• dangblingus@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    Have a regular PC hooked up to the TV. That’s my smart machine. I control every aspect of it. Fuck Smart TVs.

    • Rob Bos@lemmy.ca
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      1 year ago

      Raspberry pi with Kodi hooked up to a projector and a NAS serving files works well for me.

      • SupraMario@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        This is the way, although the pi is to slow for me at this point and I replaced it with shields.

        Also why the are people connecting tvs to their networks…fuck that noise.

        • teejay@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          I’m waiting for the Raspberry Pi 5 to set up as a media PC behind my tv. There are really good, reliable, and high quality sites that let you stream any movie or TV show. No need to vpn or torrent. Firefox with ublock origin streaming anything I want in 1080 for free.

          I should add I have a RP4 and it’s not beefy enough to stream 1080p full screen from a browser to my 4k tv.

          • Honytawk@lemmy.zip
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            1 year ago

            Just get a micro desktop, better airflow and has all the ports you may need.

            Intel Nuc, Dell Optiplex are really cheap secondhand. And you can run 4K content on them.

          • SupraMario@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            I love rpis but damn did the 4s get sold out and then spike in price almost instantly. I’m not holding out much hope for the 5 to be much better.

          • Rob Bos@lemmy.ca
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            1 year ago

            I use an RP4 and it’s fine with streaming 1080p h.265 stuff off my NAS drive, though it did struggle a bit with serving up the Planet Earth videos. It claims to be able to decode 4k, but probably not very well.

            • SupraMario@lemmy.world
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              1 year ago

              Yea, the 3b was struggling hard for larger mkv videos in even 1080p. The 4s while much better seem to not be able to handle 265 at all in 4k.

              • Rob Bos@lemmy.ca
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                1 year ago

                Good to know, I’ll probably hold off upgrading my projector to 4k until the next-gen raspi then, or some other platform.

      • HughJanus@lemmy.ml
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        1 year ago

        I mean that’s nice but can you run Netflix/Hulu/AppleTV/HBO through that thing? Or can you only play media that you illegally downloaded?

        • Rob Bos@lemmy.ca
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          1 year ago

          I haven’t tried. Through a Web browser, maybe. There’s a Kodi netflix addon, I know that. It’s just a Debian box, so any solution that’d work on a Linux machine would probably be okay.

          • HughJanus@lemmy.ml
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            1 year ago

            any solution that’d work on a Linux machine would probably be okay.

            I don’t think there is a Linux solution. That’s the problem.

            • Rob Bos@lemmy.ca
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              1 year ago

              What do you mean? I gave you a couple of Kodi plugins that cover most of what you mentioned, plus, you could probably just use a Web browser.

              • HughJanus@lemmy.ml
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                1 year ago

                That’s not really a “solution” so much as a “workaround”. It’s unofficial community-maintained software with complicated installation, limited features, and that the service providers can break at any time. And even if that weren’t the case, that’s only 2 providers.

                If I need to use a web browser, why wouldn’t I just skip Kodi altogether and just plug in my laptop?

                There’s a reason Google TV is an entirely different operating system from Chrome OS.

        • Sniffy@sh.itjust.works
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          1 year ago

          I also use my pc as a TV with a big monitor. I can watch Netflix/streams through Firefox and control the pc with my PS5 controller connected through bluetooth.

          • HughJanus@lemmy.ml
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            1 year ago

            You can do all of those things, but it’s not remotely the same. The browser is limited to 720p, the interface isn’t couch-friendly, and now your PC is connected to a TV instead of a proper gaming monitor.

            • Klaymore@sh.itjust.works
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              1 year ago

              On windows you can just install the Netflix app or use Edge and it’s not limited to 720p, and you can just use a long hdmi cable and have your pc plugged into a normal monitor as well.

    • CoderKat@lemm.ee
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      1 year ago

      When I completely replaced my PC, I intended to use my old PC as a media box. But in reality, I’ve basically used my Chromecast for everything. One of these days I’ll probably want to watch something that isn’t on one of my streaming sites, but I’ve been surprisingly resistant to that so far.

      Chromecast is the ideal smart device so far, for me. No ads or anything. I use my phone as a remote and basically every video app supports it easily. Open app, press cast, select what I want to play. Exactly what a smart TV should have been like.

