Hi. I have a Sony smart TV that does not have a browser, Gmail access, etc. I was reading up and came into a conclusion that buying an Android TV device would be a good bet. Something under $100 that I could plug into hdmi port and perhaps use a wireless keyboard and mouse to browse around. Any thoughts?
If you have a laptop or tablet, you already have a better device for web browsing and Gmail. My Sony Android TV does have a browser and I have a wireless keyboard, but it's just not worth it for using the TV in that manner. When I first got it I thought the same as you, but after trying it out, I realize it's not a good fit. The amount of text you can fit on the screen and view easily from your couch will be limited. Or the text will be so small it's hard to read. Also, there's a chance the browser doesn't support Gmail except for the text-based "basic" interface. Maybe go to Best Buy and see if you can open a web browser on one of their smart TVs to see how it works. I bet you'll find it is disappointing.
What Model is your Sony TV? If it’s a recent Bravia with Android TV, you should have a browser and/or you can download one from the Store (or even sideload it)
Web Browsing really is not that good on ALL ARM chipset media players. If you are expecting desktop browsing speeds for $100 you might be in for a rude shock. A cheap Tablet would likely be a better option.
Browsing might be bearable on something with a semi decent chipset under the hood, and at a $70 - $100 budget an 4GB RAM Mecool KM3 or KM9 Pro would be decent bang for the buck. The older Mi Boxes and Jetstream will be noticeably slower due to much weaker, older S905X chipsets.
If you are into DIY, devices with a pretty powerful AMLogic S922X chipset like the ODROID N2, combined with eMMC flash storage and running a flavour of the Lineage OS should work.
https://forum.odroid.com/viewtopic.php?f=178&t=35484
Other decent value S922X chipset Android (tablet OS) devices around the $100 mark would be the Beelink GT-King: https://forum.freaktab.com/forum/tv-player-support/amlogic-based-tv-players/s922x/768923-beelink-gtking-amlogic-s922x-4-64gb-dual-ac-wifi-mimi-gig-lan-bt4-2
MiBox S. Last I checked, it was $40 @ Walmart. It is a certified Android TV device too. You can install Puffin TV browser from the PlayStore, which works well with just a remote and lets you add custom bookmarks. You can also sideload other web browsers and use a mouse or compatible gamepad to navigate those. I recommend a Ri Mini i8+ remote. They are inexpensive and work great, plus they have a keypad and trackpad built in. The MiBox also has Chromecast built in BTW.
All Fire TV devices also have the Silk web browser pre-installed. It too works well with just the remote.
You can use something as simple as a Firestick. Start with that and see how you like it and you can upgrade after.
Just to be straight up with you. There will be no good web browsing or Gmail on Android TV. That's not what it's designed to do. Mouse and keyboard or not. These things are possible but you are dragging the OS kicking and screaming into it. You can sideload Google Chrome on Android TV and there are a couple of browser apps you could try.
Well it’s google so o believe so
Yw
Nvidia Shield
I use the t95 max and it’s awesome. No complaints so far.
Formuler z8 https://iptvdealz.com/product/formuler-z8/ best box for streaming, is full Android so you can do lot with it
Currently, the most cost effective device with full Netflix and Amazon Prime resolution that also features an USB port (e.g. for RF receivers) is the Xiaomi Mi Box S , which costs around $60.
Beware of all those little known Chinese brand boxes since they only allow you to play Netflix at 480p due to DRM restrictions, often use Tablet Android versions (yep, that's crazy) and often have issues like broken sleep modes, memory bugs and system crashes.
As with any Android TV device which features an USB port and Bluetooth, you can add plenty compatible devices. There are also some compatible USB hubs in case you need more than one USB device.