than my firestick ever did, and all classic roms (Nes, SNES, gameboy, N64) run very smooth without issues. We are also playing through several android games such Xcom, KOTR, and more all of which run flawlessly. We are able to download Netflix and Amazon Prime videos offline to take with us when traveling to my parents house for the kids. Which is not possible with Firestick.
@IRJ I would like to get this setup for my daughter. (and me of course). Any game simulator apps you recommend for getting the classic Rom's setup on the android box?
I use john SNES and NES emulators. I also use Awe64 and reicast for Dreamcast games.
The beauty of android is that you have a plethora of free and paid emulators to choose from. Most consoles have at least 10 different emulators to buy.
How do you resolve the controller differences?
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@wirestyle22 said in I grabbed an Android TV box...:
@irj said in I grabbed an Android TV box...:
@fredtx said in I grabbed an Android TV box...:
@irj said in I grabbed an Android TV box...:
@breffni-potter said in I grabbed an Android TV box...:
Post back here after 2 months of usage.
Not quite two months of usage (about 6 weeks), but I wanted to report back before I forgot about this thread. The android TV has become our main media box on our tv. I bought another one to replace my firestick on our tv in our bedroom.
It is still running much faster than my firestick ever did, and all classic roms (Nes, SNES, gameboy, N64) run very smooth without issues. We are also playing through several android games such Xcom, KOTR, and more all of which run flawlessly. We are able to download Netflix and Amazon Prime videos offline to take with us when traveling to my parents house for the kids. Which is not possible with Firestick.
@IRJ I would like to get this setup for my daughter. (and me of course). Any game simulator apps you recommend for getting the classic Rom's setup on the android box?
I use john SNES and NES emulators. I also use Awe64 and reicast for Dreamcast games.
The beauty of android is that you have a plethora of free and paid emulators to choose from. Most consoles have at least 10 different emulators to buy.
How do you resolve the controller differences?
All the emulators have both usb and Bluetooth support. Once you add a Bluetooth controller, you can map your own keys. Although, generally the default settings are pretty close to what you want. You can also use multiple controller by assigning a controller profile for each player.
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Go with more built-in storage if possible. I have 8gb, but I wish I had 16gb or 32gb. The storage on the device is expandable via SD card. However, there is one big caveat. Apps are only able to read expandable memory not write to it.
Its not a deal breaker though, since there are some apps you can buy that can fool android into thinking built-in memory and expandable memory are all the same.
Emulators only need to read ROM files so that is fine for ROMs. You can also use a file manager to move files of course if you ever need to do so.
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@irj said in I grabbed an Android TV box...:
@wirestyle22 said in I grabbed an Android TV box...:
@irj said in I grabbed an Android TV box...:
@fredtx said in I grabbed an Android TV box...:
@irj said in I grabbed an Android TV box...:
@breffni-potter said in I grabbed an Android TV box...:
Post back here after 2 months of usage.
Not quite two months of usage (about 6 weeks), but I wanted to report back before I forgot about this thread. The android TV has become our main media box on our tv. I bought another one to replace my firestick on our tv in our bedroom.
It is still running much faster than my firestick ever did, and all classic roms (Nes, SNES, gameboy, N64) run very smooth without issues. We are also playing through several android games such Xcom, KOTR, and more all of which run flawlessly. We are able to download Netflix and Amazon Prime videos offline to take with us when traveling to my parents house for the kids. Which is not possible with Firestick.
@IRJ I would like to get this setup for my daughter. (and me of course). Any game simulator apps you recommend for getting the classic Rom's setup on the android box?
I use john SNES and NES emulators. I also use Awe64 and reicast for Dreamcast games.
The beauty of android is that you have a plethora of free and paid emulators to choose from. Most consoles have at least 10 different emulators to buy.
How do you resolve the controller differences?
All the emulators have both usb and Bluetooth support. Once you add a Bluetooth controller, you can map your own keys. Although, generally the default settings are pretty close to what you want. You can also use multiple controller by assigning a controller profile for each player.
I mean the actual physical controller. Gamecube and Dreamcast specifically had very different button layouts. I guess you just buy the USB verrsions of those controllers? Would be awkward if you didn't I would think.
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@wirestyle22 said in I grabbed an Android TV box...:
@irj said in I grabbed an Android TV box...:
@wirestyle22 said in I grabbed an Android TV box...:
@irj said in I grabbed an Android TV box...:
@fredtx said in I grabbed an Android TV box...:
@irj said in I grabbed an Android TV box...:
@breffni-potter said in I grabbed an Android TV box...:
Post back here after 2 months of usage.
Not quite two months of usage (about 6 weeks), but I wanted to report back before I forgot about this thread. The android TV has become our main media box on our tv. I bought another one to replace my firestick on our tv in our bedroom.
It is still running much faster than my firestick ever did, and all classic roms (Nes, SNES, gameboy, N64) run very smooth without issues. We are also playing through several android games such Xcom, KOTR, and more all of which run flawlessly. We are able to download Netflix and Amazon Prime videos offline to take with us when traveling to my parents house for the kids. Which is not possible with Firestick.
@IRJ I would like to get this setup for my daughter. (and me of course). Any game simulator apps you recommend for getting the classic Rom's setup on the android box?
I use john SNES and NES emulators. I also use Awe64 and reicast for Dreamcast games.
The beauty of android is that you have a plethora of free and paid emulators to choose from. Most consoles have at least 10 different emulators to buy.
How do you resolve the controller differences?
All the emulators have both usb and Bluetooth support. Once you add a Bluetooth controller, you can map your own keys. Although, generally the default settings are pretty close to what you want. You can also use multiple controller by assigning a controller profile for each player.
