Surely it's more ethical to spend the extra £5 and buy it from the Raspberry Pi Foundation. They do good work here in the UK to promote computer literacy, they can't help kids and schools without the support.

can you get an Andriod box for £24?

My Pi is just cable tied to the back of my TV, wired to the network and uses my normal TV remote to function.

I think openELEC on the Pi is way more stable than the Android version. Most people have an old microusb charger lying around. Mine is connected by ethernet but you can always get a wifi dongle on fleabay for a couple of quid. Add another 2-3 quid for a case & you're all set. You can use the excellent Yatse remote control app on your phone to control it or you may find that your TV remote just works because of the pulse eight CEC settings. Kodi is buttery smooth on my Pi2 and much better than on my Galaxy Note Pro 12.2.

your joking right? a good % of people on this site would step on their granny to pick up a fiver they spotted on the floor.

Cracking deal, just buy the case and you have everything to upgrade your pi 1 starter kit. amazing bit of kit for kodi..

Good price. ordered thanks!

openELEC on the Pi2 is amazing!

I thought these were made in Wales.

Surely it's more ethical to spend the extra £5 and buy it from the Raspberry Pi Foundation. They do good work here in the UK to promote computer literacy, they can't help kids and schools without the support.

I ordered a Pi from them on 26/10 and I got an email on the 31/10 saying it had been shipped, so "Shipped" within the 3-5 business it says on the listing, however the email also states "The package should normally take 10-25 business days to arrive (approximately).". It's now the 12/11 and I'm still waiting, not an issue for me as it's a Xmas present but if you're wanting it quickly this isn't the deal for you.

If all you need is Kodi you would be better off just getting an android box.
I found the Pi2 slow as hell with Kodi + you will need to buy power supply,case,sd card,remote,wifi dongle,bluetooth dongle.The android box has all that for the same price as the Pi alone.
Plus on the S805 chips you can also install Openelec.

not enough of a saving to get from china with no real warranty
cold imo

Why bother if you can have it all on an android box for less.

if all you want is a android box for cheap look at this

Pi2 is a nice bit of kit, I've got one myself and it is a lot quicker than the Pi1, however I do agree that if you only want it for Kodi then a Android box maybe better. I know that some people may already have most of the bits laying around but not everyone does so by the time you factor in a case, SD card, PSU & possibly most importantly in some cases, a remote control, it can start to add up. The Pi2 cannot be easily turned off/on by remote either

I'd personally recommend a FireTV Stick, runs Kodi very well, but there are plenty of others to choose from though.

26.86 delivered from Farnell: http://uk.farnell.com/raspberry-pi/raspberrypi-2-modb-1gb/sbc-raspberry-pi-2-model-b-1gb/dp/2461029

Pretty good considering raspberries are out of season

can you get an Andriod box for £24?

My Pi is just cable tied to the back of my TV, wired to the network and uses my normal TV remote to function.

Shouldn't need to spend more than about £25 delivered for a decent Android box ex-UK.
Examples fulfilled Amazon s805 http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00WIDHWI0/ or upgraded s812 http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0135L2206 , both possibly cheaper if you're OK with the slow boat from China as per thread deal

How does that work? How does the pi pick up transmissions from your TV remote?

Does anyone have on resource links to good websites for these things? Things like projects and such?

Here you go even comes with an HDMI cable and you can install openelec.
http://m.gearbest.com/tv-box-mini-pc/pp_94470.html

Certain TV's use CEC control that allows the normal TV remote to control Raspberry PI through the HDMI cable. I use it on my Samsung TV using the Anynet function so I can control everything from one remote.
See here http://kodi.wiki/view/CEC

This really ^^^^
Even if you factor a case and usb cable, stil nowt out there does the job so well this cheap. If your not connecting external HDDs or planning to download or fussed about using another external remote and want WIFI, the Amazon FireStick is prob best bang for buck

Agree. I am on the original Pi B and mine does 1080p just fine (did need a little tweaking in order to run smoothly).

Spend £6 more for 2GB ram, better software support http://www.gearbest.com/tv-box/pp_58119.html?wid=3

Its called HDMI-CEC and has been part of the HDMI standard for years

Can you still get Saturday 3pm premiership football on these for free?

If so how, and what's the quality like?

