CD-R KING INTERNET TV BOX REVIEW PART 2

If you read my previous post on the CD-R KING Internet TV Box, you will know that I gave it a favorable review. With one month left of its six-month warranty, it just decided to conk out.It simply suddenly refused to power on. So I brought it back to CD-R King and they happily received the unit. I was told it would take 3-4 weeks to repair. (On a side note, it goes without saying that the original packaging and receipt are necessary for returns.) After about 3 weeks, I had very low expectations on the status of my unit. To my surprise, they told me that they would just replace it with a new one. It’s even better than having the old one getting fixed. The icing on the cake would be them agreeing to replacing it with a newer model with a faster processor, double the RAM and built-in Bluetooth, all for just P110 more.

The newer model has a 1.2ghz processor, 1 Gigabytes of RAM, and built-in Bluetooth. It even has an Apple TV look and shape to it. The only advantage the old one had was the 4 USB ports versus the 2 on this one. Just from the boot up time alone, the faster processor and RAM is very evident and makes a huge difference. Also noticeable is the fast and smoother navigating and switching between apps. While the skinned interphase is new, it still runs on Android 2.3 Gingerbread. I'm sure the performance would be even better if it ran Ice Cream Sandwich or Jellybean. It remains to be seen if CD-R King will make an update available. The hardware can certainly support it. Just like the previous model, you will need what I call some Android "elbow grease" to set it up properly. Which means downloading apps like MX player, Chrome Browser, an English keyboard, etc. To be honest, you won't really be able to enjoy and maximize it if you don't set it up to tailor to your needs.

As with my previous review, this is still a must buy for me as it takes huge load off my PC. Just remember that this is a computer so expect some random freezing and reboots, but for just P110 pesos more, don't even bother looking at the old model.

The Good:

- Improved design compared to older model

- Better specs

- Price

   The Bad:

- Only 2 USB ports

- Random reboots

- Additional setup required to make it more usable

* Note - I could not find the Bluetooth settings on this device, after looking at the specs, it says it supports Bluetooth but unfortunately it is not built-in. Sorry about that!