      • blipcast@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        What type of Chromecast do you use? I recently bought a Chromecast Ultra for a new TV after being happy with a secondhand one for years (3rd gen, I think). The difference in UI was such a disappointing step down. I don’t want a home screen with apps and ads, I just want something I can stream to from my phone! And I can’t say for certain, but it also feels like I get more ads on YouTube compared to using the older Chromecast.

        • ArdMacha@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          No you bought a Chromecast with Google TV. A Chromecast ultra is just a 4k version of the original. I used my CCwGTV for 8 months then sold it and got a CC ultra instead. I hate the promoted content from networks and apps I would never use.

          • blipcast@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            Aha, thank you for clarifying. It’s easy to overlook the difference between “Chromecast” and “Chromecast with Google TV”. Unfortunately, it looks like if you want 4k you are stuck with the Google TV interface. :/ [Edit: I was wrong, see below]

        • credit crazy@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          How are you crome casting I suppose it doesn’t help that I only ever Chromecast when I’m at my parents and want to show them a yt video but I’ve found that sometimes my phone is able to make the connection and other days the option is either gone or my phone became blind

          • blipcast@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            Casting is dependent on sharing a network, so maybe on the days it didn’t work you were using the cell data network instead of your parent’s wifi?

      • rothaine@lemm.ee
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        1 year ago

        My only beef with Chromecast is I feel like they are designed to die after 2 years. I’ve gone through three now; it always seems like right around the 2-year mark, it starts having issues staying connected to the network. But I keep buying them because, like you said, it’s basically the ideal smart device.

        • Fermion@feddit.nl
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          1 year ago

          Did you try getting the chrome cast ultra that has the ethernet port on the power adapter? I’ve had a lot less trouble with connectivity on that one vs the original wireless only.

          Every 4 months or so it will lock up and require a power cycle. So I do still have some of the problems you describe.

          • rothaine@lemm.ee
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            1 year ago

            I did not even know that was a thing. Maybe I’ll get it when my current one shits the bed in 8 months or so.

            I wouldn’t be able to use the Ethernet though since the router is upstairs.

        • SokathHisEyesOpen@lemmy.ml
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          1 year ago

          They are designed to die, almost everything is now a days. Why build a robust system that lasts forever when you can build a cheaper system that breaks every couple of years and charge as much as you would for the robust system? It’s not like consumers can choose an alternative that doesn’t use the obsolescence model.

        • ArdMacha@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          I’ve had a couple that died after a year but still have some gen2 and gen3s running fine.

      • ArdMacha@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        You are better off sticking with the Chromecast and setting up the old pc as a Jellyfin/Plex/Emby server with a playback app on the Chromecast. You can even run a pi-hole on it too.

    • _number8_@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      this has been an absolute game changer for me. i run an HDMI thru OBS so if i’m watching sports, i can crop out the distracting awful score ticker / now permanent ad space. and an even bigger game changer, i got a USB foot switch that i set as the mute keystroke, so instead of scrambling to hit the right key or find the remote while i’m busy, i can just stomp on the pedal to mute. it’s bliss.

    • ramble81@lemm.ee
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      1 year ago

      Careful though, some smart TVs actually list in the ToS where they’ll take screen captures of what you’re watching for “informational purposes”, make sure you have all data collection turned off anyway even if you don’t use it as such.

    • Lucidlethargy@sh.itjust.works
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      1 year ago

      The Nvidia Shield is a very solid sub-pc option. This said, they do still shove ads in your face in the form of a scrolling banner with new shows on it.

      It doesn’t bother me too much, though, and you might be able to disable it. Every blue moon it’s useful is the thing.

    • HughJanus@lemmy.ml
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      1 year ago

      I do something similar with an Nvidia Shield but inevitably I get regular giant reminders that I need to connect my TV to the internet (for my benefit, surely).

    • Zink@programming.dev
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      1 year ago

      This is what I did for a long time, and I still have a PC permanently connected to the TV (it doubles as the home server).

      But once I got a decent smart TV, a WebOS based LG that lets you disable or avoid ads, I’ve been happy to use the TV’s apps with the remote control’s voice or wiimote-like pointer.