So has anyone splashed out on an android box yet? I've been going though reviews and the MX2 seems to be recommended.

Just used that unotelly. Very good recommend thanks SchnookoLoly.

Glad you like it! I love how simple it is, and it's really reliable as well.

I've found it very good so far. Since BBC updated their site ive had right agg with buffering. Now its downloading onto BBC desktop as well. Nice one.

Don't buying anything until Google IO today. It's an almost certainty that Google will announce a new TV device.

Why pay for a Google box when you can pay for a high quality global VPN solution which gets you access to anything available? If you want to stream live content from your browser to HD TV for example there are multiple ways to screen share, assuming you have a Smart TV. These devices are simply additional revenue streams which is why they have never bothered pursuing it much until now.

Do yourself a favor and get onto IPVanish VPN - i've been watching World Cup on ITV, Sky Sports and Sky F1 via SkyGO (brother's UK Sky a/c) and the usual iPlayer content.

You need to pay a few $$$ a month (about 12 with a coupon) - which is a small investment for quality. No buffering, no crap, it just works. Forget about Expat Shield or Media Hint Firefox addons.

The above solution is a guaranteed 10mbps+ and i can assure you all content I watch on my 60" TV (connected via HDMI to my media laptop with IPVansih) is in HD quality

I don't want a smart TV. They're generally shit. I want a top of the range Panasonic Plasma.

I want a device that I can then playback content from to my TV. I don't want to have to turn on my PC to send content to my TV. That is a right mess and pain in the backside.

Hmmm...not sure your terminology is correct. I have a 'top-of-the-range' Panasonic Viera Plasma TV, which runs native applications called Viera Tools (DNLA server, Touch Pen, Media Player, Internet, Netflix, Skype etc. etc.) ...it's NOT shite and it IS a Smart TV...

BTW any TV with wi-fi and applications is generically known as a Smart TV...Search Results at Panasonic

Why limit yourself to using a device that can only function in certain ways?, as coded by the manufacturer? It's a pain in the arse using a device just to stream content to your TV via a box which is not configurable!

If you use a VPN solution configured at your router then there's nothing to do, ever, you're always masked behind the IP address of your choice. THere's no pain in the arse. If you want to use iPlayer, SKYGO, ITV etc, then these services all require that the base O/S runs on browser enabled code - i.e. you cannot download the BBC iPlayer for your Panasonic TV as an app. Most people on here want to use these. I can think of ten thousand reasons why i would want to have a media laptop connected to my TV, but in brief here is a few:

1. I have a 3TB movie collection on a home server file-share, which i access in a couple of clicks from my media laptop connected via HDMI to my TV in 5.1 audio.
2. I can have my internet browsing experience on a beautiful, rich, 60" screen.
3. I get everything on the internet - including all streaming requirements - available to me and configurable to the nth degree without having to use a dodgy proprietary box.
4. If i want to switch my VPN access requirements to a different country - let's say to USA - i can do this in about 3 seconds.
5. If for some reason i wanted to stream any other content from my laptop, such as a downloaded movie, i can do it using the Windows 7 'Play To' feature

...so to summarise, you get way more control across a variety of content and content type that can ONLY come from a non-proprietary source...which is always going to be a laptop running an O/S which supports all of the above options...could be Windows, Linux or Mac. A media box just doesn't cut it, sorry. Suggest that you're PC experiences have been less fun than mine

Panasonic make duff 'Smart TV's'. They do, however, make fantastic quality television sets which nearly reach the pinnacle the Pioneer Kuro set all those years ago.

I want a TV to display a first rate picture. I care not at all about how many inputs it has (my AV amp handles that) or which 'smart' features it has, which usually lead to more investment in these headline grabbing features than the quality of the picture.

There are set top boxes available to accommodate all sorts. I have a HTPC device which I run OpenELEC on and is very configurable. I also have a Chromecast which is not remotely configurable.

You're referring to a site-to-site VPN link? If so, that would be impractical. You would either need to route ALL traffic through this link (I don't want to route all my traffic back to London then back to the US, thanks), or would require configuring IPSEC w/ GRE to ensure you could route only certain IP's over the site-to-site link. Again, outside the competence of probably everyone on this board.

See above. It is a major PITA.

If you want to use iPlayer, SKYGO, ITV etc, then these services all require that the base O/S runs on browser enabled code - i.e. you cannot download the BBC iPlayer for your Panasonic TV as an app. Most people on here want to use these. [/QUOTE]

So buy a Roku and install the provided iPlayer app, or install XBMC / OpenELEC and use iPlayer for XBMC? I do the latter, it works fine.