I mean the actual physical controller. Gamecube and Dreamcast specifically had very different button layouts. I guess you just buy the USB verrsions of those controllers? Would be awkward if you didn't I would think.
Do you remember how bad some of those controllers were? The n64 controller is the absolute worse, but some of the others are really bad too. Try holding a NES or even a SNES controller now. I actually bought USB NES and SNES controllers, but I hate them. I hate the fact that they are wired, but what I hate the most is how terrible they feel compared to modern controllers.
An additional benefit to using a modern controller is that you get to map extra buttons like quick save, quick loads, screenshot, etc. I beat Super Mario Kart the other day and was able to send my brother some bragging screenshots very easily because I have a button assigned to screenshot.
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@irj said in I grabbed an Android TV box...:
@wirestyle22 said in I grabbed an Android TV box...:
@irj said in I grabbed an Android TV box...:
@wirestyle22 said in I grabbed an Android TV box...:
@irj said in I grabbed an Android TV box...:
@fredtx said in I grabbed an Android TV box...:
@irj said in I grabbed an Android TV box...:
@breffni-potter said in I grabbed an Android TV box...:
Post back here after 2 months of usage.
Not quite two months of usage (about 6 weeks), but I wanted to report back before I forgot about this thread. The android TV has become our main media box on our tv. I bought another one to replace my firestick on our tv in our bedroom.
It is still running much faster than my firestick ever did, and all classic roms (Nes, SNES, gameboy, N64) run very smooth without issues. We are also playing through several android games such Xcom, KOTR, and more all of which run flawlessly. We are able to download Netflix and Amazon Prime videos offline to take with us when traveling to my parents house for the kids. Which is not possible with Firestick.
@IRJ I would like to get this setup for my daughter. (and me of course). Any game simulator apps you recommend for getting the classic Rom's setup on the android box?
I use john SNES and NES emulators. I also use Awe64 and reicast for Dreamcast games.
The beauty of android is that you have a plethora of free and paid emulators to choose from. Most consoles have at least 10 different emulators to buy.
How do you resolve the controller differences?
All the emulators have both usb and Bluetooth support. Once you add a Bluetooth controller, you can map your own keys. Although, generally the default settings are pretty close to what you want. You can also use multiple controller by assigning a controller profile for each player.
I mean the actual physical controller. Gamecube and Dreamcast specifically had very different button layouts. I guess you just buy the USB verrsions of those controllers? Would be awkward if you didn't I would think.
Do you remember how bad some of those controllers were? The n64 controller is the absolute worse, but some of the others are really bad too. Try holding a NES or even a SNES controller now. I actually bought USB NES and SNES controllers, but I hate them. I hate the fact that they are wired, but what I hate the most is how terrible they feel compared to modern controllers.
An additional benefit to using a modern controller is that you get to map extra buttons like quick save, quick loads, screenshot, etc. I beat Super Mario Kart the other day and was able to send my brother some bragging screenshots very easily because I have a button assigned to screenshot.
Yeah but the games were designed with them in mind
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@wirestyle22 said in I grabbed an Android TV box...:
@irj said in I grabbed an Android TV box...:
@wirestyle22 said in I grabbed an Android TV box...:
@irj said in I grabbed an Android TV box...:
@wirestyle22 said in I grabbed an Android TV box...:
@irj said in I grabbed an Android TV box...:
@fredtx said in I grabbed an Android TV box...:
@irj said in I grabbed an Android TV box...:
@breffni-potter said in I grabbed an Android TV box...:
Post back here after 2 months of usage.
Not quite two months of usage (about 6 weeks), but I wanted to report back before I forgot about this thread. The android TV has become our main media box on our tv. I bought another one to replace my firestick on our tv in our bedroom.
It is still running much faster than my firestick ever did, and all classic roms (Nes, SNES, gameboy, N64) run very smooth without issues. We are also playing through several android games such Xcom, KOTR, and more all of which run flawlessly. We are able to download Netflix and Amazon Prime videos offline to take with us when traveling to my parents house for the kids. Which is not possible with Firestick.
@IRJ I would like to get this setup for my daughter. (and me of course). Any game simulator apps you recommend for getting the classic Rom's setup on the android box?
I use john SNES and NES emulators. I also use Awe64 and reicast for Dreamcast games.
The beauty of android is that you have a plethora of free and paid emulators to choose from. Most consoles have at least 10 different emulators to buy.
How do you resolve the controller differences?
All the emulators have both usb and Bluetooth support. Once you add a Bluetooth controller, you can map your own keys. Although, generally the default settings are pretty close to what you want. You can also use multiple controller by assigning a controller profile for each player.
I mean the actual physical controller. Gamecube and Dreamcast specifically had very different button layouts. I guess you just buy the USB verrsions of those controllers? Would be awkward if you didn't I would think.
Do you remember how bad some of those controllers were? The n64 controller is the absolute worse, but some of the others are really bad too. Try holding a NES or even a SNES controller now. I actually bought USB NES and SNES controllers, but I hate them. I hate the fact that they are wired, but what I hate the most is how terrible they feel compared to modern controllers.
An additional benefit to using a modern controller is that you get to map extra buttons like quick save, quick loads, screenshot, etc. I beat Super Mario Kart the other day and was able to send my brother some bragging screenshots very easily because I have a button assigned to screenshot.
Yeah but the games were designed with them in mind
I find it much easier to use a comfortable, modern controller. You can change mapping for a specific game if you ever need to do so, but generally default works fine for me.
