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Thread: Kodi hardware

  1. #1
    DF Moderator EvilBoB's Avatar
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    Advice Kodi hardware

    Keep seeing more and more people using Kodi. I've been using Plex for a number of years now and it works for me but figure I should give XBMC another go

    So my question is hardware wise what would people recommend? I have a HP Microserver that I run my Ubuntu server on with Plex at the moment but it's running as a VM so without spending money on a new gfx card and stuff I will not be using that. I have a few old laptops (i5) that I could probably use but this seems overkill. I have a 1st gen Raspberry Pi that I used to run Kodi on but it was slow - I know the newer builds are better but I want a better solutions ideally.

    So... Do I go for one of those Chinese Android boxes and hope it doesn't catch fire? Use a laptop? Amazon 4K Box?

    I think the 4k box is my favourite option at the moment as it gives a bit of future proofing
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    Default Re: Kodi hardware

    I use kodi on a gigabyte micro-pc, 40gb ssd, wireless rii keyboard and HDMI out to my telly. I just installed kodibuntu when I set it up a couple of years ago and keep updating kodi every so often - does everything I need it to

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    DF VIP Member rmj2663's Avatar
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    Default Re: Kodi hardware

    Using Firestick, very happy and its also small enough to be not seen.

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    Default Re: Kodi hardware

    Cheap Boxes are fine for what you need. as there isn't much 4k streaming yet

    just don't get the bugged chipset, I cant remember which one it is get the other

    This just in about the boxes
    http://www.gazettelive.co.uk/news/te...se-im-11946403

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    DF VIP Member Bald Bouncer's Avatar
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    Default Re: Kodi hardware

    Quote Originally Posted by Mickey View Post
    Cheap Boxes are fine for what you need. as there isn't much 4k streaming yet

    just don't get the bugged chipset, I cant remember which one it is get the other

    This just in about the boxes
    http://www.gazettelive.co.uk/news/te...se-im-11946403
    He's screwed can't see a viable defence to the charges he has been facilitating, he's also not fighting for anyone but himself as they could be quite easily sold without Kodi installed or with base kodi, also seen a lot of lies and misleading information coming from F.A.C.T

    “In their original form, these boxes are legitimate. However, with the use of apps and add-ons, they allow users to access copyright infringing material, from live TV and sports, to premium pay-for channels and newly released films. Once configured these boxes are illegal.” Source
    That is just an outright lie and in direct conflict with the European ruling, if they are pre-loaded and sold then yes that act is illegal or will be ruled so after this case, the act of watching any stream live or not is not illegal, the supply of that stream is. Lying F.A.C.T Cunts



    Watching Pirated Streams Is Legal, Rules EU Court

    The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has confirmed that watching pirated video streams online does not break any copyright laws.

    The ruling comes via a legal battle between rights holders and European media service company Meltwater. Copyright holders including the Associated Press charged Meltwater with copyright infringement when the company extracted headlines from various news sources and sent these via email to users.

    In an interesting twist, the media groups suing Meltwater, led by the U.K. based Newspaper Licensing Agency (NLA), also argued that users receiving these emails should be liable for licensing fees, an argument which led to this week's ruling.

    Early court rulings initially favored the NLA, but the Supreme Court of The United Kingdom eventually ruled against the NLA, confirming that viewing copyrighted content online is not copyright infringement. The court cited existing EU copyright law which that temporary copies are given a specific exemption from copyright law. The court did refer the matter for further comment to the CJEU.

    This week, the CJEU confirmed that the existing EU copyright exemptions for temporary copies applies to viewing and streaming online. Viewing or streaming, the court says, is different to making a copy and would be exempt from copyright laws, but the copies "must be temporary, that they must be transient or incidental in nature and that they must constitute an integral and essential part of a technological process."

    While this ruling provides clarification on this issue, the ruling may anger rights holders who have in recent times devoted more resources in tackling the piracy problem caused by the increasing use of streaming services. It's worth noting that this ruling does not exempt operators of these streaming services from legal responsibility, only the viewers and users of these services.

    Source
    Last edited by Bald Bouncer; 29th September 2016 at 04:06 PM.