Have to agree with you here. The pi2 I have is connected to my TV USB port for power, so comes on with the TV, I use CEC to control the PI, using openelec latest version which is now updated to KODI 16.0? I think... it is really quick to start, maybe 15 seconds if that and it's ready to go at streaming files from my NAS. The ONLY thing media wise that I can't play are x265 files.
Now for contrast I have an android box MXQ, tried openelec latest version available at the time for it, played x265 fine, but had tearing really badly with x264 files. Admitedly I didn't try the "stable" version. But anyway, went back to using android on it and have problems with kodi not liking x265 files and some x264 files... it is only 14.2? I think. Anyway, so found a workaround for it by using ES file explorer to navigate to my files and playing them with MX player and it plays both x265 and x264 smoothly, so problem solved? well kind of, the remote with the mxq doesn't have play/stop/pause etc, so you have to use the onscreen menu for controlling playback, not something I like personally after being able to just press play/stop etc with CEC, anyway will come back to that. Also, to use ES file explorer properly you can't do it with the remote either, so not a problem will use my mouse, but again it's something extra that I have to do that I didn't before... ok, back to CEC, yes it can be used with the android box, enabled in the "extra" menu of settings... BUT, then I get complications when I want to use my PI2 AND it still doesn't control ES file explorer well/at all, so back to using mouse again.
The pi2 is so much easier on the whole.. and you have more options for playback such as setting the refresh rate of the monitor/TV to match the playback so it doesn't have to drop frames or sync audio so much/if at all, control by CEC, power by USB from the TV too.. and is fast. The MXQ takes about 30 seconds or more possibly to start and then you have to navigate to your app and wait for that to start too etc etc. OK there's not much in it over all, but there's still something. I like the MXQ, but it's not as user friendly... BUT it does play back x265 files that are much smaller file size for the same or even higher resolutions than the x264 equivalent, and you have all the extras that you can do on android.
I personally have taken to using my pi2 still for most of my media playback, and then switching to using the mxq android box when I want to watch x265 files, even though I have to use a mouse and wait a bit :smiley:

If you just want to watch the current standard which is still x.264 at the moment then I would get the PI2 (if you have a TV with a USB port and micro USB cable spare and the TV has a media remote), then you only have to get a case for it. SO approx £30 all-in) - but don't forget that the PI2 is a developer board, so with just the change of microSD card can do so much more (if you want to) :smiley:
If you want to be a little future proof media wise, then get an MXQ or similar, but be prepared to have to factor in a wireless mouse/keyboard and know some workarounds for getting your media to playback smoothly is my advice.

Amazon fire sticks are brilliant for Kodi.

You really should install OpenELEC on the MXQ. Flawless H.264 and H.265 playback with CEC support.

Not sure if there are workarounds available for them, but pretty sure that Firetv sticks and chromecast are just streaming players, so need a device to stream from or stream from the internet, which has many less functions than the Pi2 or android boxes.

I did try openelec on the MXQ, tried both from the internal memory and on the SD card... on both they had problems playing back x64 files with massive amounts of tearing. Tried everything in the kodi settings to try and limit or negate the tearing and nothing worked. That was on openelec 5.95 latest build. I was going to try openelec stable build, but had had enough at that point after 2 days of fussing with it and just flashed the internal mem back to android. The pi2 works absoloutely flawlessly on openelec which is now on 6.0.0 and kodi 16... I'll keep an eye on the available builds for the MXQ with openelec, but at the moment the PI2 wins hands down. I'll try openelec on the sd card with the stable build, but definitely not messing with the internal mem again at the moment, hahaha

Use the stable version as that's the one I use, no problems with it. I upgraded from the Pi2 to the MXQ.

The MXQ also has Ethernet which isn't shared with the USB ports (Pi/2)

Amazon fire TV

Do the android boxes and fire TV support automatic refresh rate switching in kodi yet or are they still stuck at 60hz making movies and UK TV look all jumpy?

Pi supports it and all media looks great and buttery smooth.

My experience (as a software engineer) is the Pi software quality is much much better than the rockchip, amlogic and firetv stick android boxes I've tried.
Firetv is great for Amazon prime and iplayer but that's about it.

Got to agree with others saying there is nothing wrong with Kodi running on a Pi 2. It also has the added advantage of using an, arguably, better wired connection compared to the Fire Stick's wifi only solution. For this reason alone, if I was ever going to consider the Amazon Fire then it would only be Fire TV rather than Stick.

As for the comment saying the Pi can't be turned on/off remotely ... err, the idea is that it is never turned off.

not bad, cheapest i got on amazon+flubit was £25.38, but at least that's not some shady chinese/usa website like gearbest appears to be - nobody sells pi2's for £64 like they are saying and then claiming a 62% discount!

I have managed to have a crack at the stable version of openelec on the MXQ android box, it is indeed capable of playing back via kodi 14.2 both x264 and x265 without tearing or other problems :smiley:

I do stress however that kodi 14.2 isn't updatable without openelec being updated I believe (this could be false, but as I already tried the later version of openelec with updated kodi something must be breaking the working of it).
The one thing I have found during my 30 minute test of the stable build, is that the refresh rate of the TV cannot be set to anything other than 60/50/24 Hz, which is a shame as on the Pi2 for instance I can set it to the actual refresh rate of most TV/Movie sources of 23.97? (not sure if 23.97 or 23.98 at the moment, but can definitely be set).
Anyway, that's the only thing I have found so far that is only very slightly wrong with it.. but do stress that the playback is absoloutely fine even with this :smiley:
I still prefer the operation of the PI2, but must now concede that the MXQ box when it has the correct tested firmware operates pretty well and can play both x264 and x265 flawlessly and with CEC remote control too, so pretty much like the Pi2. Haven't tested whether I need to turn the MXQ on before I sit down yet though, that was another thing from before that it wouldn't do, will test and let you know if anyone cares? hahah

So a fire stick can get 3pm Saturday games as well? With Kodi.... And something else....? Is this better for watching matches than a fire stick regarding picture quality?

