I make it £130.84:
£114.88 - ODROID-N2 4GB CoreELEC Edition Pre-installed with:: 16GB eMMC + Power Supply
£9.98 - Wifi Module
£5.98 - IR Remote Controller for C1+/C2/N2
I could loose the remote perhaps but still £125 which is comparable with the price of a Beelink BT King. If I drop the remote.conf in, for a remote I already have, would it work?
Considering…
Any more suggestions/advice?
You can use any standard remote with the N2, I use my Samsung and Toshiba TV remotes for my N2 and my X96Air and in most cases they are interchangable between boxes.
N2 from Ameridroid:
N2 $69.95 USD
Basic Case $5.95 USD
EMMC $13.95 USD
PSU $6.95 USD
Total $96.80
Shoog
The Odroid temps are amazing and can only enhance performance. Yes 65c is too hot really I remember 65c was the limit on the old S805’s and then it all got very iffy!
Yes the chunky heat sink is a must with these ng chips as Amlogic are pushing the technology to it’s limit. All reminds me of Cyrex AMD etc back in the days of ‘red hot’ temps.
So currently my cheapy box is running consistently at 54/55c playing at 1080p which is OK although the Wifi, for whatever reason, is still on the blink! Hey if it’s just the Wifi then it’s not the end of the world as I run files locally but is it the box, my Wifi connection or CE?
Most WIFI dongles work in these boxes.
Shoog
Is it a simple process to install CE to a blank drive? I mean some kind of boot command is needed right? Sorry not that techie.
Its worth getting the USB>emmc burner as this makes the process straightforward. Without it its a bit fiddly. This also makes recovery of your N2 easier if it corrupts.
You can also run it off fast SD but the cost difference is marginal.
Shoog
This will play 10bit file right?
Ameridroid is a seller, no OS
Patrick,I think you’ve misinterpreted some of what I said to you.
I was saying that I run CoreELEC off a 32GB SD card and I’m very happy with the performance and that it is cheaper than buying emmc. My media is stored on a SSD drive that’s attached to the N2.
I was also saying that the Plex Media server I run on the N2 handles transcoding so that the S805 box I use as a Plex client and gets a H264 stream instead of the H265 original. That means the box continues to be of some use. For the benefit of other readers, I need to say that I do not have 4k and haven’t tested transcoding fully with high bitrate original material.When the N2 is worked hard by this on the fly transcoding, CPU temperature rises. From resting 40c, it rose to a stable 57c after 15 mins when transcoding 1080p h265 to 720p H264.
Interesting as Tim Taylor suggests his N2 never even touches 40c!!! Anyways thanks for the info.
I don´t use transcoding via plex, all my files are stored on NAS.
No need to transcode
Yes, I´m running netdata on my N2 to monitor the temperature
You have to know that transcoding will increase the temperature of every box
I encoded all my H.264 files to H.265 using my PC(core I7 & nVidia GPU) and the cooling fans where running full speed.
But when recommending a supported box, which is not a bad idea, it is also a good idea to provide the bigger picture in terms of real total cost, warranties and potential hardware issues (with the N2 at least).
It should also be remembered that there are a great many users with the cheap boxes that are perfectly happy, otherwise such discussions would never come up in the first place.
In terms of the prices being mentioned from ameridroid, potential extras for an ‘equivalent’ setup to an average box would mean WiFi and Bluetooth adapters, eMMC adapter (and additional cost to go for the 4Gb model).
Then there is the consideration of the shipping fee, which when added to the hardware cost is then subject to 20% import duties on top.
Then there is the 30 day warranty (which if I remember can be extended for yet more cost) and the consideration about the process that you would have to go through to return it abroad and the associated costs.
@PatrickJB should at least be shown as much as the picture as possible.
He seems used to the luxury of being able to return items with zero fuss to certain more convenient sites, so other options would deny that kind of luxury.
There is of course a UK based Odroid retailer, which when you add everything up probably makes more sense overall, if potentially a little more expensive at the outset (shame about their 3 month warranty though).
When the N2 works well, it is certainly the best thing out there in the AMLogic spectrum and if hardkernel has admitted production mistakes that have caused hardware issues and specifically stated that they had resolved them for good, then I would have one myself.
