Xr4500?

[squirtNcider]

A buddy wants (needs) to upgrade their buzz box. Still has the xpl 3000....lol...I know.
Doesn't have the funds to but new so I found this used XR4500 for $100. If I could get it for around $75 or so, would that be a decent deal? Im just not overly excited that it only has 2GB RAM though.
Thoughts?

[The Noof]

A buddy wants (needs) to upgrade their buzz box. Still has the xpl 3000....lol...I know.
Doesn't have the funds to but new so I found this used XR4500 for $100. If I could get it for around $75 or so, would that be a decent deal? Im just not overly excited that it only has 2GB RAM though.
Thoughts?

I have xr4500 & I have to say it's a GREAT stb.Perhaps a wee bit slower than the 128s I have, but not vey noticeable & not at all bothersome.

[dishuser]

you can get a brand new b5 for $100

[Emporium]

you can get a brand new b5 for $100

I love the B5, but I still find the 4500 is a little snappier. But obviously the B5 is newer box and "new" for that price.
I'm actually considering swapping mom's B5 with my 4500, since it is little quicker.

And the B5 is now CDN$87 until Nov 5 with the Halloween special :) And the E5 is now CDN$130.

[dishuser]

I love the B5, but I still find the 4500 is a little snappier. But obviously the B5 is newer box and "new" for that price.
I'm actually considering swapping mom's B5 with my 4500, since it is little quicker.

And the B5 is now CDN$87 until Nov 5 with the Halloween special :) And the E5 is now CDN$130.
I was including tax ;)

[Maestro701]

I set up the 4500 in our guest room for a visitor last month and it works great. A bit slower than the newer devices but the visitor loved it and no complaints. It's a great deal

[squirtNcider]

Thanks for the input everyone.....
I didn't realize the B5 and E5 were comparable to the 4500 series.
I know they are newer but for some reason thought of them as more of budget boxes. The 4500 series were top tier when they first came out.

[Emporium]

Thanks for the input everyone.....
I didn't realize the B5 and E5 were comparable to the 4500 series.
I know they are newer but for some reason thought of them as more of budget boxes. The 4500 series were top tier when they first came out.

The 4500 was (and still is) a very good box. Still very usable even today. It was just a step behind the 4900 in that series (which I am still running 2 of them as my daily boxes).

In my opinion, I find the 4500 is a little faster than the B5. However the E5 is about the same as the 4500 (maybe the E5 is just a tad quicker - been a while since I've used it).

The 4500 has Gigabit LAN, the B5 is only 10/100.
The 4500 comes with a BT remote, the B5 is IR
The 4500 uses the S905X3 CPU (S9 3rdGen), and the B5 uses S905W2 CPU (S9 2nd Gen).
The X3 CPU does have a little more horsepower than the W2 (even in benchmarks like geekbench single and multicore).
And the 4500 has a USB3 port, the B5 only has USB2 if I recall.

The advantage of the B5 is that is has Android 11 (hence why the switch to the S905W2 CPU for android 11 support), has AC wireless, and is newer.

Everyone's opinion may be different, but if I had to choose between a B5 or 4500, I'd probably take the 4500, with the BT100 remote. I have the xrs4500 myself, but I don't think the extra 2GB of ram would make a huge difference if it is just for IPTV use. Sure for apps like Kodi or others, it would play a bigger difference, but for the BuzzTV 5 apps, the extra ram won't make any difference I'm sure.

[dishuser]

used = no warranty ;)

[wedalan]

I’ve Noticed that the XRS4500 has not received the latest buzz software, V938? which makes me think that it maybe left behind in all future developments.

You probably already have you mind made up but My advice would be get new equipment with backing and support. IMHO $100 for a 4500 is about twice its value.

[dishuser]

I’ve Noticed that the XRS4500 has not received the latest buzz software, V938? which makes me think that it maybe left behind in all future developments.

You probably already have you mind made up but My advice would be get new equipment with backing and support. IMHO $100 for a 4500 is about twice its value.
do you do standup as well?

[Maestro701]

I’ve Noticed that the XRS4500 has not received the latest buzz software, V938? which makes me think that it maybe left behind in all future developments.

You probably already have you mind made up but My advice would be get new equipment with backing and support. IMHO $100 for a 4500 is about twice its value.

My 4500 has the latest installed

[wedalan]

My 4500 has the latest installed

Has it been released to everyone?

[Emporium]

Different boxes get releases deployed at different times. Not ALL boxes will get the latest release at the same time. Even the 5 series boxes are staggered.

My 4500 has 937. Who cares, it still get's regular updates and it is damn stable already. For a 5 year old box, I am pretty impressed with the support. Went from BuzzTV 4 to BuzzTV 5, and it is still going.

No, I am not holding my breath for BuzzTV 6 on this box :) But I'm sure once BuzzTV 6 becomes main stream with all the bells and whistles planned for it, BuzzTV 5 will slow down on the updates and eventually stop (like BuzzTV 4 updates did). BUT that time is not tomorrow or the very near future as far as I can tell.

Hell, I recently resurrected (with the help of Buzz CS) an old Boomerang box that was still in original package and never previously updated. Sure the box is slow (compared to todays standard), and running BuzzTV 2, but for what it was intended for, it works great.

Now for the original thread topic, only your friend can make the decision. But @ $100 for a used one, I'd probably just scrounge up a little more cash and get an E5, new with warranty (Halloween sale now, and surely for BF around the corner there will be another sale). However if you can get it for $75, then it becomes more interesting, as long as they understand there is no warranty. It is a great box however.. Especially if it comes with it's original BT100 remote in good condition.

[dishuser]

my 4500 from the beginning had buzztv 5...lol
I still check on my 3000,basic and 3900 and all work as intended

[Emporium]

my 4500 from the beginning had buzztv 5...lol
I still check on my 3000,basic and 3900 and all work as intended

My 4500 came with Buzztv 4 and so did many of the ones I recommended/bought for friends. The BuzzTV 5 update you had to take by going to updates screen and typing I think "2015" which would get you the "beta".
My 4900 boxes, both came with BuzzTV 5 however.

Many who did not take the BuzzTV 5 update by using the code, eventually got it anyhow. My buddy never took it, and one day (over a year later) he did a reset on his box, and he called me in excitement telling me that he had just gotten an awesome update, and I should reset my box :) Guess I had forgotten to tell him how to get it. Then he was going to reset his second 4500 to get it to update also, but I clued him in, on how to do it without doing a reset.

I have a 3000 also, and it still works well. The buddy of mine that I revived the Boomerang for, also has a 3000 which works well. He also has a Classic for his main box, but the 3000 and boomerang are now in the basement and in the garage, working quite well.

[dishuser]

my 4500 had buzztv 5 before the 4900 was even being sold ;)