Are home theatre PC's still a thing?
Discussion
I'm tempted to do away with my current mishmash of Firestick, Pi, PS3 and regularly plugging a laptop in the telly, and instead hook up a small PC to the TV to use to stream iplayer/prime/youtube, play video files from hard drive or NAS, possibly play DVD/Bluerays, and stick a webcam on for Zoom calls. But I've no idea what spec I'd need or how best to control it. You can get miniPC's with an Atom processor pretty cheaply, but would that be up to the job?
I believe Windows Media Centre Edition or whatever it was called died with XP so I guess I'd need to run standard Windows, possibly with something like Kodi or Plex to play content. I'd rather not have to use a bluetooth keyboard for everything, are remote controls available?
I believe Windows Media Centre Edition or whatever it was called died with XP so I guess I'd need to run standard Windows, possibly with something like Kodi or Plex to play content. I'd rather not have to use a bluetooth keyboard for everything, are remote controls available?
You can run apps on the Chromecast or need a laptop/pc on to cast from?
I originally went with a Firestick over the Chromecast so I didn't need another device on, but while it does the job for Prime, the iPlayer app through a VPN is pretty rubbish, and while you can cast Youtube to it from a phone, you don't seem to be able to cast iPlayer to it from a more powerful device which is a bit of a dissapointment,
I originally went with a Firestick over the Chromecast so I didn't need another device on, but while it does the job for Prime, the iPlayer app through a VPN is pretty rubbish, and while you can cast Youtube to it from a phone, you don't seem to be able to cast iPlayer to it from a more powerful device which is a bit of a dissapointment,
I use an Intel NUC for exactly this. If you get a Celeron processor, then it doesn't need a fan so very quiet and power usage is something like 6-7 watts which is very little.
I still have Windows 7 MCE installed and it is powerful enough to run HD films and TV. Its connected to a NAS for storage and has m2 SSD on the NUC itself.
I still have Windows 7 MCE installed and it is powerful enough to run HD films and TV. Its connected to a NAS for storage and has m2 SSD on the NUC itself.
I have one built a while back (when Windows MCE was a thing), worked as a blu-ray player/DVR/file server and browser for the TV. I've never got on with any of the Windows replacements for Windows Media Centre, like Kodi, so it has not been used as much other than the file server and web browser for a long time.
However, I bought a nVidia Shield and separate blu-ray player so I'm slowly phasing out the TV PC. The Shield seems really good for upscaling, simplicity and so on. Supports chromecast too, and (with side-loading) zoom calls with a webcam etc... so it pretty much does all I want in a much smaller device.
However, I bought a nVidia Shield and separate blu-ray player so I'm slowly phasing out the TV PC. The Shield seems really good for upscaling, simplicity and so on. Supports chromecast too, and (with side-loading) zoom calls with a webcam etc... so it pretty much does all I want in a much smaller device.
RizzoTheRat said:
That's kind of that I'm thinking of. Are you using a remote of a BT keyboard? Not sure how Media Centre or Kodi on Win10 would compare to MCE
Use a mini wireless keyboard and Kodi on win10. Kodi is mostly reliable. We tend to use seperate Netflix/prime apps as the Kodi options are not “nice”
RizzoTheRat said:
You can run apps on the Chromecast or need a laptop/pc on to cast from?
I originally went with a Firestick over the Chromecast so I didn't need another device on, but while it does the job for Prime, the iPlayer app through a VPN is pretty rubbish, and while you can cast Youtube to it from a phone, you don't seem to be able to cast iPlayer to it from a more powerful device which is a bit of a dissapointment,
The new Chromecast isn't really a Chromecast, they should have dropped that name as it's so far from the concept of Chromecast that it's misleading. As said, it has a remote, proper UI and apps for iPlayer, Netflix, YouTube, Amazon Prime, Apple TV, More 4, ITV, Plex and various others.I originally went with a Firestick over the Chromecast so I didn't need another device on, but while it does the job for Prime, the iPlayer app through a VPN is pretty rubbish, and while you can cast Youtube to it from a phone, you don't seem to be able to cast iPlayer to it from a more powerful device which is a bit of a dissapointment,
It has all the features of Chromecast too, so you can bounce stuff to it as well, so anything you can get in a Chrom
The only reason I would go a different route is if you don't currently have a server and would like one, a NUC type PC would happily host various hard drives and run a Plex Server for your other stuff.
