Cozyswan Mk809 II Newest Version Android Dual Core Build-in Bluetooth Android 4.1 Rk3066 Dual Core 1g Ram 8g Rom Support External 3g Mini Pc

UPDATED 3/1/13This unit completely died on me a few days ago, less than 30 days in. Fortunately, I bought it through Prime so the refund was completely painless. The unit was working well up until the moment it froze and would not power up again. Can't recommend buying this.------Original Review below---------We're trying to cut the cable bill, so we got a Roku and were going to cut everything but basic cable and HBO Go, using the Roku to watch HBO Go. But Comcast doesn't play nice with Roku/HBO Go, so we needed another device. I could have just run an HDMI cable from my laptop to the TV, but I'm stubborn. After doing some research, I decided to take a chance on the MK 809 because it is the most up-to-date of the available devices right now and it was available with Prime for fast shipping and easy returns if necessary.Even though Amazon said it was going to take 1-2 days to ship, I still had it less than 48 hours after I ordered. The unboxing experience is OK, although nothing like a major consumer product. It comes in an actual box, with a short micro USB cable to provide power, wall wart, 6 inch HDMI extension cable, and a little micro USB adapter that I haven't figure out yet. There's also a tiny little operating guide in passable English.For some reason, almost none of these devices ship with a remote or other input device. Since you are essentially installing Android onto your TV, but your TV is not a touch screen, you need a way to talk to the device. I already own a nearly full-size Adesso wireless keyboard with trackpad that I've used for other HTPC applications. You could also plug in either a USB keyboard or mouse (or plug in a powered USB hub and install multiple devices). Finally, you could try running one of two apps from the Android store on your phone or tablet that will allow you to use those devices to control the MK 809. Those are MK 802 III remote and DroidMote. More on that soon.Build quality: It feels like cheap plastic, and it is. This thing is not going to last for decades. But for the price, it's fine. If it dies on me, I'll come back and update this review. So far I've had it plugged in for almost 24 hours and it's not hot at all, for those worried about the effects of heat on the circuitry.Plugging it in: I attached the micro USB cord to the wall wart, plugged one end into the outlet and the other end into the MK 809, and tried to plug the HDMI connector directly into my TV (42" Samsung). Minor fail: the device has a pretty shallow HDMI connector that wouldn't fit the two recessed ports on my TV. There's a third, non-recessed port on the side of my TV, but the plastic body of the device was too wide for me to use that one either. I guess this is why they include the 6" HDMI extension cable. There's no on-off switch, it's either plugged in and on or it's unplugged. Switching the TV over to the correct input, I was pleasantly surprised to see Android sitting there waiting for me.Input with keyboard: I attached the USB dongle from my wireless keyboard/trackball to the device and after fiddling with the keyboard for a few minutes soon had it working. The trackball works great, with no stutter, and keyboard input has been reliable so far. The ESC key works as you expect, taking you out of apps or menus, and you can click and drag icons just as you can on an Android touchscreen. No complaints here.Connectivity: My TV is right next to the wireless router. I logged in to android with my gmail account, entered my wifi password, and was surfing the web in 60 seconds. I have heard complaints about the wifi connectivity if your TV is far from the router, but I have not had any issues.Display: The display initially seemed to have a lot of noise and way too much contrast. Watching videos was a bit unpleasant, and the google homepage was so washed out I could barely make out the search box. I suspect this might have something to do with the super-cheap extension cable. Unfortunately, I don't have another cable to try out and as mentioned above, the dongle is designed in such a way that it won't plug directly into my TV. But after 10 minutes of tweaking the video settings on my TV I've got a picture I can live with. I would suggest investing in a higher quality HDMI extension cable if you have issues that your TV video settings can't resolve. There are any number available for under $10 via Prime. In the settings, it gave me 3 video quality settings, and using the 1920x1080 it's working fine with no stuttering or glitches, just the (fixable) contrast issue. Changing the garish green wallpaper also helped, not sure why something that ugly would be their stock. There is a slider somewhere in the settings that you can use to adjust the picture to fill your screen if it doesn't reach the edges.Installed Apps: The device comes with 4 apps on the home screen (browser, play store, settings, and file explorer). In the upper right corner, there's a place to click to see all the apps on the device. I was pleasantly surprised to find something called eHome Media Center which recognized the public folders on my laptop via the wifi network and was able to stream my pictures, video clips, and music without stuttering. I don't have much video on my laptop but it handled a 30-second HD clip just fine. It also comes with the basic Android apps like GMail, gallery, calculator, etc. Finally, there is an installation of Chrome in addition to the stock browser. Widgets seem to work fine so far.Downloading apps: I've been able to access the Play store and download apps easily. I can also use my laptop to send apps to the device from the Play store. Most importantly, HBO Go works for me. I had read that it might be blocked over HDMI connections but that hasn't been the case with this device for me. Victory! I also downloaded the Play music app and I'm streaming my 15,000 song library with no issues.Input via another Android device (phone or tablet): I had been reading about DroidMote and was looking forward to trying it out, but unlike some other devices this one does not ship rooted and I haven't yet taken the time to root it. I downloaded MK 802 III remote from the play store to my phone and it has worked fine with no second server to download to the MK 809 and no root required. And it's free, which is a bonus. But unfortunately the MK 802 remote app has a bug that doesn't allow you to properly long press the screen, drag and drop icons, etc. Other than that it's fine. Eventually, I'll probably get around to rooting this and installing Droidmote to try it out. They should really make a deal with Droidmote to ship the app on every mini Android stick.I haven't yet tried out the micro SD slot or added a powered USB hub to try out multiple USB devices like a hard drive. I pretty much stream 100% of my content these days so I don't really need to use those features. But I've got no reason to believe they wouldn't work.So far, so good. This is a fun little toy and I would recommend it to anyone in the market for one of these sticks. I'm deducting 1/2 a star for the design flaw that requires me to use the HDMI extension cable and the associated noise, and another 1/2 star for not shipping the device rooted.By the way, there is a good selection of tips and tricks including full instructions on how to root here: [...]

