I'm own a Zidoo X10. I'm happy with it, still working and plays a lot of 1080p, 4K HDR movies on it. I'd like to change it to get a newer version with 1080p, 4K HDR & Dolby Vision on it, of course with Dolby True HD, Dolby Atmos, DTS-HDMA...., but I'm not sure which one to get, the Zidoo Z10 Pro or the Dune HD Pro Vision 4K Solo. I know these 2 boxes have the new Realtek RTD 1619DR. I also like the fact that you can insert an internal HDD in the box. Streaming Netflix, Amazon, Youtube... is not my first priority (but if I can stream, I know I still have the option), I mainly use my current X10 player to play movies connected to my NAS. I use ZDMC (Kodi) instead of HT4 (I absolutely don't like HT4 and the way you can organize your movies, they are all over the place when you have a big collections of movies, series) 1: I know Zidoo have the Kodi fork ZDMC, what about Dune player, can you install Kodi or a fork on it? 2: Dune has 4gb ram, Zidoo only 2gb ram (I think more ram is better than less ram) 3: Firmware update: Which brand is the most reactive? Zidoo hasn't updated my X10 since ages (latest version on it 2.1.42, with bugs) How about Dune, are they better when it comes to update the firmware on older models? 4: Which model, brand is less buggy in general. 5: Dune has a HT4 same type, or can you customize it like a Kodi type? (with folders>sub-folders>files) 6: Pros/cons for the Zidoo and Dune player, or any other suggestions would be really helpful before I make the jump. 7: Should I wait a little bit and get the Zidoo Z11, Z12 (if they are even planned in the future) Thank for your help
1. Kodi can be installed on both players, but neither are ideally suited to it. ZDMC works so well because it seamlessly calls the Zidoo player which vanilla Kodi does not. Dune does not have such a fork. 2. There'e no doubt that more RAM is always better, but I have both players and have never seen a single issue with the Zidoo regarding RAM and there doesn't seem to be any benefit to the extra 2GB in the Dune (of which I believe only an extra 1GB can be addressed). 3. Most definitely Zidoo. Dune are very sluggish with firmware updates - For current 1619 models Zidoo have released 10 updates to public and Dune only 4. A very big plus is this forum and the interaction we can all have with the developers and the community has a very significant influence over development. This just doesn't happen with Dune. 4. Tricky question - as I'm sure you know, as I've said before, these boxes never really reach a "final product" stage - but this is a good thing because unlike for example a BluRay player from a big name, they are continually developed, updated and improved. Obviously every product must reach eol at some stage, but even older models receive updates from Zidoo where Dune seem to ditch models on an almost daily basis. So to answer your question directly, having both models, I don't think I would say that either was more or less buggy than the other, but as a little perspective, I will tell you that I own a Dune Pro Vision and a Dune Real Vision and the box I use in my cinema with over £20K invested in speakers, £7K in the screen, £5K in the projector and £4K in the amp is a £170 Zidoo Z9X. 5. Dune currently has "My Collection" which is properly horrible but they are currently working on an update to compete with HT4 but your guess is as good as mine as to how it will look and work - I'm not sure why you dislike HT4 (although I completely respect the view) but it can be customised with custom categories, genres etc in order to compartmentalise a large collection if that's what you mean by "folders>sub-folders>files" 6. The one thing I will say in Dune's favour, and this is no big secret, is that they handle BluRay menus better, but to me this is utterly irrelevant since one of my main reasons for using such a box is to be completely rid of the damned time vampires! One thing to definitely consider though is the price difference - for some reason better know to Dune, the Pro Vision is currently £80 more expensive than the Z10 Pro (it was more until recently) and they are essentially the same box. 7. There are always new models on the horizon, but unless you're waiting for a high end audio model (Zidoo have one due for release next month), there's no reason not to step into one of the current mid-range models right now. And a quick note on streaming - as far as I know neither Dune nor Zidoo have a viable solution for streaming the likes of Netflix and Amazon - simply a licencing issue.
Thanks a lot for your helpful reply After reading your post it seems to me that the Zidoo Z10 Pro is the winner as firmware update is important to me, Zidoo is cheaper for more or less the same specifications, and I like ZDMC. About HT4, I wish Zidoo would add a Folder>sub-folders>files architecture in HT4. Let me give you an example where I think HT4 is horrible to deal with. I created a main folder named Dragon Ball Universe, in that folder I created some sub folders such as Dragon Ball (with all the episodes of Dragon Ball), another sub folder named Dragon Ball GT (with all the episodes in it), another sub folder Dragon Ball Super, another sub folder Dragon Ball Z (with all the Dragon Ball Z episodes), another sub folder Dragon Ball Z movies, and another sub folder Super Dragon Ball heroes. In total this is 763 episodes. I tried HT4 and OMG what a nightmare just trying to find some Dragon Ball episodes, they are all over the place in HT4. In ZDMC (Kodi) I click on the Dragon Ball Universe folder>Dragon Ball Z sub folder>then the file I want to play and DONE. Good luck trying to find the file Dragon Ball Z episode 86 for example in HT4. Of course you might customize it with categories, but after a lot of work and time. I think HT4 is fine if you have a small collection of movies, but when you start to have a really big collection of movies, series, animated in my case over 40Tb, HT4 is absolutely not user friendly. Don't get me wrong, the covers, information about the movies are great in HT4, but where I think HT4 lacks is files organization and more in depth customization.
I am new here and recently got a UHD3000. My primary purpose was to play my multi channel (MCH) music, Blu Ray, DVD and SACD. For some albums, it is necessary to access the BD Menu to get the right MCH audio stream, a quirk of the disk itself. So having better BD Menus may be handy. To my disappointment, Zidoo does not do MCH SACD. I understand the Dune can convert it to MCH PCM. I wonder whether you have tested this on the Dune.?
I don't use these boxes for music I'm afraid - maybe ask about this in the UHD3000 thread: http://forum.zidoo.tv/index.php?threads/practical-experiences-using-the-uhd3000.86061/
I am just going to reply for RAM, I never had problem with memory on Z10 Pro, with or without google store.
This is a very good post for those undecided with Dune or Zidoo. Also interesting is that back in 2021 Dune wasn't releasing firmware updates often.