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    DF VIP Member AP0ll0UK's Avatar
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    Default Re: Kodi hardware

    I can't recommend the Asus Chromebox enough. It runs Openelec and runs Kodi and everything I can throw at it perfectly. It will do some 4k stuff but not the top end of the 4k stuff. I won't be in the market for a 4k Tv for a while so this doesn't bother me.

    I have a G8 and one of the VMs runs Xpenology which manages my WD Reds containin my movie collection. I don't bother with Plex tbh, never really found a use for it. I've got 2 Firesticks upstairs and they're not bad for £30. I run them pretty basic, no shiny skin like on my Chromebox and no library to keep everything clean and simple. They run over WiFi and can play 1080P files which is good considering my WiFi signal into the extended part of the house through the original stone wall isn't great. I have the Yatse app on my S7 and my Mrs has it on her iPhone. Nice and simple and she uses it to watch shitty Twilight, Top Gun or Dirty Dancing but never ever has any problems. If she's feeling adventorous she'll watch the Fast and the Furious series with their lovely DTS soundtrack.

    The Chromebox was a refurb from Argos on Fleabay at about £99. It never gets warm, is totally silent, and I'm running it with the stock 2GB Ram and 16GB SSD, it's low power and reliable.

    I've got mates who have bought Chinese Android boxes and a few of them are on their second or third box. They're pretty much throwaways from what I understand. Cheap hardware, mass produced with little quality control, little to no support, and if you get more than a couple of firmware upgrades to fix bugs then you'll be lucky. Plus some of them have to run an external player like MX Player which is faff. Fine when they work but a bugger to rebuild and reconfigure unless you've got the firmware to flash back to stock.

    On that note, I can't help but think that it serves a lot of people right if they want to cancel their $ky or V!rgin subscription in favour of some cheap Chinese clone of a clone box. Personally I don't blame the Kodi dev's for trying to shutdown the sellers of 'fully loaded' devices. People make a living off of it rather than doing any actual work which is all wrong. They sell cheap crap to punters who are trying to save a few quid, then the punters start crying all over the Kodi forums because they can't watch Football on a Sunday. I've been using XBMC since the original XBox days. It was great back then but as soon as it evolved and the third party streams started coming online in droves, it became obvious that something had to be done. Once a few get convicted and have the book thrown at them then hopefully that will deter a few of the others, the dodgey shops will shutdown and eBay will be prevented from racking in the commission from all the tossers on eBay selling them with no support.

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    DF VIP Member raelmadrid's Avatar
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    Default Re: Kodi hardware

    nvidia shield here with stock marshmallow and kodi nightly

    does 4k and autoboots into kodi in seconds

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    Default Re: Kodi hardware

    was using an Open Hour Chameleon, fantastic little box but I was hoping to get a 4K TV soon but the Mrs has other ideas so just whacked it on ebay as I cant see me using the 4K side of it anytime soon
    You know he grew up as a little shitspark from the old shitflint and then he turned into a shitbonfire and driven by the winds of his monumental ignorance he turned into a raging shitfirestorm. If I get to be married to Barb I'll have total control of Sunnyvale and then I can unleash the shitnami tidal wave that will engulf Ricky and extinguish his shitflames forever. And with any luck he'll drown in the undershit of that wave. Shitwaves.

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    Default Re: Kodi hardware

    Quote Originally Posted by Bald Bouncer View Post
    He's screwed can't see a viable defence to the charges he has been facilitating, he's also not fighting for anyone but himself as they could be quite easily sold without Kodi installed or with base kodi, also seen a lot of lies and misleading information coming from F.A.C.T
    His prices are misleading enough. Free means free, not £69.

    Thanks to beerman

    Bald Bouncer (3rd October 2016)  


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    Default Re: Kodi hardware

    I run Kodi on a host of devices. Raspberry Pi, Pi 2, Asus EeePc's and Firestick. The Pi (1) struggles a bit but the Pi2 is just fine.
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    DF Moderator EvilBoB's Avatar
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    Default Re: Kodi hardware

    So rather than using beefy hardware I coughed up for a Raspberry Pi 3 which arrived today. Hopefully I will get some time over the weekend to have a play and see what's what with it. Can finally repurpose my old RasPi for something better...