That's a total pain in the arse. You have to have a laptop running near your TV, then sit and control the laptop to select your media? How is that better than running OpenELEC?

I can understand why some would like this, but personally I have no interest in it. I have a tablet / phone or a PC to browse the web on, my TV is for watching moving images.

I think your setup sounds very sub optimal. Have a read up on OpenELEC. That's my solution, and is far more appropriate to a home theater environment than your hacky solution

[QUOTE=hungryhorace;11319439]Panasonic make duff 'Smart TV's'. They do, however, make fantastic quality television sets which nearly reach the pinnacle the Pioneer Kuro set all those years ago.

Not sure what reviews you read. I can point you to a number of independent reviews that show Panasonic make excellent quality Smart TVs.


I want a TV to display a first rate picture. I care not at all about how many inputs it has (my AV amp handles that) or which 'smart' features it has, which usually lead to more investment in these headline grabbing features than the quality of the picture.

I didn't say anything about inputs. I also have a high-quality AV Receiver, but not sure what that has to do with the discussion. I also bought a particular model without 3D or any crap as it's most bloatware as you say.


You're referring to a site-to-site VPN link? If so, that would be impractical. You would either need to route ALL traffic through this link (I don't want to route all my traffic back to London then back to the US, thanks), or would require configuring IPSEC w/ GRE to ensure you could route only certain IP's over the site-to-site link. Again, outside the competence of probably everyone on this board.

You're not serious are you. If you want to get UK content on your device why would you not use a VPN? It gives you a UK IP with almost zero setup requirement. Open Ctrl Pnl and configure your VPN settings, or go to the website of the VPN provider and download/install their already configured.prf file - it takes about 60 seconds and there are rather large pictures for those unable to read or with no IT knowledge. What's wrong with routing your traffic from UK to Canada temporarily give that the content is sitting on a UK based server anyway? How else did you intend to access the data...your argument doesn't make sense. The VPN config and service is also backed by an SLA that guarantees a minimum latency or your money back, all of which is recorded in your network event logs and can be proven to the VPN host support teams. The QoS is excellent with IPVanish, i've never seen anything but very positive reviews. There's no need for configuring specific IPs either - I believe you will find these are unobtainable anyway, due to their public IPs being geo load-balanced back in the UK. A short Google will provide you with this confirmation.


That's a total pain in the arse. You have to have a laptop running near your TV, then sit and control the laptop to select your media? How is that better than running OpenELEC?

I use PLEX sometimes, which runs OpenELEC underneath. It is nothing other than an additional management layer, in the same way that virtualization of a server infrastructure adds an additional layer of management. You choose to use OpenELEC, i choose to run Win 7 - but i have more functionality than you do as you're limited to what's programmed on the distribution of that software for one specific purpose. I have a thing called a remote control for my AV receiver, where i can switch between my cable set-top box and my media center laptop...the laptop sits under my TV without me touching it and i have a thing called a wireless mouse and keyboard.

I think your setup sounds very sub optimal. Have a read up on OpenELEC. That's my solution, and is far more appropriate to a home theater environment than your hacky solution

I think your setup sounds limited in several ways and that you need to have a technical read-up on what a VPN solution actually means and what it can do for you Since the discussion was based around the ability to access iPlayer/ITV/blah blah, it is quite clear that streaming content via web is a far simpler and feature-rich approach. Remember that most people just want to turn on their computer and access the UK content and i'm sure many of them also know how to connect an HDMI cable to their TV, most of which have multiple options to connect to.

Folks coming to Canada reading this for the first time would be well-advised to follow the VPN solution to access UK content, rather than opting for an OpenElec install which DOES require some knowledge as it is a niche product. VPN just works and the quality is guaranteed. Turn it on, turn it off...whatever you want...it also masks your online identity and provides for secure browsing....something a media box can never achieve!

Yes , have an MX2 , swapped it out for the previous Jinx box , does seem to have lots more if that's possible , plus loads of box sets and every movie produced .$100 cheaper too .

Dude, in case I need to spell it out for you - as you're not understanding it from my subtle references to networking in general - I hold a CCNP.

Go read up on GRE tunnels and you'll understand what I'm saying a bit better.

BTW - you really have no idea what you're talking about. You totally misunderstood my reference to site to site tunnels, instead focusing on a client VPN connection.

BTW x2 - Plex does NOT run OpenELEC, and your comments concerning a hypervisor just adding a management layer, we'll I don't even know where to begin with how wrong that is.

DUDE, been on the pop Horace ?

I'm assimilating and not even realising it...