Why do people buy underpowered "quad-core" android TV boxes when a $40 core2duo machine plays video much more effectively? Those chinese shitboxes don't even play 10-bit anime, while even a dual-core desktop processor from 2006 has no problems software-decoding Hi10p 1080p video.
Combined with a debian install, an SSD and a wireless keyboard, you have a machine that starts up in mere seconds and opens mpv/kodi/whatever to play whatever you want.
Because its already set up for them and a lot of people don't know or aren't comfortable setting it up themselves??
Did you even give this question the slightest bit of thought, or did you just feel like shitposting?
>>53820078
Because those android boxes don't use 200w just to play videos.
>>53820078
Where can I buy a 40 dollar computer that comes with an ssd?
>>53820099
this. You can't get any more casual-friendly than a tablet OS
>>53820280
>Combined with a debian install, an SSD and a wireless keyboard,
reading comprehension (or lack thereof) is a big problem in america
>Implying C2D can handle 4K HEVC decoding
OP IS A FAGGOT
>>53820291
>40 dollar core 2 duo is better, if you spend more and install an ssd
>>53820314
>eMMC
>SSD
More like SD card
>>53820336
An sd card for the android box will be cheaper than an ssd for the pc.
>>53820385
An SD card for the PC will be the same price as an SD card for the Android box
>>53820293
Is HEVC / H265 worth it?
>>53820078
Sounds like another thinkpad tier neme
>>53820450
Kill yourself
>>53820397
Idk about android boxes but an orange pi pc pulls ~400-450mA under load.
That's 2w.
+ a hdd, a couple of fans, a graphics card, you're looking at around 180-200w.
So you tell me which one is better, a 200w machine, or a 2w one that can play videos and movies just as well for the average consumer
A core 2 duo is 95w iirc,
>>53820549
And?
>>53820558
And what? Shit be easy when yer daddy and mommy pay yer electricity bills. When they dead, you be sucking landlord dick, boyo.
>>53820078
One word. Convenience.
>>53820588
At 200W that's like 7 or 8¢ every 5 hours or so. Oooh yeah I'll be shaking when I open the power bill
>>53820615
It also puts out a lot more heat into your room.
Plus the android box is so much smaller and convenient.
>>53820588
>electricity
>expensive
do you live in a third world country or something?
>>53820078
>Debianfags in charge of not being retarded.
>>53820639
>a lot
I doubt you'll even see a difference of 1 or 2ºF
>>53820549
C2D is 65W
>>53820656
I used to sleep in a 12x12 room with a 380w machine running overnight, and the air in the room would dry the fuck out overnight. Shit would suck. I'd wake up with dry throat all the time
>>53820667
Allwinner h3 Is still only 2w under torture and 0.8w idle.
>>53820615
You will motherfucker, you will
>>53820708
I sleep in a 7x11 room with a server that ups the room temp 3ºF, it's not even noticeable
First off, fuck you OP
Second, If I were to buy one of these Android powered TV boxes what would I have to do to get all the free streams from KODI?
Im assuming
>install kodi
>install streaming sources
>open app whenever I turn the TV box on
Why do any of that when your PS4 is already plugged into your home-cinema system ready to go?
>>53820432
No, most of all processors on the market today don't support HEVC and the filesize difference is negligible when you compare the cost of a hard drive to an HEVC compatible CPU.
>>53820078
core2duo box is big and hard to conceal in an entertainment center, has no integrated GPU worth a shit, sounds like a hairdryer when running under load, does not have integrated wifi, and will probably drop dead in a year or two due to it's age and use.
>Anime
L O S E R
O
S
E
R
>>53824074
>too big
Multiple form factors exist
>no iGPU worth a shit
We're not talking gaymen anon, if the iGPU's not good enough a $3 GPU from eBay will be
>hair dryer under load
It's playing a fucking movie, not compiling Gentoo
>Wi-Fi
$2 fix
>probably drop dead in a year or two
Now you're just flat out making shit up
who the fuck wants to watch anime LMAO
>>53820078
>dual-core desktop processor from 2006 has no problems software-decoding Hi10p 1080p video.
Not totally true.
In order to play 1080p Hi10p on my dual-core ( L9400 1.8Ghz) I have to configure smplayer to use 8 threads , disable the in-loop deblocking filter , set the post-processing level to 1
and select the OpenGL output driver.
And If any other program is consuming more than the 5% of the CPU time you will notice some light framedrops.
With that configuration I can play things like DYRL without any noticable framedrops.
>>53820078
>implying you have a 10bit screen
>>53824236
>>53824082
what the fuck are you doing in this site?
You come here for the epic h4x0rs and memes or what?
>>53820078
>Hi10p 1080p video.
ayy get with the times nigga
HEVC 4K60 Main10 or bust
>>53820078
>machine that starts up in mere seconds
Why even bother shutting the android box down?
>>53820078
>underpowered
except they have hardware acceleration for most codecs
>$40 used core2duo machine
by that same logic I could buy a used android box for $15 that supports 4k resolution
>>53820078
why do people play 10 bit content on 8 bit screens?
>>53820078
>refrigerator sized
>loud fans
>burns through electricity
>>53820615
>200 watts
Every desktop C2D had a 65W TDP.
>>53826925
why do people listen to 48 kHz music files with 20 kHz ears?
>>53827411
Because of the Shannon sampling theorem you fuckwit.
>>53826925
it cray cray, but it get better compression ratio
simply buy a RPi3 ore 2b+
>>53827421
>answering a rhetorical question
here's your complimentary autism ticket
Its going to cost you a lot more than $40 and take A LOT more time to put something together as seamless as an existing product geared towards media consumption. It doesn't even make sense for most /g/ users. And this is coming from a guy with his own homebrewed netflix and chill setup. It just isn't practical for most people
>>53824403
Seriously? Have a core 2 duo HP from '06 and had nowhere this much of a headache having it play such a format. Heck I was limited by by shit network card when I had it run the video output through xming.
