Any remote recommendations? I’ve been thinking about doing something similar.
Comment on Your TV set has become a digital billboard. And it’s only getting worse.
Aceticon@lemmy.world 2 months ago
I replaced the TV Box from my ISP as well as the Media Player I already had for local media with a cheap mini-PC running Lubuntu and Kodi and have seen only a handful of adverts on my TV in the last couple of months (which I might only when I’m watching Live-TV).
The whole thing is now under my control and hence I don’t have to endure that crap.
Granted, I’ve been a Techie for decades and have for a long time been very aware of how software with Internet access is an agent of the software maker serving their objectives, not of yours serving your interests and how anything you paid for held by somebody else isn’t yours until you take them into Court for it and win (so your “bought” movies held in somebody else’s system aren’t yours) so I never jumped into the Streaming bandwagon and instead kept my eyepatch handy and wooden leg polished, and when I got a TV some years ago I very purposefully avoided “smart” ones like the plague.
Frankly even if you’re not technically adept just get a Mini-PC and install LibreElec on it (which is purposefully made for non-Technical users to just to run Kodi) and get used to using Kodi. If you’re into paying for it you can even subscribe to perfectly legit IPTV subscriptions with hundreds of Live-TV channels.
(I’m running Lubunto, a more generalistic lightweight Linux distro where I explicitly installed Kodi, rather than LibreElec, because I use it for more things than just watching stuff on my TV).
asexualchangeling@lemmy.ml 2 months ago
Aceticon@lemmy.world 2 months ago
I’ve got one of these with Kodi running on top pretty much all of the time so it works as well as a dedicated remote on a dedicated media box.
The upsides are that as I said it just works as one expects a remote and whilst it is wireless, it also has an infrared emitter and 5 programmable buttons for it, so I also use it to turn on my TV and sound bar.
The downsides are that the little keyboard on the reverse side is a bit awkward to use, especially if you need to type uppercase characters, special characters or numbers, the air mouse is a bit too finicky to use (both of which are extras beyond the normal remote functionality, so it’s no problem unless you expect to replace a keyboard + mouse or remote login once in a while for Linux maintenance tasks) and this specific remote won’t work if it’s slightly tilted for whatever reason (bug? stupid design decision?) - which is a bit of a downside of this model - and, of course, it can’t actually turn your PC ON because it’s wireless with a USB dongle which the PC won’t read if it’s not ON (though maybe it will work fine if one uses hibernate and keyboard wake-up as the remote for the PC just looks like a Keyboard+Mouse device, but I haven’t tried it and just have that PC on all the time because it’s also a home server)
it’s my understanding that when you press a button these things just send down the pipe a key-press of a letter matching the function of the button (so for example the menu button is ‘m’) which just so happens are the Kodi shortcut keys for those functions (I reckon these things are standardized rather than “coincidence”).
You can see in the recommendations on that page various other similar models. I reckon that as long as you avoid the “Voice command” stuff (which is tightly tied with Google Android) and go for a wireless remote which looks it it has a many buttons as a normal remote, you’ll be fine. Keep in mind that traditional, IR remotes, won’t work for controlling something like a PC because the PC has no built-in IR receiver or software for support such a remote (normal IR remotes are pretty custom with different codes for different makers and even devices, rather than standardized as this one seems to be).
asexualchangeling@lemmy.ml 2 months ago
Saving this for later, And yeah, while I think having a keyboard on the remote would probably be useful. I plan on using a wireless keyboard and mouse as well because my plan involves using a more powerful computer so it can double as a gaming machine.
KairuByte@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 months ago
Honestly even a chromecast with Google tv and something like Stremio launched on boot would give you similar results for relatively cheap. No techiness needed, just some fiddling with settings.
Aceticon@lemmy.world 2 months ago
How sure are you that the Google software and hardware you’re recommending won’t be enshittified at some point, especially in light of Google’s behaviour in recent years?
Because one of the core guidelines in this new setup of mine was exactly to avoid software/hardware stacks from profit-driven 3rd companies were the temptation to “make it nice now, enshittify for maximum $$$ once there’s a good installed base” is very much present, hence I went all the way to a fully open source solution with an as generic as possible mini-PC (the fully generic PC, a self-made desktop, would not have looked as good in my living room and use way more power, whilst the mini-PC looks like it belongs there).
I mean, my first try at changing my home media setup was actually getting an Android Media Box (which is much cheaper than a mini-PC), but the mini-PC plus Linux gives me total control over the entire software stack and a lot more than an Android Media Box does over the hardware stack (I can actually add more storage, expand the memory and even change the wireless support) without having to jump through the hoops of rooting an Android to get rid of all the crap (and not just he crap from Google - for example I didn’t want Netflix on the fancy starting menu of the Android box and yet if I uninstalled it, the pretty picture for it would still be there using space whilst not actually working) which is not exactly non-techie friendly and might not even be possible (I do believe it is possible for the Chromecast, though).
Whilst I didn’t went for the fully integrated Linux+Kodu which is LibreElec and instead went for a self-made Lubuntu + Kodi solution because I have lots of experience with Linux and wanted to do more with that device than just “media box”, my expectation is that a single-purpose packaged solution like LibreElec on top of a mini-PC together with the kind of remote I mentioned above is the simplest solution accessible to non-techies that doesn’t have a risk of future enshittification.
KairuByte@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 months ago
Do I trust them? No. In fact I’m blocking software updates under the assumption they’ll fuck something up. But I’m using an alternative start app, and a button remapper for the remote.
It’s stupid simple, and the chances of breaking are slim. It’s also cheap, and relatively easy to upkeep. There’s also the added benefit of it being an all in one consumer product, so the user experience is typically seamless, something I wasn’t able to achieve with a box running Kodi last I attempted it.
I’m not claiming it’s the best choice, but if you’re dealing with normies or a remote situation where you’re mailing off an item? 100% I’d prefer a device like a chromecast.
Zorsith@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 months ago
I’ve heard the nvidia shield is/was the gold standard for this purpose
frizop@lemmy.world 2 months ago
it’s not, they started the enshitification process years ago, I threw mine away. In the fucking garbage if you can believe it because it started showing me ads.
Zorsith@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 months ago
Well that sucks. I don’t particularly want google or amazon hardware on my network in any capacity, nor do I intend to provide network access to a “smart” TV. Guess that leaves AppleTV, maybe a couple other options, or dedicated media PC.
KairuByte@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 months ago
Huuuuuge price difference though.
Though I guess the chromecast is being killed off so the difference doesn’t matter much anymore.
Zorsith@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 months ago
Fair. Added benefit tho; it’s not a Google product.
Downside: it’s Nvidia and they’ve gone off the deep end into AI bullshit.