Selecting T8 Mini vs T8 s..: Nas, HDMI compatibility, screen saver, utilities

[TwoShoeTango]

Hi all,
Thanks for any replies, i have done searches for a few of these questions but cannot find particulars.
I am sure a number of them can easily be answered by seasoned owners, please chime in with any answers you may have, some are very quick/simple, some just looking to confirm answers;

I am looking at buying a mini pc as i currently drive my Panasonic st60 plasma tv from my computer , and i want something smaller and with less lights/noise. I presently control my tv using my computer using a dvi to hdmi cable. I then connect to my stereo using two optical cables, one going from my tv to my stereo, and another from pc to stereo.
I have narrowed my search to the droidbox, especially as it has optical out (for music).
My questions are;
1) I don't believe my hdmi on my tv is hdmi 2.0 . I can't find anything to suggest it won't work if i go with the T8 Mini since the T8 is hdmi 2.0 - I am assuming it will connect okay to the tv?

I am looking at buying a Nas such as a qnap or synology, to move all of my content (photos, music and movies) to. From there, i want to play the music and movies on the droidbox, without needing to copy them down to the droidbox (aka playing them across the network).
2) Do i need to worry about which NAS i buy, or should the droidbox be able to connect to any?
And will i need some special app from the NAS developer, since i want to make the files on my nas secure, in order to connect to it? (As in, i will probably want to set permissions on the nas). I really want to refrain from having to duplicate files such as copying them down to the device to play.

3) (I don't think i will be using the nas to "stream" the files, i just wish to keep the files on the nas, and access/play them using the droidbox). But at no point do i want to have to copy them locally to the droidbox.
Are there any other issues with using a nas to store all my content, and play movies across the network?

4) Since i want to buy the nas, the internal hard drive of the T8s seems redundant. At that stage, the T8 Mini has hdmi 2.0 , so i am assuming that ideally is the better fit for me given the hdmi 2.0? It doesnt seem the processing power etc is much different- Let me know your thoughts on which one is more suitable.

5) I have a Logitech k400r wireless keyboard/touch pad - Google search seems to suggest it will work with?
6) i have a "Windows" xbox controller. I see xbox controllers work with the droidbox, but mines one for windows, if anyone knows if that will work? If not no biggie.

Last two..
7) As mentioned, my tv is a plasma. That means screen burn. Does anyone know of screen saver apps i might be able to use? If not, i will make a suggestion to droidbox, i know a few people with plasma screens, it is certainly an issue, and it seems no media box seems to consider this much.
8) One of the big plusses of the droidbox for me is the separate optical out. I would really like to simply be able to connect to the droidbox from my phone, and tell it to play music that is on my san, by outputting the audio to my stereo. Specifically i ask that this will work, because i don't want to have to turn my tv on everytime i wish to change a song. From the google vids/reviews, it seems like this will work pretty seamlessly, and one of the main reasons i narrowed my search to a droidbox.

Thanks for your time, and really looking to buy one of these.

 

[David Savage]

Hdmi 2.0 is back ward compactable and is mainly for 4k viewing. So using a 1.4 hdmi is fine to for 1080.
Droidbox have droidbox share for mobiles and apple airplay so you can stream music.
As for screen burn, I've got a Panasonic plasma and to get screen burn you need a still picture on for a long long time. Also I play ps4 games for hours and still no screen burn...I've got the VT50 and in picture setting and advanced there are some tools to stop this.
If your TV doesn't have this and you have a still image on your screen, just press the TV on your remote so you have moving pictures on screen while you go do something else (TV aerial needed). Then just switch back using the AV on your TV remote.

