Android PC
 

I recently picked up a $45 Android PC (4.1). It is designed to be hooked up to a TV set. After connecting a mouse (and a key board) to the USB port, it is basically an Android powered PC on your TV. All the TV needs is a spare HDMI port. Video and sound come out the TV.

Wifi is built in. Most of the Android aps you need are free. Picture programs, You Tube, video players, etc, all built in. You definitely can run Netflix and others through this with free apps. Music player built in. The built in file manager can connect with network drives on your network, allowing you to stream video, move file, etc. from a shared drive.

Add a $20 Webcam with microphone, you can do Skype. To do this, you need a USB hub since the unit only has one USB port. But with the USB hub, you can connect flash drives or SD cards from a Camera with a USB adapter. You can even connect the USB to a PC and transfer files.

E-mail is built in and the program has auto setup for most of the bigger e-mail services. Maybe you'll want "Office to go" to be able to fully read/write word/excel/power-point.

Micro Android 4.1 PC - $45
Keyboard & Mouse - $15
Wireless Keyboard and Mouse ($30)
USB Hub - $10
16GB SDHC Card - $15
Webcam $20

$105 - Wired KB & Mouse
$120 - Wireless KB & Mouse

Anyone else played with something like this? It would seem an integrated, pre-setup box would be great for novice computer people.

I have a PC connected to my TV via HDMI and use a Logitech wireless keyboard with built in touch pad. $45.

I used a leftover PC with a $30 video card for the HDMI port.

The android seems like a good alternative since you can eliminate the PC tower.

Home Theater PC solves this issue as well but will set you back more coin.

The only thing missing from it is Bluetooth, which I think would be very helpful. With BT, you could connect mouse and keyboard wirelessly without using the USB port and still leave room from another device. I tried hooking up a Bluetooth dongle and it killed the WiFi

Well, there are even better ones out there with Bluetooth and Quad Core processors for $78.

Wow, I'm amazed at what you can get for under $100.

I recently bought myself a couple of MK808 Android Stick PCs, to which I have hooked el-cheepo wireless mouse and keyboard combos (bluetooth dongle doesn't interfere with wi-fi on this model). Also took the time to install an updated ROM which got rid of a lot of the Chinese bloatware on it and freed up some memory and processor power. Hooked it up to all the televisions in the house television, and stream all my content wirelessly from my home network, which consists of a few HP mini servers running FreeNAS. Everyone now gets to watch whatever they want, whether it is surfing, streaming web content or just catching movies/music from the servers.

For most, a full blown HTPC is just overkill in the hardware department nowadays, especially since even modest android hardware can do 720P video (or more) without skipping a beat.


The setup Willem describes is just so cheap and flexible, it is amazing more people don't catch on.

Mine does full 1080, without any noticeable (to me in any case) deterioration in quality.

"Cheap" does not begin to describe the value for money this represents, and even extends to the little HP Proliant Microservers. They are excellent value for money, and are ideal to partner with Android Mini PCs. I picked them up at US$150 a piece, and threw 4 1Tb Seagate drives into each, raided for resilience. Total cost per server probably was not more than US$300 complete.

William, I also have the Proliant servers. NewEgg had them on sale and I picked up 2 of them for $249 each.

It is kind of funny, I'm actually looking into "packaging" the Android on a Stick with a Bluetooth keyboard, mouse and Web Cam. The sell price will be around $139-$149. And this would be using the more expensive RK3188 with built in Bluetooth.

Which chip is in your unit? Mine is the RK3066. And yes, it does 1080P no problem.

Hi James,

Yep, the same RK3066 in mine. Which web cam are you using? I have had difficulty finding one that works with the Android device. Also - I am not sure if you are aware that XBMC for Android is available. It has not been released in the app store yet, but can be downloaded from the XBMC site. It is fantastic for streaming.

I have been doing much the same as you on this side. I import the devices directly from China, mate them to keyboards, and sell them on (they sell like hotcakes).

I have looked at the units with built in Bluetooth too, and will probably bring a few in to get a feel for them. Up to now my reason for sticking to the MK808 has been the availability of the Finless ROM and the fact that it gave so few issues.

I'm also rather interested in the keyboard mouse combination devices that are hitting the market, and will be bringing a few of them in soon to see if they are not a better option to the full-sized wireless stuff I currently add - will post a link later.

Warm regards,

Willem

For my personal unit, I used a Logitech Webcam C615. It synched up fine.

There's little market for PC hardware anymore, the real money seems to be in data / Internet access, particularly wireless and even that's getting saturated and driving prices down (good for just about everyone except AT&T, Verizon, sprint, etc.)

Jeff,

The issue I'm seeing with PC's is that the software is expensive with features almost no one uses. Take the Android PC we're talking about, buy Documents to Go for $10 and you have an office suite.

A couple of days ago I was showing the PC/TV unit to a buddy and we opened files on my office network drive through the VPN. They opened immediately, actually faster than on my PC. I think a lot of this is the time cost of the bloated primary software opening.

Willem, the game changer for these "Android on a Stick" will be when they are able to do better than 1080P resolution.

Thanks James! Had a look, but the device is a bit expensive here in the South. Will pick one up in Europe when next I travel.

Yes and no.

Yes for "our" market which at this point is predominantly aimed at home entertainment and the web. Given the rate at which these things are evolving, I don't see that as being a long time off. Remember that they are essentailly mobile phones less some of the hardware, and if you look at the rate at which the mobile phone is advancing, good things are underway.

"No" for the developing world. One of the big issues to them (and I live in Africa remember), is access for the masses to information. Computers are a scarce and expensive commodity on this continent. I see Android devices as the big leap towards bringing education and knowledge to the masses here. A PC is a big complex sometimes finicky thing with expensive ancilliaries required, and a substantial investment in software. These Android devices by contrast can be hooked to an HDMI capable TV, with virtually nothing else required. They are robust, and provide access to cheap (often free) software. For this market price point is absolutely everything, so if you could package the device with a bullet proof keyboard and mouse, and somehow get s-video out of it to drive a regular television, they will sell by the million.

Willem, I agree with all you're saying. What do these low end people do for internet access? All of these Android on a Stick are strictly WiFi driven.

Thanks for the PM'd links James. Alibaba is typically a cave full of robbers, but I have a good contact in China that I will put to work on following up some leads!

Land-based internet is getting cheaper, but still dependent on the (very, very, very) slow roll-out of infrastructure. Mobile networks do however cover huge parts of the continent, and with them bring 3G connectivity, which is expensive but at least reachable, and can be connected to the Android (or other) computer via a simple 3G USB dongle.