If @PatrickJB is looking for value against performance, the C4 does seem to be a reasonable looking halfway house for the performance that it offers and so far does not seem to have resulted in unnecessary hardware faults. All of the other elements associated with a purchase are the same though.
In terms of the Beelink GT-King being a consideration, it seems that some love it and others have issues. Supposed use of cheaper, inferior components, poor heat dissipation and their often lousy support may be downsides to some, so perhaps a potential gamble.
We can definitely agree on setting up from scratch and as I have said test as you go along to spot anything that may be an otherwise unknown cause of issues and I can see the wisdom of not skimping on a box/sbc IF a great deal of money has been spent on the TV it is going to output to.
My own cheap crap of S905X2 and S912 boxes work wonderfully, even in the summer and to date, out of around 100 or so devices that I have owned since the early days of TV sticks, only 3 have really suffered from really derogative overheating, two of which came from a brand name that had supposed good support and quality products, Zidoo.
All very good points Compent but there are two very big ones you’ve missed.
4K or not 4K?
It seems that for many, like myself, 4K is of little importance and as long as the device can play 1080p fluently then that’s all that’s required together with stability/reliability.
Out of the box or some technical know-how needed?
Some people are Linux savey and have a computer/technology background and therefore won’t bat an eyelid at SSH, Putty and Samba. Others of course that just want to jump on the Kodi bandwagon won’t have even the basic understanding which is where the Odroid N2 and the Beelink GT King might come into play.
A possible third consideration is how prevalent are Kodi installs on smart TV’s and does auto framerate switching work? I mean if you can download the app and install it directly to your TV with almost no need for financial outlay or technical skillz why buy anything! Maybe this scenario is yet to come and anyway you’ll always have people that want the real deal, whatever that is?!
What I will say, as a personal opinion, is that picture quality today is as sound quality was fifty years ago. So I can’t afford a 60" OLED TV but no doubt it’s an experience to be enjoyed. But the irony is that if you could afford such an item and with Netflix being pretty cheap, and in 4K, why not just skip the whole Elec route!!!
Hey us boys love our toys and no doubt the boxes and the software will continue to flow and to be honest the fun is in the challenge of getting a really cheap box to blow your mind, and expectations, away.
“The King is dead long live the King!” 
The King is dead long live the King
Where are you from. You sound British. Gotta love the monarchy much ;).
It’s French saying. Even Russians have the same one:)
I would not personally consider 4K or not 4K to be a big one. They are all advertised as being able to play 4K to some degree (and most of the realistic content being supported), so anything less should, hardware wise be a doddle for the most part.
There is no such thing as an out of the box experience because if you have never used such a product you would have to learn how to use the OS, it’s settings, addons/apps etc, so some form of knowledge will have to be attained and things such as SSH will soon become highly useful for problem solving. I am not a Linux savvy person and have very little knowledge of it but with a little time, effort and patience, I get the basics that gives me the basics of what I need to have the best experience.
I remember the day well when I fist tried Kodi (or XBMC as it was known) and absolutely hated the interface, how it worked and swore that I would never use it again.
Now I would not be without it and it didn’t take an Einstein mind to work it out, just a little practice, practice, practice as is the case with anything new that we come across in life that requires new knowledge and skills.
Not only main theatre systems are accompanied with boxes. For me, every LCD TV has one, so also 32ish etc 
And yes, I have still some Rpi2 driven kitchen TV’s which I installed to my relatives (well, it serves mainly for internet radio and occasionally local TV streams) And yes, the price of some of those LCD’s (working pretty flawless for their use-case) are equal to VIM3L + shipping here, roughly…
So there is always room for neaty and cheap boxes, which working surprisingly good as X96 for example (C4 didnt exist, when I bought VIM3L’s and X96’s)…
Cheap boxes are fine if you get someone to set them up for you. Even better if you have someone to troubleshoot any problems. The thing that stresses me out is the amount of time it can take to get a new/unknown box up and running with CE or similar. Yes it’s a challenge and kind of fun but can also be a nightmare especially once you’ve bricked a couple or more boxes!!!
This is why people subscribe to Sky, because it works out of the box. Nothing else does. If you want convenience then subscribe to one of the paid for services which do all the thinking for you.
Shoog
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