[Nexus Player Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] pbanj:
i dont use the onscreen keyboard that much and would much rather prefer to use a remote for navigating the apps. last i checked the nexus player could play x265 so im not sure how those offer more. nexus devices have never had an sd card slot so it doesnt bother me too much. it bothers me even less because i have all my media on a network drive(it seems most of the other users are doing the same or similar) so i dont have to have a couple tb of media on every device. as for the usb ports it has otg support for you to plug stuff into if u want that, you just need an otg cable which are cheap or if you dont want to buy one they are real easy to make. i would like to have more outputs for video but hdmi is pretty standard at this point so not really a negative. i hate using wifi especially for media but the nexus player has not had an issue yet and its pretty far from the router. the thing with wifi is sure the 2.4 band sucks but the 5.0 band works really well. if you want ethernet you can get an ethernet to micro usb adapter and plug it in but from what i have seen it doesnt need it.

you can use a keyboard and mouse with the nexus player if you want. i have used stuff like those other boxes and the player is far easier to use(just ask the wife). also if you care about this kind of crap(i dont really but some do) the player has the newest ver of android where those boxes are on kitkat. what it all comes down to is how you like to use stuff and what you want to use it for. im looking for a good media box that is easy for my family to use without needing a mini bt keyboard with track pad(track pads suck, especially small ones). or use a mouse. as for the game controller u could use a game controller on the other ones as they are android boxes and there are controllers for them. i actually use the red samurai 2 controllers from gamestop instead of the official game pad on my nexus player as they are cheap and work great. oh for searching the nexus player has voice search so you dont really need to type crap in.

what i see a lot on this site is people who buy devices without knowing what it really is or knowing what it is and knowing its not what they want but buying it and then looking for a way to make it what they originally wanted. a good example is the fire tv section. its full of people who buy them and want to put stock android on it pretty much the entire point of the fire tv devices is the amazon instant video support(best i have found). if you dont want to use amazon instant video then dont buy the damn things. or you look at the lolirock thread(im not bashing it) its full of people who bought the nexus player which is an android tv device and wanted a device with normal android on it. they should have just bought one of the boxes you listed as that is what they really wanted. i think dhackers cm12 hits the sweet spot as it gives you another choice in fw without changing what the device was supposed to be. when i said the thing about them buying devices and looking for a way to change it into what they really wanted im not talking about rooting and roming. im talking about taking a phone and looking for a rom so you can use it as say a tv device, or buying an android tv device when what you really wanted was just an android box to plug into your tv, or buying an android box when you really wanted and android tv box. a lot of people will ***** when they cant find a way to turn the device into what they originally wanted but for some reason didnt buy. there is nothing wrong with wanting full control over their devices but you should buy the device closet to what you want. would you buy a samsung device when what you want is the htc setup? im going to say no you wouldnt. just like you dont see a reason to buy the nexus player i dont see a reason to buy those other boxes as they dont fit

MY

needs and that is what it all really comes down to.

tl;dr

know what it is you are buying and buy what you want not something that is sort of what you want and then try to make it what you really wanted in the first place.

remember sort of you isnt you

so why would a sort of device be the device you really wanted.