Currently have a WD Mybook Live NAS with a built in plex server but am thinking of buying a bigger/better NAS at some point too (probably Synology or QNAP which are both supposed to be good media servers)
Sounds like the new Chromecast is a similar concept to the Firestick, but with better casting abilities? And the Nvidia Shield is more powerful Chromecast with the ability to play games? In which case the Chromecast sounds like it might be the best bet.
Anyone running a VPN on a new chromecast? Once reason I'm looking to change is iPlayer through a VPN when abroad doesn't work that well on either the Firestick or the Pi.
Sounds like the new Chromecast is a similar concept to the Firestick, but with better casting abilities? And the Nvidia Shield is more powerful Chromecast with the ability to play games? In which case the Chromecast sounds like it might be the best bet.
Anyone running a VPN on a new chromecast? Once reason I'm looking to change is iPlayer through a VPN when abroad doesn't work that well on either the Firestick or the Pi.
Used to do the HTPC thing but an Apple TV does everything I need nicely these days. Every streaming service, Plex for stuff on my local server, can airplay to it for zoom calls, etc. Used to do recording via capture cards, etc but I find it more convenient just to go to the catchup streaming services instead now. So well integrated if you have an iPhone - hit a text input box on the TV and it pops up for input on the phone using the phone keyboard. So much better than digging out the special HTPC bluetooth keyboard. Chromecast or Shield probably does similar if you're in the Android world.
Have a PS4 which covers the odd DVD or Blu-Ray (if I won't be ripping it into the plex library), else a £60 Panasonic blu ray player (£130 if you want 4K) will do all the spinning disc stuff very nicely.
Have a PS4 which covers the odd DVD or Blu-Ray (if I won't be ripping it into the plex library), else a £60 Panasonic blu ray player (£130 if you want 4K) will do all the spinning disc stuff very nicely.
I have 2, a proper full size one with 16GB RAM and 6TB storage and another NUC. Both support 4K, 7.2/Atmos and the best bit is you get a proper full size keyboard to look for what you want. You can also do everything a Windows PC will do, e.g Facebook & TV streaming, YouTube and KODI. I also use it for music and it all goes through my AV amp. Smart TVs and sound bars are for amateurs
Yes. More pain to set up but a hugely better experience and vastly more configurable than the usual streaming devices.
Certain service providers are control freaks so have discontinued their APIs, making integration more painful than it ought to be.
I wouldn’t go back to the like of AppleTV and the horrendous interfaces of Netflix, Apple+, Disney etc.
Mac Mini
Plex
Kodi
Clicker (https://www.dbklabs.com/clicker-for-netflix/)
Certain service providers are control freaks so have discontinued their APIs, making integration more painful than it ought to be.
I wouldn’t go back to the like of AppleTV and the horrendous interfaces of Netflix, Apple+, Disney etc.
Mac Mini
Plex
Kodi
Clicker (https://www.dbklabs.com/clicker-for-netflix/)
RizzoTheRat said:
Currently have a WD Mybook Live NAS with a built in plex server but am thinking of buying a bigger/better NAS at some point too (probably Synology or QNAP which are both supposed to be good media servers)
Sounds like the new Chromecast is a similar concept to the Firestick, but with better casting abilities? And the Nvidia Shield is more powerful Chromecast with the ability to play games? In which case the Chromecast sounds like it might be the best bet.
Anyone running a VPN on a new chromecast? Once reason I'm looking to change is iPlayer through a VPN when abroad doesn't work that well on either the Firestick or the Pi.
Which Firestick have you got? I have one and found it terrible because it's too underpowered to run any apps and insists on loading loads of graphics before it'll let you do anything. The new one is supposed to be a lot better.Sounds like the new Chromecast is a similar concept to the Firestick, but with better casting abilities? And the Nvidia Shield is more powerful Chromecast with the ability to play games? In which case the Chromecast sounds like it might be the best bet.
Anyone running a VPN on a new chromecast? Once reason I'm looking to change is iPlayer through a VPN when abroad doesn't work that well on either the Firestick or the Pi.
I was going to get a Shield but didn't because of the cost, but unless you need the power of the Shield I'd probably still get the Chromecast for the new Google TV OS. I think that'll end up on Shield eventually though.
Can't help with the VPN stuff, but I'd definitely check as I know some Google stuff like the older Chromecasts have hard coded DNS server addresses, so it may well have some foibles hidden away.
RizzoTheRat said:
Had the basic one but upgraded to the 4k in the Christmas sales in the hope that the more powerful version would cure the iPlayer buffering issue (it didn't). Pi buffers the same but laptop is fine, all on the same network.
I think its a BBC issue. I have Vodafone Gigafast 200 connection, all my apps work fine on Firestick and Google TV apart from..... BBC
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