CD-R King Internet TV Box Review

Hi guys! I’m a proud owner of this Internet TV box which is basically a device that turns an ordinary monitor into an Internet TV. It does not have a TV tuner. I kinda liken this device to an Android tablet (hehehe) but without a touchscreen panel/gyro capability (you’ll need an LCD/LED monitor/TV, preferably with an HDMI input), and it doesn’t run on batteries (you plug it directly to an AC outlet, obviously). There’s a built-in wifi but can be connected to the internet via wired LAN also (after rooting).

So I think everything you can do on an android tablet, you can also do on this box.

You can internet browse via wired/WiFi
You can download/update apps via Google play only on WiFi
You can stream via WiFi/wired
You can Ttorrent via WiFi only (weird, maybe client dependent)

A preview of what you can do with the CD-R King Android Internet TVbox

Spec wise, it has the following features:

– Android 2.3 (Upgradeable)

– 1Ghz Cortex A8 Processor with 512MB DDR3 RAM

– 4GB NAND FLASH

– 1080P Output and support for various video formats

– 4 USB Ports / 1 SD card slot

The unit is brushed aluminum, built power supply, 4 USB slots, two at back is preferably for keyboard and mouse while 2 at the side for USB storage. It has a remote control but is difficult to use, and sometimes I have to press the buttons twice to register on the TV box. It has WiFi with antenna, G only according to the box but it has an Ethernet port also at the back. It has HDMI and AV outputs at the back. It also comes with manuals. The CPU is RK2908 with 512mb RAM so very capable in terms of processing. Android version is 2.3.1

If you are familiar with Android, you should have no problems navigating the simple menu, setup and settings. Unless you are planning to use it purely as a media player, navigating with the supplied remote is “useable” at best. But maximizing all its features is where it starts to get tricky. I would highly suggest using a USB keyboard and mouse or a CD-R King 3-in-1 wireless keyboard. The wireless keyboard is a bit expensive at Php 1180 but worth every peso if you want to do more. (I tried using a Bluetooth keyboard with a Bluetooth USB dongle but could not get it to work.)

The menu system is pretty straightforward. Just select media player, apps, YouTube, Angry Birds (Yes, it works!), etc. You can even add shortcuts to the main menu. Just plug your hard drive, USB or SD card with all your media and you can play it right away from the media center app.

After some tinkering for a few days, here are some thoughts and tips I wish to share:

Here is the first problem I encountered. At first, I could not get to play videos in full screen on the media player app. After much tweaking and tinkering, I found out that by using the “My Files” app (which is like a file explorer), videos play in full screen with no problem. The second difficulty I encountered was using the Google Play store. I could not install some apps using an Ethernet connection. Using WiFi instead, solved the problem.

When rooting using Gingerbreak, eventhough it says you need to insert an SD Card, don’t insert one because it won’t root. It should use the built-in flash virtual SD so you could successfully root. After rooting, I updated the superuser from the market then if an app ask for root and tells you that the su is outdated, you can update that.

I can confirm that the egreat i5 firmwares are working. You can get it from here <click here for link> in English version.

I suggest you perform factory reset first before changing/updating your firmware because mine lagged at first after the firmware update but after I did a factory restore first then updated, it went very smooth.

I just hope an ICS firmware update is already in the works.

Some things to note regarding firmwares:

a. Before trying this firmwares please root and backup the stock apps using titanium backup and save it to your computer. I think it important to backup the TV box app because egreat has branding over their default launcher of their firmwares. Also, if ever you need to claim warranty, you can return the box to its default “look”.

b. Backup system/bin/bootanimation by a file explorer with root access (eg root explorer). So you can return the CD-R King boot animation.

c. The movie/tv/game/app buttons on the remote would not work because it seems like they are mapped to certain apps on the stock CD-R King firmware. Good thing is it could still detect key events and I’m still studying how to map to launch different apps.
Bummer if it has the same codes as your television for it may cause likely interference.

I was able to try a universal remote that works with the box except for the power button. The power button seems to be paired to the hardware of the box but still working on it and trying to make at least the sleep timers to work. If you use the apps to shutdown, all it does is reboot.

d. If you installed egreat firmwares then update later on, use the update option in settings/custom/update/sd. Not like before where it is detected already if you have an update.img on the SD Card on startup.

