If you really want to save a bit money I would recommend Odroid C4. You will probably have similar experience as a mediacenter.
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Agreed.
With an equivalent set-up with 16Gb eMMC, case, power supply and RTC shield (optional), he could shave £21 off the cost, or £27 without the RTC.
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Yes but isn’t the N2 pretty much the standard? It seems a lot of people here have one and swear by it. The reason I had the Minix on my shortlist (see above) was because you can get one from Jungle warehouse deals for under £80!
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B06WV9T85Q/ref=ox_sc_saved_title_1?smid=A2OAJ7377F756P&psc=1
I almost, I was about to press the buy button, bought one but as my files are local I couldn’t see the point. Obviously the Minix’s are known for their excellent Wifi capabilities which would be the reason why many buy them. Of course the N2, with the right Wifi dongle, is no doubt pretty good too.
I’m more relaxed about my N2 purchase now, remember I have ordered it, as I figure it must be really good and perhaps I’ll even setup Unbuntu on it (on SD probably) if I can get my head around the installation. If the switch thing is as simply as it seems it shouldn’t be a problem.
I did browse the Odroid forums and there’s a lot of people playing will dual boot with some success. Looks as if many are trying to get it to act as CE does with Android (as dual boot) although with limited success. For me flicking the switch isn’t a big deal so that would be my route. I was going to call the seller on Monday but I’ll just hang back and chill. As said I’ll just be happy to have a great CE experience and anything else is just a bonus. I can always research running an OS from SD at a later date if I have the time.
The N2 has its own issues, but very little you can do to it will brick it in the way that is possible (and even easy) to brick a cheap Chinese box. If things go wrong with a cheap chinese box its possible to waste days/weeks trying to get it back. The N2 just needs a new SD card or a reflash of the emmc to bring it back. For me this is the thing that makes it head and shoulders above any Cheap Chinese box. Also despite some reports of issues with the N2 (which to my mind were common to all of the early new generation AMLogic chips) they are built well with quality components and will last for years. We can look to the thousands of satisfied C2 owners who are still using these boxes as evidence of the quality of these products.
To me comparing the N2 to Android boxes is like comparing a PC to a cheap Gaming console.
Shoog
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Yes they’ll always be issues which will have to be accepted and worked around but you both suggest the obvious, that it’s simply a quality piece of kit. It may not be perfect as something else will, undoubtedly, come along but it’s probably as good as it gets. Of course some will run Kodi via a PC and no doubt that could, with a high end graphics card, be amazing but not many are going to dedicate a quality PC to Kodi.
Contrary to what a few have said the N2 is a reasonable computer for running an OS, not ideal, but perfectly formed and probably better than those old laptops we all have hidden away. It’s likely that if CE runs really well then the idea of running a OS on the N2 will fade as it was just me trying to justifying the financial outlay. Hey they’re not expensive but many of us are used to buying cheap boxes and going through the process, the stress, of getting them to work correctly although they often fall short. I’ve given up on stress, hopefully, and decided that it makes more sense to buy something that has a pedigree and works well.
Hey I’m saying all this and I haven’t even received my box yet but the excitement is building and I’m looking forward to the experience. I will no doubt give my opinion once it’s arrived, setup and running.
Well lucky for me I cancelled my order for the N2 due to availability! I’m still considering a Minix though, but…
,well I’m going to sit tight for a couple of months.
I often think if something works why change it but things do change unfortunately. I only wanted to be able to play 10bit files and it turned into a nightmare. There’s a lot of quality boxes being sold on ebay simply because they can’t play 10bit but perhaps they’ll make great servers?
Anyway I’ll leave you to it.
Bye!
The X96 Air 4/64GB is decent. Plays 10-bit np.
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I already said to you in another thread that besides the S905W SoC the S912 is the worst one because of the missing mali drivers, and now you are considering to buy a Minix U9-H, which contains an S912 SoC. Don’t get me wrong, but why are you asking for help, when you are constantly doing exactly the opposite of what has been suggested?
Then order the new model N2Plus for the same price:
" Availability: You can order 4GB model now and we will start shipping from 20 July.
N2+ 4GB model($79) https://www.hardkernel.com/shop/odroid- … yte-ram-2/
N2+ Cooling Fan($4) https://www.hardkernel.com/shop/80x80x1 … connector/
2GB model will be ready to order from 21 July and shipping from 24 July.
N2+ 2GB model ($63) https://www.hardkernel.com/shop/odroid- … yte-ram-2/
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Will there be a N2+ CoreELEC edition?
I don’t think so, but time will tell.
So the “Beelink GT1 Ultimate” is a bad purchase as well? It’s listed as a CE compatible device here! Not stirring but why is it listed as compatible if there’s issues with it?
Rule #51 - Sometimes You are wrong
Beelink GT1 Ultimate is compatible, but it´s old and there are no mali drivers.
Gxm aka S912 will probably not work with 4.9 kernel. And don’t expect 3.14 to be supported longer than needed.
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Ahh one more thing. You can buy whatever you want. Asking for advice doesn’t mean you will get good advice. If you buy S912 and CoreELEC drops support with next mediacenter version you are free to use CE9 builds as long as it works for you. Just don’t expect any new features or bugfixes. Or you can wait for mainline.
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I think a lot of people ,including myself, get a device put LE, CE or whatever on it and then wait a couple of years until there’s a good reason to change their setup. As said before the main reason I’ve been doing the rounds is I decided it was time to be able to play 10but files. People into 60fps 4K or higher will chase the latest builds of course but that’s not me.
This is why I’m not up to speed because I get something working and then I’m off so I won’t be here for much longer. I have learnt a few new things along the way though:
- The reason power supplies have very short cables is due to voltage drop. I’ve been having problems for a while now with drives and today I figured it out. Longer or extended cables can cause a slight voltage drop and then 4TB USB powered drives can have problems spinning up!
- USB fans, mini CPU type, can run at full speed for 15/20 minutes (noisy) until they drop to almost silent and stay so until unplugged, so obviously leave them running. Now one of my boxes has a fan on and it’s pretty much silent and temperatures are at least 10 degrees lower.
What is the technical definition of ‘mainline’, just for the record?
Mainline kernel → LE
If You can wait 10 or 20 years …
Hopefully it will not be that long. Although I understand the frustration. For some people it feels like forever already.
@PatrickJB you can use old builds as long as you want but if there are no longer addons available or repo’s or you encounter issues or look for support you will be on your own.
ODROID-N2+ 4GB CoreELEC Edition [77312]
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Brand: Hard Kernel
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Product Code: ODROID-N2+ 4GB CoreELEC Edition
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Availability: Pre-Order
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£99.89
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Ex Tax: £83.24
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