Good.

Not sure what you mean about Kodi and OpenELEC. Of course you have to update OpenELEC to have a newer version of Kodi.

The version you're on supports 23.97 fine otherwise you'll see a frame skip every now and then but I agree the settings are more limited compared to the Pi.

Power on/off works fine here.

This is one of those instances where i'm happy to pay a little bit more to support a good cause and British manufacturing :smiley:

Yes, that's what I meant that kodi is tied in with openelec and not able to update separately. I just looked again at the refresh rate and definitely only have 60/50/24 as options, I think you might be referring to the actual video rate maybe? I like to have my screen refresh rate set to 23.97 all the time instead of having to switch when video is played back, but lowest I can get through this version of kodi on the MXQ is 24, whereas on the Pi2 I can set it to 23.97 as it's running the newer version of openelec/kodi. Anyway, no matter.. hopefully the guy/s that made it possible by porting openelec to the MXQ will update it soon and have any bugs cleared up :smiley:
It's fine for now and it saves me having to change from using my Pi2 for x264 and the MXQ for x265.. I can now repurpose my Pi2 :smiley:

It's done automatically, you don't need to set it to 23.97

No im using a better box thats makes the Pi2 slow in comparison.

Compared to a device with eMMC (Android boxes) the Pi/2 is slower because of the micro-SD card you use.
You can do the same with the MXQ box. Install it on an micro-SD card and you feel the difference compared to it being on the internal storage.

I've changed my mind again... have just been watching some files on the MXQ and the screen tearing is back on the x264 files :disappointed:
So, it's either back to using android on the MXQ or using my Pi2 for x264 and android for the x265 files.

Never seen tearing myself. Leave FPS to 60 by the way.

Maybe I sit closer to the screen? It's just annoying, I have never seen tearing when using the Pi2 or when using android, but it has done it on the openelec for MXQ when using it from the Emmc or sd card, so that's not it, and also has done it with the different builds too, now tried 5.0.8.20 and 5.95.? build.. so can only assume that there's something buggy happening in openelec when on the MXQ OR it's the MXQ itself, but then I don't have the tearing problem on android, weird??

Openelec on the pi2 is very fast. Don't have or want an android box so can't comment on them.
I have been using mine in place of a Revo 3700 PC and it does the job so much better.

The red stripe one from gearbest http://www.gearbest.com/tv-box/pp_94469.html?wid=3... I have tried everything I can think of, spent so much time flashing the MXQ with one thing or another. Tried the exact same files that showed tearing on the RPi2 running openelec 6.0 which is Kodi 16.0 - and I have it set to 23.97 FPS TV refresh rate and to adjust screen rate to video playback rate / and on the MXQ running android using the MX player app that I installed and they play fine, obviously can't adjust things on that though. Just wish I knew what the problem is, I don't like giving up on devices - I want them to do what I want and know they can do, hahahah

Install the latest stable OpenELEC but don't change any settings.

So, if you don't think I should change any settings, how do you say that this box is better than the Pi2 where I can change my settings to what I want ie. the correct frame rate for my TV/content.
How is it better to have this box not being correctly synced with the content? The Pi2 does this no problem and is using openelec/kodi to do it too. Sounds like I am having a go at you, I am not.. just can't understand your reasoning that this box is better, when it won't/can't do the same as the Pi2 does with the same software.

RPi2 is available at RS Online for £25.65 with free next working day delivery... surely a better bet than GearBest?

Out of stock

Rev/paddy - cheapest mxq please?

More specifically best mxq for Kodi as there seem to be quite a few models out there?

A pi running kodi might be good 'for the money', but kodi side loaded onto a fire tv box is much, much faster.

For the last week I've been running an old fire tv box (£63 tesco), against a pi 2 (£28, +£15 flirc case, +£12 plug, +£1.50 power cable with switch, +a wifi keyboard and a sd card). Why a £12 plug? Well yes, nobody seems to mention that a pi likes more juice than most micro usb chargers throw out, and even with my posh plug it begins to warn me of power issues if I'm using more than a couple of the usb ports (so I bought a powered usb hub...there's another £7 on the bill!). I did try buying the B&M bargains plug that was put up on hotukdeals as meeting the specs for runnin a pi, but it was rubbish and went back to the shop for a refund.

Should say both the pi and Fire box have well documented buffering issues though, and none of the fixes on the internet have offered me real solutions yet.

Up to £26.64 now. :disappointed:

(Edit: still a pretty good price, to be fair.)

Cheaper now at £21.96 + 6% cashback

​where? I am still seeing $34.59 (current exchange around £23) but if you choose GBP it is £24+