Good Android TV box with Built in 3.5" HD Bay?

by killthenerds

I used to have an old Popcorn Hour A-110 network media tank that I got back in 2009 but it has since become very obsolete as it could handle only h264 files. I liked it because I was able to install a large hard-drive and I could install certain apps like a version of Transmission that I could use via web interface. I want a modern version of that, that can take a 3.5" hd(so I can slap in a huge 6-8 TB hard drive) and that can handle Transmission or another torrent client that has a web interface(so I save time by picking torrents to download while I am at work from my Iphone).

Does anyone know a good set-top Android TV box that has a built in hard drive bay?

Does the new Shield TV Pro have a hd bay? Is that what they mean by this?

https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/shield/shield-tv-pro/
Expandable using USB flash or hard drives.

It seems too small to have a built in bay.

Is it even possible with android to run a headless torrent seed box and still watch movies like I could even do with my old Popcorn Hour back in 2009?

abeel_siddiqui

I would reccomend building a plex server

SprintLTE

https://www.cnx-software.com/2020/06/08/buy-beelink-gs-king-x-android-tv-box-and-dual-hdd-nas/

If you can wait for reviews on this, might fit your need.

roueGone

I tried setting up the shield as seed box and it would just lag badly when downloading. Better with a pi or. something else.

spurdosparade

Android TV no, but you probably can find a crapbox loaded with android (not android tv) that has this. But if you're going to store this much data and for this use case you're interested a server or a nas is way more suitable to this job, you can install a Plex or Jellyfin server and stream the content straight from there to all the devices of your home and also install transmission.

daraghfi

There's a couple of other ways you could go: a Kodi server with the download client you want, or a NAS with Plex/Emby.

I went the latter route because I also wanted to back up all our photos and videos, as well as all the media files we have we play through the TV Plex client. I cannot recommend Synology enough. Every time my wife asks me if our photos and videos are safe, I can confidently say yes (I mirror the drives). Also, we browsed all of them over the CoronaVirus shelter in place. Hours of enjoyment - three kids and 20 years of memories. Synology isn't the cheapest, but IMHO it's worth the peace of mind, and the functionality and support is incredible.

latinriky78

There isn't any as of yet, however, the only ATV device so far with a non-removable hard drive is the Nvidia Shield Pro. If you want to know everything about all Android TV certified devices, please pay a visit to the Android TV Guide website.

Expandable using USB flash or hard drives.

It means you can connect any external USB hard drive to expand storage, not to insert it inside the device.

Is it even possible with android to run a headless torrent seed box and still watch movies like I could even do with my old Popcorn Hour back in 2009

You can try Torrentium TV.

CuvisTheConqueror

The only Android TV boxes that have an internal hard drive are the 2015 and 2017 Shield Pro models. You are correct, the 2019 does not.

Any Android TV device can take an external USB hard drive, though, and that should serve your needs.

oOflyeyesOo

Looks like your lucky day on releases! Check out what just dropped! Absolutely perfect, has two bays, widevine L1 and HDMI 2.1!

https://www.cnx-software.com/2020/06/08/buy-beelink-gs-king-x-android-tv-box-and-dual-hdd-nas/

Enjoy!! Let us know how it is, maybe a little review.

BLPvonBaron

hi, im in a similiar position to you. May i ask what you went with in the end. I was reading into this Beelink GS-King X S922X-H but it doesnt support NTFS only exfat which means (as per my understanding) that it wont support files greater than 4tb.

TIA