The webcam I use is the Logitech Quickcam HD 9000. The built-in mic also works. You just have to select it at the Sound settings. Quite laggy on Skype becaus eit seems to be enabling by default the HD capability of the camera.

The Saturn cam also works but with choppy audio, video is passable, not much lags when I tried Videochat. Oovoo videochat suffers the same choppy audio so its not a Skype specific issue.

This is what I use as bluetooth dongle:

BTD-619
Evon Bluetooth USB Dongle
Php 100.00
<click here for link>

I think any dongle would be unstable and laggy at first because the system will still have to adapt. Mine worked fine after a few hours even before rooting.
I’m using it with my Wiimote for nes.emu which has a builtin Wiimote support. Just make sure to turn your Bluetooth on.
In the egreat firmware, there is no bluetooth option on the settings so I installed Bluetooth Settings Launcher <click here for link> or  use the power widget.

I still don’t have a Bluetooth mouse/keyboard to test but if  “paired but not connected” after pairing, please try the Bluetooth Keyboard Easyconnect <click here for link>. Please check if it will work.

Regarding the options for the mic, you can use this:

EF-0020A
USB Premier Sound Card with Virtual 7.1 Channel
Php 180.00
<click here for link>

Mine works in any apps just remember to set it at sound input/output options. Luckily, for those who want better audio, you can also use the

Encore ENMAB-8CM
7.1 Channel USB Audio Box
Php 990.00
<click here for link>

Confirmed the ENMAB USB soundcard is detected by the default CD-R King firmware but there is no audio output. Performance on stock firmware was good enough, I just noticed that my WiFi connection gets cut when I use Ttorrent. After 5 minutes of using Ttorrent my connection on the router gets lost. This doesn’t happen on any of my other apps. Anybody having the same issue with WiFi drops on Ttorrent?

For Ttorrent, after completing the torrent, you can stop Ttorrent from seeding by just long pressing the completed Ttorrent and choose pause or you can also completely disable seeding from the settings , just set maximum active seeds to 0.

I tried 5.1 speakers but it only works using 2 channels which I think is because of the limitation of the software players. AFAIK 5.1 is not yet integrated on the android except for a few headphones (but still only virtual).

BTW for those who wish to use TTS, it seems its not supported or integrated with the firmware so install this to make it work: <click here for link> The TTS options still wont be displayed on the settings but but TTS apps will now work. That’s working great for me.

 

Power Consumption

The actual power consumption will vary depending on what devices you plug into the USB ports and also what type of apps that the box is running. During my tests, I think the highest power consumption I’ve recorded is less than 6 watts.

When idle, the unit consumes about 2.9watts.
When playing angry birds, it jumps to 5.8watts.
When you connect a USB flash drive and the device is accessing it, the consumption is about 4.1watts
HD movies makes the unit consume 4watts.
If you connect additional devices on the USB ports, for sure the power consumption will increase.

 

For USB powered HDD, you need to reboot the unit before it gets detected . There is no problem for externally powered HDD.

This works on any ordinary TV via RCA jacks, but obviously of  lower quality. If you want a high quality picture, use HDMI.

42 inch plasma display is OK. The display technology (LCD/plasma) wouldn’t matter as long as it has a HDMI port.

It will work with 1080p videos even above 10 gb.

I also changed the default CD-R King launcher and homescreen with the Go launcher HD.

Removing the CD-R King Animation On Boot

When Rooted Pref with a mouse

Install rootexplorer and run
Grant root access to rootexplorer
Navigate to /System/bin
Click on Mount RW
Long press on bootanimation file
Delete
Click on Mount RO
Hopefully it will restart

There is also a classy looking Silver Cube theme that you can try.

For those interested in beaming their audio, picture and video files from their iOS devices to the TV box, here’s what you will need to do:

Install twonky mobile on your ios or android mobile, Select your iOS or android library then hit select then choose the ehome media center option that comes up on the next screen then youre done!

For the rolling menus on the main screen, you can only use up to 5  but you can change or remove these icons by long pressing the icons and usually there will be an option coming out to remove them. To add you can use the settings menu to find the option. Depends on your launcher.

