With Chromecasts being discontinued, increase in ads, telemetry, etc I’m wondering if anyone else is going back to old school HTPCs or if they have some other solution to do this in house.
I think the options here are likely:
- Rooted streamer (ie Chromecast, firestick)
- Android Box
- Mini PC
I’m actually most interested in experimenting with #3, a mini PC running KDE Plasma Bigscreen. Most of my self hosted apps can be run in browser windows, and a full desktop (while harder to navigate) is better than the browsers you can get on Android.
What is everyone esle, especially the privacy / de-googled self hosters doing for their media front end?
N100 mini PC imo. $150 does everything.
All my current self-hosting is running off an N100 mini-PC. OPNsense, NginX, Home Assistant, Unifi Controller, Docker host, etc. They are fantastic, it just seems a bit overkill for sitting behind the TV and playing Plex/Jellyfin and the occasional web stream in a browser. There’s really not much competition though as all the products below it offer a lot older processors that don’t have very up to date HW decode.
Same. Seems like overkill when you can see what it can do. But also at that price you can velcro it to the back of your tv and it can literally do anything so have at. I don’t see a lot of better options. I use full computers personally.
What optimized application do you run for the big screen and easy navigation? What about remote control?
Stremio/Plex with a Microsoft keyboard that has a touchpad built in. It’s big but you can get small ones off Amazon for $20
I’d recommend the Pepper Jobs windows 10 gyro remote. I’ve got two of them because they’re so great.
Are those Windows only?
I haven’t done it other than for testing, but you can pair a fire Stick remote to a PC using Bluetooth and it works with Kodi.
Exactly. N100 mini PCs are like the Swiss Army Knife of computers. Almost as compact as a Raspberry Pi, and compatible with a lot more things.
And cost 10 times as much.
2.4 times. But, who’s counting?
Just sayin’
I didn’t say Raspberry Pi Zero. Those are niche machines. They’re not fast enough to do general purpose computing.
For OP’s needs they are fine though.
They can’t do 4K video. The best they can do is 1080p30.
Anyway to do this without a keyboard. I used to have a PC connected to my TV for this but eventually just bought an apple tv for simplicity.
Remote control over your phone or using a Xbox controller like if it were a console. Back in the day I had an htpc remote but ability to control apps is inconsistent.
For me nothing is more simple then a PC interface. I hate having to scroll using a TV remote it takes so long to do anything and it’s quite limiting in other ways.
I have one of these: http://www.riitek.com/product/254.html
The back has a keyboard, the front has programmible buttons for the TV (mostly just used for on/off), and the rest is a bunch of buttons connected to the PC.
I use it with Kodi but it’s a pretty user friendly way to control it once it’s set up.
I don’t recommend this one with kde desktop Not sure how it is with big screen.
This one is great for general PC use. https://www.amazon.com/Rii-Bluetooth-Keyboard-Smartphones-Mac-Black/dp/B07T13GLY3/ref=mp_s_a_1_14?crid=2WE5IDKRXKGV4&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.xrnVtYYFTyO73ZuMPlMTiXuUtrXgu563ShL0RpC2E6Xc7hns3f8uHG9GfZK7BoKuBAEB5ZCWdZXwPPRdNcLbOs5WitdHNrWgJlJZMZAo4OIELITXPEAqZJzbeYRZxnwpfgkBsiU947VEBWvtTAkj8UTRRFynHFwOKXdF5VgSU8UlPR5RePsuUUndFEpOtHOCSCDJYTyLj56yx3VQfNQDfA.D7Rgpcdgj4ltPso9vVwL3X5B9bY1c8IRphOPAebVH1Y&dib_tag=se&keywords=mini+keyboard+with+touchpad&qid=1725323885&sprefix=mini+keyboard+%2Caps%2C169&sr=8-14
If you are looking to clone TV remote IR buttons there is this one. The orange buttons can clone TV remote buttons. https://www.amazon.com/Rii-Wireless-Keyboard-Touchpad-Controller/dp/B0C5LFLL3G/ref=mp_s_a_1_1_pp?crid=247JUEQKDFAAL&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.J1g9QtAF8xB3mG5ZS6etrWUR8cxrIbmY-Oit0UosNDdx9GOe4HOH-SC-IgSIymfthR7fZA7_WdoiGNPvKqQzpXxYvOVi4cy7zqdiaK3qTTq8s5T7F8mWjjIICmOJFabGJAaYknW4Yo82sn18O3n_Vb2D-E0LQYl7qgUqoUcAJd07BoTIgZTmgvqsqWl_3clD0sbzKhjFKfDdixiRLuBCSw.5mMB6rANHKQtxt1qbEeHzMvBxR3Rep5-BBOJFQlMZZs&dib_tag=se&keywords=rii&qid=1725324362&sprefix=rii%2Caps%2C127&sr=8-1
If you are going to use a PC desktop (kde is great) I recommend getting one with the scroll wheel.