Kodi on Amazon Fire TV stick in NZ

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timmmay

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#242703 10-Nov-2018 06:11

I was looking at getting another R.Pi box for Kodi for another TV. I found something that said it's fairly easy to install Kodi on the Fire TV stick.

Anyone done that? Any problems with it in NZ, either with Kodi or its other functions? I just want to use it to stream local media from my computer, anything extra like youtube access is a bonus. I have a central MySQL server with my library media that I need it to connect to.

FireTV costs about the same as an R.Pi 3 from Amazon with case and heatsinks, but Fire TV also includes a remote, with remote the R.Pi costs about $15 more. Putting Kodi onto the R.Pi and getting it set up takes a couple of hours given I already have configs saved, and it's a general purpose computer I can use for something else if I don't end up watching much extra TV. I have ethernet everywhere so lack of ethernet ports on the R.Pi is fine.

Handle9

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#2123082 10-Nov-2018 06:33

Kodi is fine on Fire TV. Personally I much prefer the MiBox with Android TV. I've had both and Apple TV.

The Fire TV is fine but you can't escape the Amazon experience. If you like their ecosystem it's ok, and you can make it boot directly to Kodi but I'm not a big fan of their UI.

timmmay

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#2123094 10-Nov-2018 07:57

Mibox costs twice as much, I don't think I want to pay that much to watch TV once a week. Thanks for the recommendation though. Fire TV sounds easy, it's between that and a general purpose Pi.

Handle9

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#2123095 10-Nov-2018 08:02

I guess you are looking at the Fire stick not Fire TV?

timmmay

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#2123098 10-Nov-2018 08:14

Yes stick, edited post thanks.

Kiwifruta

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#2123101 10-Nov-2018 08:18

Have used it in the past for on my 1st gen fireTV box, to stream live TV, it worked fine for me.

robjg63

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#2123116 10-Nov-2018 08:53

I use KODI on a gen one Amazon fire TV (box). Works great.
Also use KODI on a pi 2.
Check the speed specs. The pi is not too powerful.
You get better performance on more powerful processor, so the fire TV probably wins.
What sort of media files?
HEVC/x265 uses a heap of processor for example.

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rb99

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#2123122 10-Nov-2018 09:11

And of course there's a new Fire TV stick 4K out now, should be on sale on Black Friday. You'll need an adapter if you want to use ethernet though.

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openmedia

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#2123238 10-Nov-2018 12:00

I've got the Fire Stick V2 and the Fire TV Pendant (4K) version and they both run Kodi fine.

Interlaced content is still a bit of an issue, but it looks like Amazon is enabling deintelacers on newer hardware.

I'd recommend running a beta of Kodi 18 if you want all the latest features. Looks like Beta 5 came out recently

https://kodi.tv/article/kodi-v18-leia-beta-5

Generally known online as OpenMedia, now working for Red Hat APAC as a Technology Evangelist and Portfolio Architect. Still playing with MythTV and digital media on the side.

openmedia

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#2123239 10-Nov-2018 12:00

I've got the Fire Stick V2 and the Fire TV Pendant (4K) version and they both run Kodi fine.

Interlaced content is still a bit of an issue, but it looks like Amazon is enabling deintelacers on newer hardware.

I'd recommend running a beta of Kodi 18 if you want all the latest features. Looks like Beta 5 came out recently

https://kodi.tv/article/kodi-v18-leia-beta-5

Generally known online as OpenMedia, now working for Red Hat APAC as a Technology Evangelist and Portfolio Architect. Still playing with MythTV and digital media on the side.

timmmay

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#2123255 10-Nov-2018 13:06

Thanks all for your thoughts.

robjg63: I use KODI on a gen one Amazon fire TV (box). Works great.
Also use KODI on a pi 2.
Check the speed specs. The pi is not too powerful.
You get better performance on more powerful processor, so the fire TV probably wins.
What sort of media files?
HEVC/x265 uses a heap of processor for example.

I've run Kodi on an R.Pi 1b and 2, the 2 runs our main media center. On a 3 it'll seem blazing fast.

We don't have much HVEC yet, but I tried the Pi2 and it's fine with it. Processor usage a bit higher. Looks like the fire stick supports it ok with Kodi too.

rb99:

And of course there's a new Fire TV stick 4K out now, should be on sale on Black Friday. You'll need an adapter if you want to use ethernet though.

Yeah, I saw that, not sure if it's worth the extra $10 since the extra TV we're playing on is an older 720p in my home office.

openmedia:

I've got the Fire Stick V2 and the Fire TV Pendant (4K) version and they both run Kodi fine.

Interlaced content is still a bit of an issue, but it looks like Amazon is enabling deintelacers on newer hardware.

I'd recommend running a beta of Kodi 18 if you want all the latest features. Looks like Beta 5 came out recently

I need to integrate with the version on my PC, so they share a library, but I could look at the 18 beta. Might just wait for full release though.