Reviews - Google Nexus Player to become available in the UK from Thursday

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Android TV set top box will be priced just under £80.

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Read more.

If steam release an Android App for in home streaming then this could bring an end to having more than one device underneath the television for me.

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Originally Posted by Biscuit

If steam release an Android App for in home streaming then this could bring an end to having more than one device underneath the television for me.

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do you mean stream media from your pc... if yes you could just grab something like the plex app (I assume it would work on the player) and run the server on the pc, it would even handle transcoding if needed iirc.

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Originally Posted by LSG501

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Originally Posted by Biscuit

If steam release an Android App for in home streaming then this could bring an end to having more than one device underneath the television for me.

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do you mean stream media from your pc... if yes you could just grab something like the plex app (I assume it would work on the player) and run the server on the pc, it would even handle transcoding if needed iirc.

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I think he means valve's steam gaming service 'game streaming'. I keep waiting for it myself but no sign of it yet.

I looked into Plex and decided the CPU power required was unnecessary and its easier to just get devices that don't need transcoding. I use OpenELEC powered raspberry pi 2 boxes with a shared mySQL database instead. This isn't what I'm talking about though, have a look at steam in home streaming. Its basically using your main gaming PC to power a game but streaming the video to a cheap box.

for some reason I read steam as stream lol

The mini pc from intel etc might be a better option for that then, pretty sure there's a linux client for streaming, it's not much more expensive than the nexus either.

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Originally Posted by LSG501

for some reason I read steam as stream lol

The mini pc from intel etc might be a better option for that then, pretty sure there's a linux client for streaming, it's not much more expensive than the nexus either.

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Perhaps, although Android boxes offer support for all the 3rd part apps like Netflix, NowTV, BT Sport, BBC etc.

Link to Amazon is broken and when searching it comes up £114.99 from two suppliers - one is imported from US.

Google need proper high spec gaming machine that can compete graphically with the PS4/Xbox one - the budget home entertainment sector never seems to take off.

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Originally Posted by Biscuit

Perhaps, although Android boxes offer support for all the 3rd part apps like Netflix, NowTV, BT Sport, BBC etc.

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Or you could always pick the windows version, although not sure if there's a stream client. I suppose theres the dual boot option there.

Unless someone can tell me otherwise, the only way I know of accessing VOD services on windows is via a browser, which is less than ideal for a living room environment....

Point is an android box does everything, will be efficient, cheapish. There really isn't much of a reason to look at alternatives.

For streaming I use a PS3 in the living room and a Chromecast in the bedroom. Plex running on my PC and it all works a treat. Nexus player would be nice but it would be wasted on me as not a big fan of android gaming. Thats the only added benefit I see over a Chromecast

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Originally Posted by Biscuit

Unless someone can tell me otherwise, the only way I know of accessing VOD services on windows is via a browser, which is less than ideal for a living room environment....

Point is an android box does everything, will be efficient, cheapish. There really isn't much of a reason to look at alternatives.

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Not sure about ALL of the VOD services but I know all the UK terrestrial ones and netflix have windows 8 apps which work fine... to be honest with the right mini keyboard a browser is fine too.
I wouldn't class the nexus box as cheapish either when you compare it with a more fully featured device like the intel boxes. It's your choice though.

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Originally Posted by LSG501

Not sure about ALL of the VOD services but I know all the UK terrestrial ones and netflix have windows 8 apps which work fine... to be honest with the right mini keyboard a browser is fine too.
I wouldn't class the nexus box as cheapish either when you compare it with a more fully featured device like the intel boxes. It's your choice though.

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I have been using a windows box in my living room for years with a very good motion controlled mini keyboard and its OK.... It does the job but I personally don't like windows on a TV. If it wasn't for XBMC it wouldn't have worked at all. Admittedly I haven't tried windows 8 which might be better, but I don't really like Metro anyway so I can't see myself warming to that.
Basically, for me, it's less than ideal and in my case, not girlfriend friendly.
As far as value goes, the Intel box is underpowered for windows usage. Having using similar powered atom devices, it works but its not a smooth experience and its certainly not powerful enough to do all the things a normal computer would smoothly. I wouldn't class it as powerful enough to be labeled 'fully featured'.
These boxes are basically a Chromecast that also runs Android apps and games. For a lounge experience that is good value for what they are asking IMO.
YMMV of course, all I'm saying is I see a market for this and if we see a steam in home streaming app, it would be pretty much perfect for my usage.

I find win 8.1 with metro makes a great TV system, I run it on a laptop and a cheap arse win tablet. I also have chromecast, roku and an android tablet, out of all of them the cheap win tablet covers more stuff than the rest. Anything that doesent have a metro app can be run through the 8.1 version of IE (shortcut on start screen), which works extremely well, better than any of the android browsers I have installed on other kit. If your using stuff like XBMC then metro is pretty similar.

On the VOD front I don't think there is a version of Iplayer, but I find the metro browser version to be superior to the android anyway.

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Originally Posted by Brewster0101

Google need proper high spec gaming machine that can compete graphically with the PS4/Xbox one - the budget home entertainment sector never seems to take off.

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I normally nod sagely when I read one of your posts, but this one had me confused. Why the heck would Google want to enter a market (high powered gaming) where they have no track record; no exclusives to fall back on; and the two incumbents have pretty well established brands? Heck, if Nintendo can't make it then I'd have thought Google would have got a darn good hiding if they tried! Of course, if we see "iGame" from Apple then sure "Nexus Console" might be interesting...

Nexus Player looks interesting as a device, but I can't see the big deal myself. After all, it's not as if you're getting a bundle of content with it - so it's more a device to be able to use other people's services like Netflix, iPlayer, etc. Think I'll continue to stick with my (Linux powered - so relatively reliable unlike the WinCE powered POS that came before) Tivo box.

How long before we see a "Windows TV" box from Microsoft I wonder? If so, then here's one person who wouldn't want that unless you paid me...