    If all works well this will be installed in the missus' car. Not 100% on that right now but for the price it's a steal..
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    Default Re: Kodi hardware

    The pi 3 should fly mate.
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    Thanks to tombott

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  13. #13
    DF MaSter OurPuma's Avatar
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    Default Re: Kodi hardware

    Hi all,
    I'm looking into this now, so is the rpi3 good with Kodi?

  14. #14
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    Default Re: Kodi hardware

    Bit late to reply, but I'm thinking a first gen i5 laptop wouldn't really be overkill - they are pretty low value now - I'm considering migrating my personal server (which currently is only being used for VOIP although could also run KODI) from an old laptop with C2D 2.2 to another laptop with first gen i5 as it would drain less power and be less likely to overheat in the summer. My room can get roasting in the summer, and that poor old C2D was throttling itself down to 0.2GHz due to heat and even shut down a few times.

    Quote Originally Posted by Bald Bouncer View Post
    He's screwed can't see a viable defence to the charges he has been facilitating
    Personally I reckon he hasn't got a chance because he is the small man fighting against "the machine".

    However if it's legal for us to watch streams at home as long as we don't record them then he isn't facilitating any crime, and if he isn't actually selling any closed source software without permission of copyright holders then (as a layman) I struggle to see how/why the boxes technically would be illegal. We could take things a little further just to make a silly point - if I sold a computer and for example engraved the URL to the plex site on the case, would I be guilty of any wrongdoing? Lets replace the link to plex with a link to google videos and consider it then. Then replace the link to google videos with a link to google.... doesn't seem quite as clear cut as it first sounds.

    However even if he somehow won the case, I would expect the laws to be changed pretty sharpish.

    With regards to that test case about legality of selling Kodi boxes, found a slightly more recent update, basically says the case is on hold until next year. http://www.gazettelive.co.uk/news/te...-shop-12086720
    Last edited by Over Carl; 5th December 2016 at 08:04 PM.

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    Default Re: Kodi hardware

    Quote Originally Posted by Mickey View Post
    Cheap Boxes are fine for what you need. as there isn't much 4k streaming yet

    just don't get the bugged chipset, I cant remember which one it is get the other

    This just in about the boxes
    http://www.gazettelive.co.uk/news/te...se-im-11946403

    "advertising a product to circumvent technological measures"

    Any one know what act of parliament makes this a criminal offence referred to in the article mentioned ?

    Thanks to JonEp

    Over Carl (5th December 2016)  


  16. #16
    DF VIP Member Over Carl's Avatar
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    Default Re: Kodi hardware

    If "advertising a product to circumvent technological measures" is a criminal offence, then how are suppliers supposed to advertise tools to locksmiths?

    Or let us consider Konboot that lets you crack Windows passwords. If they advertise the software, and I use it to defeat a Windows password I had setup on my own machine but forgot, then what is the crime?

    Or how about network professionals that offer penetration tests. Surely the main service they offer is circumventing technological measures?

    Thinking about it, if you are a Windows PC administrator, you can use Windows built in functionality to take ownership of files, and in the process circumvent any restrictions preventing access via the permissions system. So I suppose Microsoft have sold millions of copies of software with functionality to circumvent technological measures, and their publication of the process to do so could be considered as an advert if there was any interest in trying to use this unknown legislation fairly across the board.

    If we really want to get silly, I could use a piece of modern technology known as a biro pen to write down information. Are the makers of Tipp-ex illegally advertising a product that can be used to circumvent technological measures? How about Intel showing off how many MIPS their latest processor can handle, surely this would be of great assistance to someone intending to brute force.....
    Last edited by Over Carl; 5th December 2016 at 08:40 PM.

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    DF VIP Member JonEp's Avatar
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    Default Re: Kodi hardware

    Quote Originally Posted by Over Carl View Post
    If "advertising a product to circumvent technological measures" is a criminal offence, then how are suppliers supposed to advertise tools to locksmiths?

    Or let us consider Konboot that lets you crack Windows passwords. If they advertise the software, and I use it to defeat a Windows password I had setup on my own machine but forgot, then what is the crime?

