Android media player set up for dummies

[Saan]

I was thinking of buying an Android media player for my TV. There is a man in Chiang Mai selling them for 5000 baht. I see the exact same one on Ebay for 1500 baht.

Can anyone please tell me if they are easy to set up, ready to use or if there is anyone in Chiang Mai I can pay to set it up for me.

Footnote: I am at the bottom end of the scale when it comes to anything electronic.

[LivinLOS]

Define easy ?? Also define what your trying to do.. The question is broad and means a lot of different things to different people.. Streaming LiveTV from the net ?? Then within that what form of live TV ?? Sports only, iplayer and other 'apps' ?? A full channel package with EPG ??? Or just playing local media on a home network with a good UI ?? Finding and downloading your media automatically as its released like sickbeard etc.. Distributing legal (satellite) video feeds around a home.. Are your interests mainstream media like game of thrones and blockbusters or are you wanting to find media not easily available in Thailand like arthouse indie or foreign films.. Etc etc etc...

Are you trying to make a single box / point of use or are you looking at a whole home media net ?? Are you trying to integrate music and whole home audio playback ?? How complex or not do you want ??

First define your desires from a media box and then advise can work from there.. As you can guess its a HUGE topic, with different answers depending on use profile.. That makes it great, but also the diversity can make it complex.

The main contender for media center management is probably Kodi.. I like Kodi's ability to use lots of modular plug ins, have a unified interface on my TVs throughout the house, to manage it all with a tablet as the remote control and, media browser etc etc.. Yet this all comes as a collection of elements and some workload. You can do an awful lot with a kodi systems, from simple install and run, to whole home distributed networks handing multiple input sources, all controlled with a tablet... I am probably about 70 or 80% along the complexity ladder.. But even with just 20% or so effort you can get a lot from a Kodi system.

Plex is sort of simpler, but comes at a cost of needing to dedicate a 'server' on the network to be on 24/7.. I also dont like its lack of customization in pursuit of simplicity.. Plex feels more like a self contained app, Kodi feels more like a media OS.

Of course theres a whole bunch of simple pirate android apps.. Have a look at popcorn time or showbox for idiot proof simplicity.. Theres a lot to be said for popcorntime on a decent PC with a cheap chromecast plugged into your TV.. Not very slick or integrated but all the movies and TV you can watch.

The issues of hardware, what box or platform to run it on, does the system have a good remote, can you stream effectively on your home network or must you download first to playback locally... etc etc are all variables...

[dddave]

Spend some time on YouTube before making any purchase. There are a large number of tutorial and informational videos available both for Android boxes in general and Kodi specifically, showing how to install, set-up and then manage the system. Actually seeing the many steps is really helpful to tech challenged individuals.

It is a learning curve and requires some patience. Some of the videos are better than others. Also, while Android boxes can provide a huge amount of free content, they are far from problem free and seem to require constant tweeking. The quality and stability of your internet connection is also a big factor.

The Television and Entertainment subforum of ThaiVisa's Computer forum has some really informative threads...I suggest you start there.

[worgeordie]

Just download TVMC from tvaddons.ag, thats there version of Kodi,

it already has addons installed,so suitable for the beginner,then you

can add more later when you gain more experience.

regards Worgeordie