Hello,
I have recently began looking into getting an Android TV box to cut the cord. All though I love Bell fibe, I am sick and tired of their constant price increases and having to call them on a regular basis to renegotiate their prices as they keep adjusting it up even after I just arrived at an acceptable price (that's a whole different post).
Like the other poster of similar subject I am seeing a million options and I am trying to narrow them down. I have several issues to consider which I will try to cram into this one post so please bear with me if it get's a bit lengthy.
First off, I am trying to figure out if I need/want 4k support. I do not currently have a 4k tv however I don't know if it's worth getting just to future proof my purchase.
Also, I watch TSN's coverage of F1 and this year F1 is available in 4k. I can see the PQ is much better even on my 1080p tv. It's not psychological as I noticed the difference as soon as I watched the first session before I saw their ads about 4k availability. Logically I would say the benefits of 4k should not be visible on a 1080 display but I can clearly see the difference. Though the question is whether the difference is 4k or are their new cameras just using a better lens? Or is it just higher bandwidth or some other back end change?
I also require optical/spdif digital audio as I run a fairly high end home theater and my pre-amp does not have hdmi with audio capability. I will be upgrading within the next two years however I'm in no rush as I have managed to work around hdmi using optical/spdif inputs however I do want good quality sound. Using TV speakers is out of the question.
The most recommended box is the nvidia shield however it does not have optical/spdif. I know I can add a usb adapter however they range in price from about $40 to hundreds of $$ (recommendation on this front are welcome as well). I'm not sure if using up a usb port for this is a problem. I have external HDs I use, plus IIRC the micro sd memory extension also works through a usb adapter therefore I might run out of usb ports. My wireless keyboard is also usb but I believe it has bt so that's not a show stopper.
I would like to get a powerful enough box to stream video smoothly which might provide 4k by default.
I'm looking at the Vetek which seems recent enough and has optical output. I find most recent boxes with higher end chips and 4k have dropped optical out.
Another consideration is currently I have Fibe 50. Teksavvy only offers DSL 25 unlimited for $45 + $5 dry loop charge/month (at my postal code) where Fibe regular price for 50 is $89 which I may be able to keep for their promo price of $69. The $20/month may be worth it for the extra speed and reliability.
Thanks for reading if you made it this far. I am open to any suggestions and anecdotal evidence you may have running a similar setup.
Cheers
I have recently began looking into getting an Android TV box to cut the cord. All though I love Bell fibe, I am sick and tired of their constant price increases and having to call them on a regular basis to renegotiate their prices as they keep adjusting it up even after I just arrived at an acceptable price (that's a whole different post).
Like the other poster of similar subject I am seeing a million options and I am trying to narrow them down. I have several issues to consider which I will try to cram into this one post so please bear with me if it get's a bit lengthy.
First off, I am trying to figure out if I need/want 4k support. I do not currently have a 4k tv however I don't know if it's worth getting just to future proof my purchase.
Also, I watch TSN's coverage of F1 and this year F1 is available in 4k. I can see the PQ is much better even on my 1080p tv. It's not psychological as I noticed the difference as soon as I watched the first session before I saw their ads about 4k availability. Logically I would say the benefits of 4k should not be visible on a 1080 display but I can clearly see the difference. Though the question is whether the difference is 4k or are their new cameras just using a better lens? Or is it just higher bandwidth or some other back end change?
I also require optical/spdif digital audio as I run a fairly high end home theater and my pre-amp does not have hdmi with audio capability. I will be upgrading within the next two years however I'm in no rush as I have managed to work around hdmi using optical/spdif inputs however I do want good quality sound. Using TV speakers is out of the question.
The most recommended box is the nvidia shield however it does not have optical/spdif. I know I can add a usb adapter however they range in price from about $40 to hundreds of $$ (recommendation on this front are welcome as well). I'm not sure if using up a usb port for this is a problem. I have external HDs I use, plus IIRC the micro sd memory extension also works through a usb adapter therefore I might run out of usb ports. My wireless keyboard is also usb but I believe it has bt so that's not a show stopper.
I would like to get a powerful enough box to stream video smoothly which might provide 4k by default.
I'm looking at the Vetek which seems recent enough and has optical output. I find most recent boxes with higher end chips and 4k have dropped optical out.
Another consideration is currently I have Fibe 50. Teksavvy only offers DSL 25 unlimited for $45 + $5 dry loop charge/month (at my postal code) where Fibe regular price for 50 is $89 which I may be able to keep for their promo price of $69. The $20/month may be worth it for the extra speed and reliability.
Thanks for reading if you made it this far. I am open to any suggestions and anecdotal evidence you may have running a similar setup.
Cheers