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Thinking outside the box

Head Rambles Posted on by

I have a little problem and I thought I would mention it here.

I am looking for something but I’m not quite sure what I’m looking for.

Basically I think I’m looking for a media streamer for the television. However I am not at all interested in something that streams off the Interweb, so that discounts all those devices that depend on an Amazon or Netflix accounts. I have no interest in those.

I have a couple of hard drives which are plugged into a streaming box on my network [an old Iomega iConnect if you must know, which is so buggy it’s no longer on the market!]. I also have a Western Digital WD TV box which plugs in between the network and the television, so I can sit back with a remote control and select films or music from those remote hard drives. It is an extremely handy little system.

The problem though is that the WD TV is starting to give trouble, so I am on the lookout for an alternative that fulfils the same function.

So my simple wishlist – something that recognises a networked media stream [and all the usual media types such as AVI, MP4, KVM and the like] and has a remote control.

I know a laptop will do the job eloquently but it means hopping up and down all the time to access the keyboard or mouse, which is a pain. I could also just get another WD TV but then doubtless I would have the same problem in a few years [there are many people on the Interweb complaining that the box seems to have a limited lifespan]..

The only device I have found so far that’s reasonably priced is a yoke called H96 MAX+ RK3328 Android 8.1 but it seems to get very mixed reviews.

Is there anyone out there who knows about these things?

 

Comments

Thinking outside the box — 12 Comments

  2. Try Raspberry pi3+ with kodi or plex. You can set it up to use any remote you would like, it’s small economical and above all cheep.
    It can access any remote shares, as well as attached devices.
    It can have a host of features configurable in software and runs on linux.

    • I too use a pi3 with kodi, but use my android phone as a remote.
      You can buy a remote add on for the pi if you prefer a normal remote.
      My other TV has a fantec box but is expensive.

      • I had actually thought about a Raspberry Pi. If nothing else, it would be something for me to play with [and fuck up]. After all – Linux is good!

        • > it would be something for me to play with [and fuck up]

          I use this flavor (I like the BTRFS filesystem, it does filesystem snapshots) :-

          https://xbian.org/

          You can just download an image file, and write it to an SDCard, then plug it in the PI, and away you go.

          But if all else fails just reimage the SDCard.

          If you need to add your own extras, you can just SSH in, and do the usual apt-get stuff.

          • The more I think about the Raspberry, the more I like the idea. I might just get one to play around with, and if I don’t like t as a media player, I’m sure I can find other uses for it!

  3. Not the cheapest, but the Nvidia Shield Tv is an awesome piece of kit. Over spec’ed, so no dreadful lag.
    Otherwise, Xiaomi Mi Tv.

    Both boxes use Android TV.

    • Welcome Adrian! In the course of my investigation I came across the Shield [many times]. It seem like a bit of overkill for my humble needs, and a tad expensive too.

  4. A Bluetooth keyboard/mouse combo could be used as a remote talking to a receiver dongle in the laptop.

  5. I’ve got a Bluetooth KB/Mousepad to talk to the NetTop hanging off the back of my telly. Works fine.

  6. Hokay…. It seems like I need an Android kit judging by the above. I’ll see if I can find something at a reasonable price [and that doesn’t cost more in postage than the item itself!].

    Then there is the Reaspberry Pi. I like the sound of that so I may get one as well just to play with!

    Thanks everyone.

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