Re: [PLUG] Where's the best place to learn about mini-PCs?

> It would be killer to get Netflix, Amazon Prime, Youtube, and local
> media, all on one Android stick in an HDMI port. Anyone doing this???

Probably not what you were getting at but... I've purchased both a Chromecast and an Amazon Firestick. For $4 more, the firestick is well worth the $39. Not only do you get Prime (not available on Chromecast) you get a remote. As much as I like my smartphone.. just not as easy/convenient to use as a real remote with real buttons. The firestick also works on hotel wifi networks (I travel a lot).

I did resist buying the firestick for awhile because of Amazon's refusal to play well with others but finally gave up.

On Thu, Jun 25, 2015 at 1:08 PM, Gavin W. Burris <bug@wharton.upenn.edu> wrote:

Hi, Greg.

Android may be the way to go. And yes, XBMC/Kodi is awesome for local
media, but many of its add-ons for streaming services are wonky.
Breakage is to be expected, because these add-ons are not supported by
the service providers. Many of them amount to web scrapers. When a
website change, as they often do, the add-on breaks. It's really hard
to compete with the user experience of a first-party app that uses a
supported API.

It would be killer to get Netflix, Amazon Prime, Youtube, and local
media, all on one Android stick in an HDMI port. Anyone doing this???
Maybe the Roku stick is able to do all of this. Can all these apps be
installed on a generic Android device that has HDMI, I wonder? Or would
you be in side-load hell?

Cheers.

On 11:33AM Thu 06/25/15 -0400, Greg Helledy wrote:
> Gavin,
>
> It sounds like an Android-based device might be better for my wants, because
> I can run Kodi and Netflix official apps, instead of having to call up
> Google Chrome to watch it on linux and having to deal with a UI that's
> awkward when not at a keyboard and mouse.
>
> When you write "XBMC is the best for a local media library", do you mean
> that I should be looking at something else for accessing online content--is
> there something better than Kodi?
>
> Greg
> >
> >Hi, Greg.
> >
> >XBMC is the best for a local media library. Great experience running it
> >on various Linux boxen for years now. I'd recommend an Intel Atom
> >processor with NVIDIA graphics for that. The video acceleration and
> >quality output are choice. Take a look at the Asus EeeBox offerings.
> >Noiseless and low heat is perfect for the tv cabinet.
> >
> >http://www.asus.com/us/EeeBox_PCs/EeeBox_PC_EB1503/
> >
> >Be warned that the Netflix integration on Linux with XBMC is really
> >wonky. I don't use it because you lose control of the interface when
> >XBMC launches Netflix in Google Chrome fullscreen. I haven't poked it
> >in a while, but I just couldn't get it to go properly fullscreen and
> >keep remote control.
> >
> >Cheers.
> >
> >
> >On 06:55PM Wed 06/24/15 -0400, Greg Helledy wrote:
> >>I use a Wii to watch Netflix in the living room. I recently found out about
> >>Kodi (formerly XBMC) and would like to be able to watch all this additional
> >>content available on the internet from my couch.
> >>
> >>After poking around a little, it looks like these mini-PCs come in both ARM
> >>and x86 versions, the ARM ones with Android and the x86 I'd have linux on.
> >>I don't want an Amazon device because they have their own store (and have
> >>banned Kodi, at least for now). There are many products on ebay,
> >>aliexpress, and of course Amazon. But which one to choose?
> >>
> >>What are good sites to visit to learn my options: hardware features, OS and
> >>applications, etc.?
> ___________________________________________________________________________
> Philadelphia Linux Users Group -- http://www.phillylinux.org
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--
Gavin W. Burris
Senior Project Leader for Research Computing
The Wharton School
University of Pennsylvania

___________________________________________________________________________
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