Android HDMI sticks for your TV

Does anyone have any experience with these? I currently have an old laptop connected to my TV to make it a “smart TV”, but I am thinking of getting one of these.

Doing a little online research, this looks like a good one:

Mini iMito MX1 Android 4.1

It has pretty good specs:
Operation System:Google Android 4.1.1
CPU: dual core up to 1.6GHz,dual core cotex A9,quad-core GPU
RAM: DDR3 1GB
ROM: 8GB
Memory External: Support External Storage via. Micro-SD card, Support up to 32GB
Networking: WiFi 802.11b/g/n 10/100Mbps With internal Antenna
Graphics Type: Mali400 supports 1080P video (1920*1080)
Net Weight: 47 g
Android Market: Support Android Market Google Play
Flash Player: Support Adobe Flash 11
Gaming: Built-in 3D Accelerator. Support 3D gaming

Here is a youtube review of it:

Anyone have any experience with these?

16 Comments Join the discussion!

87 AChackes 01/04/13 11:52 AM

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here is the youtube link, not sure why it didn’t work

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- 87 AChackes 01/04/13 12:04 PM
  
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  fixed it in the original post, now of course I can not delete this comment.
  
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93 OpenIntro 01/04/13 1:37 PM

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I’ve had no experience with that one, but I did purchase the Rikomagic MK802 II

http://www.amazon.com/Rikomagic-Generation-Android-Google-Player/dp/B0091UHMHO

Honestly, it was fun to play with for a bit, but without any kind of dedicated keyboard, I didn’t really care for having a bit tablet display on my TV. I felt like I needed more of an interface specifically for the TV. Without a keyboard (or the touchscreen), it didn’t feel totally useful.

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- 87 AChackes 01/04/13 1:50 PM
  
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  thanks for the comments. If you didn’t have a keyboard, how did you control it?
  
  I have a Logitech wireless keyboard that I currently use with my old laptop that is plugged into the tv, I think this keyboard with the Android HDMI stick would be a cool set up.
  
  http://www.amazon.com/Logitech-Wireless-Keyboard-Multi-Touch-920-003070/dp/B005DKZTMG/ref=pd_bxgy_e_img_y
  
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  - 93 OpenIntro 01/04/13 11:48 PM
    
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    I actually plugged in a wireless mouse dongle and used the mouse. Like I said, not the best experience. There was a way to control it with your phone, but you had to hack the device and upload custom firmware to it, and I got burnt out on it pretty quickly. It’s back in the box for a rainy day.
    
    Thanks for the keyboard link! That actually could be quite useful!
    
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  - 78 decker 01/06/13 1:16 AM
    
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    This actually looks like a really cool keyboard/touchpad. I would be really interested in hearing how this went if you end up getting one.
    
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    - 87 AChackes 01/06/13 1:27 AM
      
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      I have the keyboard, it works great, just as you would expect, it even supports some swipe functions like scrolling with 2 fingers and pinch to zoom. I just ordered the iMito MX1, I will post an update when it comes.
      
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87 AChackes 01/05/13 4:42 PM

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I went ahead and ordered it, I will let you know how it is when I get it.

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- ritiGuest 04/11/13 4:18 AM
  
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  Can you share your thoughts?
  
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87 AChackes 04/11/13 9:16 AM

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Sorry I never posted a follow up, I barely ever use this thing. My old laptop plugged into the TV with the Logitech keyboard works better and can do more. The android stick’s wifi is not as strong as the laptop, the only games that really work are puzzle games and angry birds, and I might as well just play those on my phone. I tried using my phone as a controller, connected to the stick using bluetooth using this app:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=droidbean.btcontrollerfull&feature=more_from_developer#?t=W251bGwsMSwxLDEwMiwiZHJvaWRiZWFuLmJ0Y29udHJvbGxlcmZ1bGwiXQ..

but it was barely playable, the touch screen of a phone just doesn’t translate to video game controller. I tried this set up on dead trigger, and I just couldn’t control the movement of the shooter.

Because the wifi signal is not as strong as the laptop, web browsing, watching netflix, playing music etc, is all better on the laptop. Why did I buy this thing?

Another annoying thing is there is no button on the thing, it turns on when you plug it in. There is an onscreen button to power it down, but then when you want to turn it back on you have to unplug it and plug it back in. It gets a little warm while it is running, so I didn’t want to leave it on all the time.

I guess if you don’t have an old laptop, and will be really close to your wifi source, or can hard wire it to your network (with an adapter) it would be fine.

Let me know if there are other questions, or you want to buy it from me to try it out yourself….

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- 87 AChackes 04/11/13 9:25 AM
  
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  Oh yea, just remembered, sometimes I can’t get any sound to come out of this thing, that could be a defect, but a few times when I turn it on there was no sound at all, I powered it down, unplugged it from the HDMI, replugged it in, maybe to a different HDMI slot on my TV and got the sounds going again at least once. But, I honestly can’t remember if the last time I used it I was able to get sound at all.
  
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Danny LoweGuest 04/19/13 10:09 AM

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I bought one of these a mk808IIIs (the s bit was important, I wanted bluetooth to control the thing) out the box it was slow and cluncky and crashed on me. I updated the firmware and now the wifi is much improved and response, loading times ect work perfect.
In a way it is a glorified tablet, but not being that tech savvy i didnt want to hack, slash, crash, brick any of my other devices messing around with this compared to my s3 lets me breath easy when i hit an instal button :). Thats the main reason i bought it. For £60 i have a fully working PC with access to google play store and internet enabled.
This is an ongoing project (think raspberry pi but with out the coding), I started out just watching youtube vids, checking ebay, emails, social networks all using the dedicated apps from play store, found this faster than using chrome on the stick. I stuck a 32gb memory card in and now run several emulators using a bluetooth game pad, current fav’s are teenage mutant ninja turtles and mario kart on the snes emu. Next project is to run xmbc through it and see were that takes me.
Like i say this has opened new roads for me as i explore more about roms and the android os maybe hacking the odd .apk file here and there. things i would’nt have done on a £200 -£300 bit of hardware.

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VleNikGuest 04/23/13 1:04 AM

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Does any of these sticks support the Google Play Store at all?
None of these are in the “Supported Devices” of Google… I’ve recently purchased a TizzBird N1 stick, with the intention of installing Playstore apps. Most of the websites are saying that it is possible but I am just unable to do so…

See the vid below what happens
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nH3wyQAz47Y

After doing a firmware update, it still doesn’t work
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uz00Y6nH2Y8

But besides that, the TizzBird N1 stick is pretty nice…

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- 87 AChackes 04/24/13 9:18 AM
  
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  My MX1 has the Google play store preinstalled.
  
  Not sure what could be done with yours, sorry.
  
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  - VleNikGuest 04/25/13 12:22 PM
    
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    Hmm… Is there anyone that has any idea?
    
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Engjell MeneGuest 05/19/13 7:38 PM

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Very detailed and helpful video. Where can this device be purchased and how does it compare with what’s in the market at the present?

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