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Nexus Player experience?

8K views 18 replies 11 participants last post by  djdragan 
#1 ·
I ordered my Nexus Player yesterday from the Google Play Store, and it should arrive later today. From Concord, Ontario to Mont St-Hilaire, Québec, in about a day (UPS) is pretty good service.

But I am wondering what the user experience will be like, here in Canada, with no access to many US-only content providers?

What has your experience been with the Nexus Player?
 
#2 ·
I've had a NP since they were available. You are getting one at a good time. When they first came out, they had a very bad issue of dropping frames. Since v5.1, dropped frames has been much less pronounced. Not eliminated though.

I use my NP as a media player. I only have two games installed. So I can't comment on the gaming experience. I don't have any external stuff connected. Running pretty much stock, except, I did unlock the boot loader. Just in case down the road I have a need that requires rooting.

As a media player, it is doing a good job. I have PLEX, Kodi, and VLC installed. Kodi is my go to player. It is so versatile. Coupled with Unotelly, I don't experience any geo-blocking issues. You can edit the NP DNS entries.

I purchased the NP to see if it'll replace my aging bug riddled WD Live players. The NP has proven to be a very capable replacement for the WD Live.
 
#4 ·
The Nexus Player is interesting and hopefully Google makes it more of a success than the GoogleTV. But in my mind it's still missing two critical features:

1) Ethernet : yes we all have wifi but plugging these things in is so much more reliable.

2) A non-IR remote : wifi direct or bluetooth. Line-of-sight is old school. And I know you can control it with your phone but I still value a physical remote.
 
#10 ·
Pi isn't anywhere near as good as an off shore no name Android box, I would assume the Nexus Player would be at least as good and likely better.
I'm currently using a quad core android box, a dual core android box, an alienware alpha and a Pi running kodi.
Alpha is best, quad core and dual core android are similar both will stream a full quality bluray. Pi won't even close to stream a bluray.
Also find it very slow to respond and won't run heavy skins, don't have those problems at all with android boxes.
 
#11 ·
I picked one of these up a couple days ago. Any tips to make the most of it. I did get the Sportsnet Now app side-loaded on it which is nice since I don't have a cable hook-up to that TV and can now watch Jays games there. You do have to navigate the menus sideways but the video plays correctly.
 
#12 ·
Honestly sell it and get an off shore Android box, I have a Nexus Player and several other Android and non-android boxes.

Nexus Player is a bit more stable, smoother too. It completely defeats the purpose of android. It's very limited, especially the inputs and outputs. Wifi Only, no regular USB inputs, no optical out.
Very restrictive in general.
I've tried a USB drive and a external HDD, no luck
 
#13 ·
Think I will keep it - got it on sale, that TV location will only ever have Wifi, can't ever see a need for optical out and not really looking at using the USB inputs although I did read the newest version of Android when it hits should allow simple USB connections such as a USB drive.
 
#14 ·
I picked up a Nexus Player a few days ago and I'm disappointed. The biggest drawback for me is the lack of Dolby Digital/DTS 5.1 on native apps on the player. KODI outputs DD and DTS fine, but it needs to have 5.1 on Netflix, Google Play Movies, etc.

The lack of settings for Video and Audio is a little confusing. It would be nice to set the video resolution and to have the device put out bitstream audio.

The lack of Ethernet is also a minus. I know you can pick up a dongle, but it should have really been included on the device.

IMO the absolute best player on the market right now is the Amazon Fire TV. They're not available in Canada,but can be bought and shipped to Canada on ebay or purchased from amazon.com and sent to a US location for pickup (if your lucky enough to be close to a US border).
 
#15 ·
I also have a video size problem, I loose the outside edge, not a big deal with Kodi cause I can resize the app.
Other apps it can sometimes be very obvious, and for what ever reason my advanced picture settings are locked on my TV when connected to the Nexus. Can't select size 1 or 2.

I have multiple off shore boxes, they aren't quite as stable or smooth as the Nexus, but the settings are way more abundant.
Not to mention some are rooted from factory
 
#17 ·
How is Kodi performance on NP? I have an offshore android box (Ott M8) that had poor Kodi performance (choppy video, audio sync issues). Flashed OpenElec on that box, and performance is much better.

Need another box for 2nd tv, NP seems like a good price, and would be good to keep android OS.
 
#19 ·
This would be for basement. Our modem/router is also in basement (telus) - 2.4GHz but there is a wall separating TV and modem. I have had connectivity issues with a Chromecast on that TV previously, although not sure is that was more to do with my tablet/smartphone connecting to chromecast over network or poor signal to chromecast.

We do have an extender that puts out 5GHz but that is on 2nd floor so signal would be pretty weak. Lots of 2.4GHz SSIDs in my neighborhood (7 or 8), no other 5GHz. Ethernet would be have been nice.

Maybe I will go with another offshore android/OpeneElec box.
 
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