I am working on a very simple installation that only uses one client player. I want to know what the community’s thoughts are on the best hardware to use. I am looking for something small and lightweight. I would prefer to have ethernet with wifi as backup, and HDMI out. That’s really all I need.
I would have assumed that there was a linux player… I was surprised to see that I am basically limited to Windows or Android. What are your thoughts? I like Android because it’s free. I like Windows because it’s mostly stable. I dislike them both because neither one was designed for this.
I believe this will be a very good solution when it launches at the end of this month:
It doesn’t have ethernet but you could get an usb to ethernet adapter for a few dollars, and it includes everything you need out of the box. It also has the added benefits of using the full Windows OS (free supported Xibo client), it is also handy if you want to use remote desktop onnections for troubleshooting eventually.
Currently we are running 3 layouts (they aren’t all that busy) that have images and wmv’s/mp4’s running on them. They don’t have a problem at all. Anything with similar hardware should do.
Well I was off by a month ( ), but still it seems like a very good device for digital signage, specially since it includes a Windows 8.1 license out of the box, and will probably be eligible for the free Windows 10 upgrade. As i said, having access via remote desktop is a really nice perk too!
We ended up going with the HP Stream Mini (Link to HP Stream Mini). It has a 1.4GHz Celeron, 2GB RAM, and a 32GB SSD. It has Ethernet and WiFi, runs Windows 8. $180. We’re going to give this a shot and return it if we’re not satisfied with performance.
We have been running RMK’s mk902ii, It is android based and solid as a rock. It does not have Windows Remote Desktop, but you could install a small VNC server on it. The CMS supports it.
We have since given away all the hardware that did not work. Also we did not keep the data on the units we tried once we found the MK902ii to work so well.
Currently have 53 of the Quantum Access sticks running all over the country (US) from one XIBO CMS.
Moved to the new Azulletech LAN with Win10 Pro which is the same basic hardwaras the Access, with the addition of an Ethernet port, which we found was needed in some locations due to bad WiFi accessibility.
No field failures so far on the Access stick, and some have been running since August 2015 24/7. We reimaged them with Win10 Pro for the deployment.
I have one sample LAN stick that has been running for a month 24/7, no issues.
I am looking at theAzulletech stick you mentioned. I have a couple monitors that are old enough to not have HDMI. Would this stick PC function via HDMI to DVI adapter? Does it have an external power supply or does it pull power directly from the HDMI bus?
As for android nothing wrong with a mk808b tv stick… I have ran 5-6 since 2010 one failure… PS: that failure was cured with a reflash of the os. My newest Android box i am testing is the Ugoos AM3. not to bad for a octacore and is SU rooted. But having issues finding a VNC server for it.
For a Windows TV box I am testing the Kodlix Z83-V box… not to bad either but to early to say.
We have not tried screen rotation with these units.
It powers on when you supply power, but I do not think it has an ability to schedule it to turn on.
Intel NUCs work well (lots of SKUs and options), some Compute Sticks work better than others depending on if you are pushing static content or 4K videos (I say this because there is limited storage on some Compute Sticks and your media library for 4K content will likely need to be on a microSD Card, so performance will depend on the microSD card and ComputeStick SKU).
), but still it seems like a very good device for digital signage, specially since it includes a Windows 8.1 license out of the box, and will probably be eligible for the free Windows 10 upgrade. As i said, having access via remote desktop is a really nice perk too!