    Or how about network professionals that offer penetration tests. Surely the main service they offer is circumventing technological measures?
    Exactly my thoughts too OC... but the idea must have come from somewhere, presumable the charge sheet. It wouldn't surprise me given the vexatious law makers we have had in recent governments to discover there is such an offence.

    EDIT: Found it I think

    2.1

    https://www.gov.uk/government/public...perty-offences

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  18. #18
    DF VIP Member Over Carl's Avatar
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    Default Re: Kodi hardware

    Wouldn't surprise me. Funny how I can use Tipp-ex as an example twice in a row - shouldn't that be illegal now due to the Psychoactive Substances Act 2016? Along with many other chemicals that we would not be able to live our modern lives without....

  19. #19
    DF VIP Member Bald Bouncer's Avatar
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    Default Re: Kodi hardware

    Quote Originally Posted by Over Carl View Post
    Personally I reckon he hasn't got a chance because he is the small man fighting against "the machine".

    However if it's legal for us to watch streams at home as long as we don't record them then he isn't facilitating any crime, and if he isn't actually selling any closed source software without permission of copyright holders then (as a layman) I struggle to see how/why the boxes technically would be illegal. We could take things a little further just to make a silly point - if I sold a computer and for example engraved the URL to the plex site on the case, would I be guilty of any wrongdoing? Lets replace the link to plex with a link to google videos and consider it then. Then replace the link to google videos with a link to google.... doesn't seem quite as clear cut as it first sounds.

    However even if he somehow won the case, I would expect the laws to be changed pretty sharpish.

    With regards to that test case about legality of selling Kodi boxes, found a slightly more recent update, basically says the case is on hold until next year. http://www.gazettelive.co.uk/news/te...-shop-12086720
    I agree it's the smaller man getting shafted as they again ignore the fact these are readily available on Amazon and ebay yet no one is kicking their doors in at 6am, it's not a grey area but it is quite complex and to do with the storage of the streamed media in ram/memory/cache and the wording of substantial amount to have committed the offence (a bit off track but the intention of this is all computers in the act of surfing the net store many trademark and copyright items), the view of the European court was at no point was there an amount that could be considered substantial and drew a very narrow line in use that did not breach copyright. It all gets very complex but a good example would be you can play a copy of a game you own but the sale of a device to do it is illegal so one thing being legal does not make a device that facilitates it legal. His advertising and having his own build alone would screw him as it is also built with copyright images.

    Quote Originally Posted by Over Carl View Post
    If "advertising a product to circumvent technological measures" is a criminal offence, then how are suppliers supposed to advertise tools to locksmiths?

    Or let us consider Konboot that lets you crack Windows passwords. If they advertise the software, and I use it to defeat a Windows password I had setup on my own machine but forgot, then what is the crime?

    Or how about network professionals that offer penetration tests. Surely the main service they offer is circumventing technological measures?

    Thinking about it, if you are a Windows PC administrator, you can use Windows built in functionality to take ownership of files, and in the process circumvent any restrictions preventing access via the permissions system. So I suppose Microsoft have sold millions of copies of software with functionality to circumvent technological measures, and their publication of the process to do so could be considered as an advert if there was any interest in trying to use this unknown legislation fairly across the board.

    If we really want to get silly, I could use a piece of modern technology known as a biro pen to write down information. Are the makers of Tipp-ex illegally advertising a product that can be used to circumvent technological measures? How about Intel showing off how many MIPS their latest processor can handle, surely this would be of great assistance to someone intending to brute force.....
    A mix again as they choose who they prosecute and also down to manufactures or developers primary intention or claimed intention for the device or program, if they advertised say locksmith equipment to rob anyone's house they would be in shit or you advertised glue that was great for sniffing so it's intended use or advertised use.

    Thanks to Bald Bouncer

    Over Carl (5th December 2016)  


  20. #20
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    Default Re: Kodi hardware

    Thanks for the reply However this is the one bit I don't quite understand and I would be most grateful if you could provide a link or two for my education, as otherwise surely VCR's were all illegal, and all the shops selling them should have been in trouble?

    Quote Originally Posted by Bald Bouncer View Post
    It all gets very complex but a good example would be you can play a copy of a game you own but the sale of a device to do it is illegal so one thing being legal does not make a device that facilitates it legal.

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