plugged it in yesterday evening worked perfectly had a mouse plugged in it worked well then i plugged in a keyboard mouse combo it worked i went for dinner restarted after and 24 hours later it is dead. it wont boot past 2 linux penguins then dies. ive asked the seller if there is not a reset method but i doubt it. if i get it working again i will post that if not assume its gone back.when it did work it worked very well!well i opened the case there is a light on the board it gets power from both the micro usb and full usb plug it is on for 20 30 sec then boom goes the power its dead in less than 24 hours of use i like the idea the chinese construction and lack of standards hurt it carry through.

This does exactly what it says, it turns any tv with an HDMI port into a smart tv. It allows you to surf the web and even download tv shows and movies. I connected my web cam and you can use it for skype. I also connected a 1 TB hard drive to it and I can watch all of my saved movies and tv shows. It really is something I think everyone should get.The only down side that I noticed was the WIFI, it's terrible. I think that should be a noted topic on the page. To fix this problem, I purchased a LAN ethernet adaptor that plugs into the USB and voila, now it works flawless. It cost me an extra $20 but now it works great and I'm very happy with it.

Item booted a few times then failed to boot back up. Briefly had music and video working on it, noted to be much slower than quad core models.

Is a bad product doesn`t work fine, star working for 5 minutes and stop working and keep working bad for ever

Easy to set up. It connected with my wireless router without any problems.Pros - built in apps, access to Google playCons - none at this time

i tried this thing out on my TV and i got it connected immediately with my WIFI and the house and it works really well. Turns your TV into a really cool looking computer. I would recommend this to anyone.

Problem connecting to wifi. Keep dropping wifi connection after so many attempts!!! Cant even have connection through LAN. Not worth buying