 

[TwoShoeTango]

Thanks for replying. I had a chat with Chris on the online chat. Noted hdmi should be fine, and thanks for your comment also.
Re share, it is more so that i want the "opposite" of share (in that, rather than mirroring whats on my phone up to the droidbox), i want to remote control the droidbox from my phone, so that i dont need to turn the tv on when queuing up music on my nas, (since the music wont be on my phone itself)_. For that, it seems like my two options are going to be yatse or team viewer and controlling the droidbox.
I guess ill just play around with that once it comes.
Re screen burn, i have pixel orbiter turned on, and the screen burn fix tool does work well, but ive encountered some very mild screen burn from leaving a netflix menu up etc for too long, plus, i rather like the screen saver high res image portfolio function for something ambient and different. I ended up ordering the t8 mini, pretty eager to get it installed and trial some of this stuff, very eager to decommission my workhorse pc from being a tv slave.

 

[David Savage]

Droidbox share does allow you to use it as a remote. Plus there are apps to download for android and apple devices..I use Kore remote.
As for the slight shadows on screen I get this after TV channel logos in the corner. But they soon go after a few mins..I've got the T8 mini and it's great.

 

[busapaul]

I've also got a Panasonic plasma (50GT50) and don't get any image retention on it.

Like David I've got a PS4 and a t8-s plus plugged in to it along with a blu-ray player and a Sky box.

As a precaution I do run the screen clean function after a good gaming session and don't leave the Android home page up for too long unattended.

Screen burn is permanent and shouldn't happen to modern plasma screens, image retention can happen if a little carless but as David said it should go in 5 mins just by changing the channel ect.

 

[Nigelar]

On my t8s plus something kicks in automatically if an android screen session has been left on with no activity. It's a screen saver with a digital clock. You can set it in android - settings - display - daydream (on android 5.1.1)

 

[busapaul]

Ahh yes I've seen that a few times when I've fallen asleep whilst watching a film.

It's ok but I wouldn't want it kicking in to quick, it's not a problem for me as I don't leave the Android home page up for long.

I'm normally straight in to Kodi or one of the apps.

It's only the Android home page that might leave some image retention if left on for hours, never get any problems with films ect.

 

[TwoShoeTango]

This is great to know, thanks all. I think temporary image retention is probably a better phrase. From the netflix screens, it is primarily just a very very light grey only visible when on black, certainly not old school image burn. I had it a while back and ran the screen clean tool for about 20 minutes and it cleared it up, but have been cautious since. Once the unit arrives i will look for some options.
For the remote controlling function, doing some searching, the music pump app may work for me aswell. In the past i have done something similar using my computer and win vnc, the problem with that and remote desktop is often the apps have difficulty knowing to output the audio to the native output on the computer, such as with remote desktop, it tries to play the sound via the RDP connection. With the availability of all these apps, im sure i will find one where i can control the media center from my phone.

Thanks everyone for input, ill provide an update once the unit arrives.

 

[busapaul]

Forgot to say you may want to check out Plex for your NAS and Droidbox, a few of my friends swear by it.

Sorry not used it myself as I watch all my films on blu-ray and in Kodi hooked up to an Onkyo av set up via HDMI.

If I ever get round to ripping my blue collection I think that's what I'd be looking at.

 

[ChrisM]

Just catching a few remaining queries from the first post:

xBox controller - haven't tried it in a long time, but when we last did, it was using a standard official wireless controller and a (non-official) WINDOWS USB Adapter, so unless things have changed a lot, should be OK there.

Audio - yes you should definitely be fine with having the DroidBOX play audio without turning your TV on first, had a similar set up with an old box connected to just a HiFi.

Screensaver - if you're in Kodi, System>Add-ons>Install from Repository>All repositories>Look & Feel>Screensaver
If you follow those clicks, you'll be able to add more screensavers to Kodi. A few didn't work when I last checked, but it will give you some options.
(On a related note, if you're playing audio in Kodi WITH THE TV ON, you can set Kodi to use full screen for playback, and then with the audio visualization in use, some of the screen will be changing. From memory, I think the audio playback controls should vanish if you press the Return button once).

Finally, it will depend on the protocol in use, but accessing a NAS with login credentials isn't a problem in general.