Using Titanium Backup Pro, remove the Skype, Facebook, Youtube, Opera etc then reinstall using Google Play. That way you can now update the apps.

*Just a note, when I first tied these devices using the stock CD-R King firmware, it didn’t work. It is detected and can be set on the settings but wont work when you try playing any audio or video through any player. But it worked when I used the egreat firmware.

 

To update the box:
1. Download the egreat i5 firmware from the link and unzip it. You will see an update.img file
Link http://www.sendspace.com/file/6whto9 – (This is the English Version)
2. Copy update.img to an empty SD card and insert it into the sd card slot of the cdr king internet tv box
3. Make sure you are using the default tv box launcher and navigate to
settings>custom>soft update>sd card
4. Select the file “update.img”
5. Follow instructions and wait until reboot is completed
Note: Backup your files before you attempt to update. Restore to factory settings before update results in smoother operation after update

To root:
1. Make sure USB debugging is enabled
2. Download and install Gingerbreak: Forum Link:  http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1044765
Direct Download Link http://forum.xda-developers.com/attachment.php?s=d7ed74d9a3acff00b3ad093670a93470&attachmentid=575276&d=1303479887
3. Make sure you dont have any sd cards or usb drives mounted
4. Install and run
5. After reboot, download root checker and confirm. Repeat steps 3 and 4 if necessary.
Note: Make sure you reboot in between rooting attempts.

To remove crapware
1. Root using Gingerbreak
2. Install titanium backup
3. Remove unwanted program – make sure you backup!

Note: I removed the Chinese input method so the onscreen keyboard will not appear when you select a text box

Note:  Tried and tested these using my own unit with success. But attempt at your own risk.

 

Things I Do With My CD-R King Internet TV Box

1. Skype – Using a CDR-King webcam and a CD-R King USB audio device for microphone input. Working but audio is choppy even after installing the updated skype program from Play store
2. Downloading torrents – Format a 16gb flashdrive to NTFS so you can download files greater than 4 gb. Just finished downloading 14.5 gb 1080p version of The Avengers in a little less than 28 hours. Using a flash drive instead of a powered HDD reduces power consumption.
3. Using Fiio e7 as a USB DAC, I use my unit to listen to HiFi flac and alac files.  I use Grado SR80/RE0 and Dunu Trident.
4. Surf the web/Facebook/email
5. Watch YouTube
6. Download mp3s.
7. Listen to Internet radio
8. View photos

Ironically,  I don’t watch movies using this. I only use it to test torrents after successful downloads.
The beauty of Android is that it is very customizable. There are lots of apps available on the Play store. Once I installed Atorrent, FTP Doid, Podkicker, I was able to browse the web, download and play vidoes all from one device. Heck, it even recognized my iPad, my other media player in the living room and I can now stream from that as well.

 

Highly Suggested Apps For This Gadget

1. Audiobubble – allows you to stream audio from i-devices sych us iPod touch, iPhones and iPad. Detected as an airplay device.
2. Viki – streaming video app for movies
3. Veetle – another streaming video app. More on TV series
4. Moviemaze – streaming movies
5. Tunein pro – Internet radio
6. Ttorrent – for your torrenting needs
7. Blackmart alpha – alternate Android market

 

The Good:

– Price!

– Media Player function

– Android OS

The Bad:

– Wish it had a faster processor and more RAM

– Not sure if Android 4.0 ICS update will be available

The above picture is the inside of the TV box

To those who already rooted and backup their apps,  could you please upload the titanium backup files of the “tvbox” app at system/bin/bootanimation?

Also for those with Bluetooth keyboard/mouse, please try my tip so I’ll know if it works before I buy one.

Sounds pretty good for its price of Php 2880. 6 months warranty, 1 week replacement. http://www.cdrking.com/?mod=products&type=view&sid=13874&main=167

So overall, the box is more than OK. I am pretty impressed with this little box. The media player function alone is worth the price. Being able to access the Internet on a TV unit like a proper couch potato is practically having the best of both worlds.

Thank you and I’ll update this post if there’s anything new worthy to share.

*credits to Techamuna