>>53824403
>>53827865
What bitrates are you people talking about? Establish that first, *then* talk about the resolution and format.
>>53824121
>multiple form factors exist
And they're all still too big compared to an android box
>a $3 gpu from eBay will be fine
No it won't.
>$2 fix
So you're adding extra costs to the core 2 again?
First the ssd and now wifi?
When the android box already has built in Wi-Fi and Bluetooth.
>probably drop dead in a year or 2
Core 2 duos are old.
Old pc parts are more likely to fail, especially cheap parts.
>>53820078
Who's comfier?
>>53827911
I was talking about a video with average bitrate of 14142 kbps ( peak of 65115 kbps)
ffh264 23.976 fes 1920 x 1036 10-bit
>>53824121
>It's playing a fucking movie, not compiling Gentoo
Might as well be the same thing on that underpowered shitbox. Your CPU/GPU will be maxed playing 1080p unless you're playing some low bitrate webm turd. And yes, you do need a seperate GPU, and it has to be powerful enough to make up for the weak CPU. Why do you think the android boxes all have hardware decoding support and Mali 450's?
>>53827026
I was just going with the number he threw out, that only further validates my point.
>>53829692
*23.976 fps
>>53829692
Anon was probably talking about 2 Mbps YIFY shitcodes.
>>53829932
I use an iMac with a laptop C2D, it plays 1080p perfectly while multitasking, hell my browser consumes more CPU than the video player.
where do I buy a cheap $40 core2duo?
>>53820708
If you'd get out of the basement you'd realise windows are a thing.
>>53831942
eBay.
>>53832234
or newegg refurbished
>>53827450
Fuck the better compression ratio. I live in Australia, land of shit internet and expensive electronics, and neither bandwidth nor hard disk space is so precious that I must shave off every possible megabyte.
>>53832332
It also helps with banding. It's better, stop being a pleb.
>>53820280
this
>>53820280
>>53833852
>eMMC
>SSD
You can get an SD card for a few dollars
>>53833879
but SDs are slow as fuck
>>53835107
As are eMMCs
>>53832332
Electricity is hella expensive here though.
Android boxes are small and convenient. Low heat, low power consumption, and as proven in this thread multiple times, lower cost.
>>53835763
But can they play my chinese cartoons?
>>53824599
>every board is an anime board
>Japanese culture means anime nothing else
Shit weebs say
>>53820078
Power and space. Android box is often in "hdmi dongle" size while c2d is a desktop cpu.
>>53836347
Yes.
They're fine for 1080p playback, which is one reason why they're so popular.
>>53835763
Exactly. Low-power media players that don't do 10-bit bullshit are therefore a better choice than a PC that can play absolutely anything.
>>53836602
What about 10 bit and fancy subs?
All my anime is coming from my smb fileserver.
I don't really want to stream shit.
>>53836918
Fuck 10-bit and fancy subs. There are tricks you can play with media server software that transcodes on the fly, though.
>>53836976
Fuck that, I'm buying an android TV box to decode my video, not to play my transcoded shit coming from my already anemic Intel atom NAS.
>>53836997
Avoid downloading 10-bit encodes with fancy subs, then. Transcode on a real machine when you absolutely can't avoid downloading them.
>>53824403
In order to play 10b 1080p at 15-20Mbps+ (i.e. a good quality rip) on my old P7450 (2.13GHz) laptop I just play it in Kodi like everything else, no frame drops but high CPU usage.
>>53824408
>implying that matters when the only decent rip of the content you want is 10b
>>53837024
Why should I do that?
It's your stupid android TV boxes that can't handle the load, why should I go out of my way to find shitty unseeded transcodes when my ancient c2d plays full quality 10 bit releases perfectly.
>>53836803
Have you even tried them? They're really not bad. Just install a decent media player like vlc
>>53835763
>Low heat, low power consumption, and as proven in this thread multiple times, lower cost
Fucking hell, I use an old laptop from ~6 years ago with a 25W CPU as a HTPC, it plays fucking everything at 1080p. It didn't cost me anything extra, the power consumption is laughable and generally irrelevant anyway, since it's only on for short periods of time and I don't have to bother with finding just the right encode.
>>53837188
Why are you talking about buying an Android box then? Stick with your power-hungry PC if you're so happy with it.
>>53837199
Android boxes specifically? No. I swear by Kodi on a Raspberry Pi.
>>53837288
A raspberry pi is weaker than most those android boxes though.
>>53837281
>25w
Yeah because that's almost nothing. When you have a 65w processor, an outdated 120w $3 gpu, a 60GB ssd and an inefficient 10 year old psu it's consuming 10 times more than your atom laptop.
>>53837548
>A raspberry pi is weaker than most those android boxes though.
True (at least for the Raspberry Pi 1 and 2, not sure about 3), but in the discussion of low-power ARM device versus PC, the CPU power the ARM device has is largely irrelevant. Video decoding is done in hardware.
>>53837651
That's true, but I'm surprised op didn't mention the $15 orange pi pc instead, which has native 4k 30fps decoding.
>>53837681
I don't think that has a terribly big user base, compared to a purpose-built Android box.
>>53837713
Well it's cheaper than an android box and can easily handle 1080p video playback at only 2w.
>>53837786
Yeah, but what most people want in a media player that plugs into the TV is not having a setup more complicated than plugging one cable into the TV and the other into the power. The Raspberry Pi's setup (which is that plus flashing a disk image to an SD card) is about as much setup as I can be bothered doing for a media player.
