Should I purchase the Asus Cube?

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simplyTravis
Android 1.0
Posts: 3
Joined: Thu Jun 13, 2013 9:49 pm
GTV Device Owned: Logitech Revue

Should I purchase the Asus Cube?

Post by simplyTravis »

I currently have a Logitech Revue that is mostly useless. It has an audio problem and tends to freeze up. I want to purchase an Asus Cube but some of the reviews are making me think otherwise. So, do you recommend this product as a more informed user? Also, have you successfully rooted this and what have you installed on your system to make rooting worth the price? I personally would love Spotify on Google TV since I can never get it to work with Plex.

Thanks in advance!
jsp0511
Android 1.0
Posts: 1
Joined: Thu Jun 20, 2013 7:33 am

Re: Should I purchase the Asus Cube?

Post by jsp0511 »

I registered just so I could reply for you. :)

I bought the Asus Cube coming from a Boxee Box. I love the idea of integrating the Cube with my Verizon Fios where before, with the Boxee, I'd have to change inputs and totally remove myself from a TV show I am watching.

To answer your question:

The good...
For me is that the Cube seems faster at processing requests than most products in it's space. The remote with the voice feature is pretty awesome though I don't use the Cube remote often (usually use my Logitech which I have not yet programmed to turn the Cube on/off). People have complained that the interface of the Cube is clunky with the Cube design. This doesn't really bother me much as I typically go to "All Apps" anyway and choose the app I want to use. The Chrome browser could use an update but gets the job done much better than the Boxee (that unit was terrible at browsing, especially use it's remote).


The bad (which I am hopeful will all be fixed sooner rather than later)...
The unit at times, when powered on does not show video, though you can hear the audio. I've had to unplug the Cube and power it back on with all of my other devices still powered (tv, dvr, a/v receiver). For the time being, I power all of my devices up first then power on the Cube. This has worked 100% of the time though a bit annoying especially for when I program my Harmony remote to power everything on at once...will I have to set a delay on powering the Cube???...annoying
The other issue is that almost every damn app on the Google Play Store is incompatible with this unit (as they seem to be with most units anyway). This proves to be a big issue for me as I bought this unit mainly to stream movies and tv shows from my Google Drive. I can navigate to my GDrive in Chrome but the unit won't hold full screen rendering it useless.

As for Rooting the device, I tried Cube Root and although it stated that my device is rooted, it does not seem to be. I tried using Market Helper which spoofs the device to seem like a galaxy S3 so you can at least install the apps but Market Helper says the Cube is not rooted. I have not tested it much since that one days attemps.

If Asus and or Google or whoever handles the app compatibility issues gets their act together, this unit could be pretty awesome. If not, I may be selling it unsure of what other option I'd go with.

Good luck!
simplyTravis
Android 1.0
Posts: 3
Joined: Thu Jun 13, 2013 9:49 pm
GTV Device Owned: Logitech Revue

Re: Should I purchase the Asus Cube?

Post by simplyTravis »

Hey jsp0511 thanks for taking the time to reply! Also, I ordered a Cube yesterday :D Too bad they are not in stores at all or I would have picked one up.

I am going to start by telling you that I actually read about that same problem on an other forum (although your solution may make it a different problem but its worth a shot) while doing some research and it can be solved by using a higher quality hdmi cable. You can find that discussion here: http://www.googletvforum.org/forum/asus ... issue.html You don't leave your unit just powered? I would leave my logitech on due to how long it took to boot up since the Satellite was always on.

Also, I agree with you on how other systems don't quite really move fast enough or have a good browser at all! My friend was showing me his WD box and how awesome it was but honestly, my Logitech Revue ran faster, did more, and was more capable at doing those tasks he showed me with 2 exceptions: 1) it could stream a few more codecs but I am not a big streamer of pirated content and 2) It had Spotify but they just announced like a week ago that Spotify is coming too Google TV!!!!

I am hoping the switch to JellyBean in the future will help the incompatibility issues we are seeing. Honeycomb was a dark hole for apps that Google TV never really got away from. JB should help tremendously with multiple things. I am purchasing this with the understanding that it is bleeding edge even though Google TV should be far away from that by now. Hopefully the upgrade will show a little more support happening in the future.

I will try the root too but I have heard it is really only good to trick websites in to thinking it is another browser. Maybe Asus put out a fix for it?

Well, anyway, thanks for giving me the review since it did convince me to purchase the Cube!
KrazeeCriss
Android 1.0
Posts: 1
Joined: Fri Apr 04, 2014 3:25 pm
GTV Device Owned: Logitech Revue

Re: Should I purchase the Asus Cube?

Post by KrazeeCriss »

Hey simplyTravis did you ever make the switch, if so how does it pair up against the logitech revue?

Groupon has the Asus Cube for 50 bucks and then GTVFriends @ G+ gave a 30 dollar mail in rebate form, I'm thinking of switching...


Saw the Amazon Fire Tv and still am not ready to make the leap and leave GTV for FTV. LoL! Not until fire tv has been hacked away at and released.
Cadstar
Android 1.0
Posts: 10
Joined: Mon May 20, 2013 9:07 am

Re: Should I purchase the Asus Cube?

Post by Cadstar »

After many issues I finally updated to the Cube V2 and I am very happy with it thus far. So anyone interested - make sure you get the V2 device. My V1 was considerably slower, laggier, etc. Of course this may have been due to me screwing with it and disbaling OTA updates. See my Topic under the "How do I reverse Cuberoot's OTA Blocking" title for more info.

-KenD
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