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Cheap and safe streaming stick?

Apologies if this is the wrong instance for this.

Is there a best option for HTPC streaming solutions besides throwing Linux on an old desktop?
Plugging in a desktop for streaming doesn't work too well for wall mounted televisions.
My options are mini PCs or a 3rd party streaming stick.
Even a RasPi stick running OSMC should do the trick.

These 3rd party sticks online are extremely tempting for power and features but I'm concerned about embedded malware.
Best option would be to wipe it and load OSMCor raspbian to ensure its clean.
Anyone have experience with this?

Care to share your setup?

$14.41 | DQ06 ATV Mini TV Stick Android12 Allwinner H618 Quad Core Cortex A53 Support 8K Video 4K Wifi6 BT Voice Remote Smart TV Box | Link

Runner up:
$12.90 | Orange Pi Zero 2 W 1GB RAM DDR4 Mini PC Allwinner H618 Orange Pi Zero 2W WiFi Bluetooth SBC Single Board Computer Zero2W | Link

Update:
My ideal solution would be $20-$50 for a replacement to several fire sticks in my home.
For a solution around $100 I'd just go with a old refurbished mini pc from ebay/amazon and throw full Linux on it.

Setting up Kodi via the linux OSMC distro or even Android TV both work. Might stream games with steam link.
Eventually going to setup jellyfin in my home

Current Plan: Get a mini pc and mount it behind / near my television. Ideally I would prefer just a stick for a cleaner / cheaper solution.

$100 MiniPC - HP EliteDesk 800 65W G2 Business Mini PC Desktop Computer/Intel Quad-Core i5-6500T up to 3.1GHz/ 8GB DDR4 RAM/ 256GB SSD/WiFi/Bluetooth/USB 3.0/ Windows 10 Professional OS(Renewed) | Amazon

Photo of mini pc mounted behind a TV.

pulled from amazon reviewer

Update2:

Finally researched about the Orange Pi (rasp alternative) and the darn thing comes with full hdmi!
Orange Pi 3B Full HDMI and SD / eMMC / M2 (sata3) slots!

Orange Pi 3B 4GB RAM Rockchip RK3566 Mini PC Quad-Core 64-bit WiFi+BLE Gigabit Run Android Linux OpenHarmony OS SBC Single Board
https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256805733558464.html

ULS ,

Mini elite desk. Linux... Kde for easier customization. Search Amazon for mini keyboards or couch keyboards. You can find small ones to thumb type. Make custom shortcuts for windows switch closing apps.... Windows key plus 1-9 for app shortcuts which is the default for the dock style taskbar.

Set up to boot into Kodi first thing. Set apps to auto run full screen or maxed...

Sorry for my shitty grammar etc...

Ohhhh. some of the elitedesks don't have HDMI audio working. For that you'd need a an aux cable. Or use winduz

Landless2029 OP ,

This is my current setup actually. What annoys me is audio stops working when the device goes to sleep. I need to tinker with it. Running an HP slim prodesk

Extrasvhx9he ,

I'd go the mini PC/sff route, on eBay for instance you can get like a HP EliteDesk 800 G3 for around 50-80$ depending if you want a drive and adapter included think that's the best bang for the buck. I would've recommended buying a 20-30$ onn android TV box but seeing how restricted android tv is from another post kinda made me rethink that.

Edit: also if you can wait like a year more I bet the market will be flooded with cheap mini/sff desktops.

Landless2029 OP ,

Yeah I'm running a mini PC right now, but it's hard to deal with for wall mounting and setting up family members with one.
I love refurbished slim desktops. Both Dell and HP slims have great usability and the market is saturated with them.

And YES. In about a year there will be pallets of mini PCs due to Windows 10 exodus. Business may or may not care to upgrade, but time will tell.

dubyakay ,

Boycott HP though.

Extrasvhx9he ,

What's going on with HP?

dubyakay ,

They are one of the biggest enshittificationers of their products. And they help the Israeli apartheid government. These might be two different companies (HP Inc. and HPE), but who gives a shit.

ProperlyProperTea ,

Cheapest would probably be the Raspberry Pi/Orange Pi route.

I gave up trying to make an HTPC (using Kodi, ChimeraOS, etc). It wasn't worth the hassle and ended up settling for an Apple TV.

Landless2029 OP ,

ONN from walmart seems to be the cheapest new device. With a Pi i would need an enclosure, cable and remote. They both would need work to either setup or debloat.

GluWu ,

Use an old android phone with whatever os you want. Even if you keep the oem os you can load whatever FOSS/ privacy apps you want. I like having a keyboard and mouse, revanced/newpipe, VLC for local files, jellyfin for networked, Firefox with ad block, etc. I need to see how gaming is through steam link.

Landless2029 OP ,

I game on the steam app on a firestick and it's very playable. Mainly rpgs or platformer tho

Blisterexe ,
@Blisterexe@lemmy.zip avatar

Fyi you can root a fire stick and put open also android tv on it

Blisterexe ,
@Blisterexe@lemmy.zip avatar

Thats really smart, thanks!

LWD ,

These days, several tiny PCs have prices that compete with the Raspberry Pi, and significantly beefier specs. Of course, by that point, we're talking about things that run around $100.

SecurityPro ,
@SecurityPro@lemmy.ml avatar

I have a Jellyfin server running locally. All my TVs either have a Roku device connected or are a Roku embedded TV. I also run PiHole and all DNS queries in my local network go through it. That way all telemetry, "phoning home", and advertisments are blocked. All my TVs have the Jellyfin Roku app installed to stream my local content.

If you want access outside your local network. I setup Nginx Proxy Manager (NPM) locally and have my own domain pointing back to my NPM server to access my Jellyfin content and other self-hosted services that I run.

Landless2029 OP ,

Yeah I used to have a pihole running on a zero wireless and it did fine. Moved and never plugged it back in. I just put my IoT on my guest network.

SecurityPro ,
@SecurityPro@lemmy.ml avatar

Well then your devices are still phoning home with telemetry that is still tied to your ISP assigned IP address (guest network doesn't provide any privacy).

Landless2029 OP ,

I'm aware. A network adblocker is on my todo list for sure.

swordsmanluke ,

Fwiw, I setup my pihole at home using docker. I run a full size desktop as my all-the-things server and use it as a docker host. Makes managing my services much easier.

I could, of course, use an actual raspi for this, but I run a bunch of other services - including my plex host and file server - on the same machine. Using docker makes it dead easy to update my various services as needed and no worries about dependency Hell between them.

Landless2029 OP ,

Yeah. One reason I want to get new sticks is to take my mini pc to set it as my services host to learn.

Things like pihole, home automation server and jellyfish. I would add to the list over time. Maintain config documentation.

XTL ,

Just filtering DNS will not block telemetry. Might block some, but no.

brokenlcd ,

I have installed linux on a €20 tv box because i needed a print server; it turned in a 2 month adventure that only ended when i cnocked the emmc off the board and started booting from sd card( and due to how unknown the hardware is, there is very little support); I'd consider it mostly a side project to do if you are willing to risk losing the stick and just like to toy with this stuff; not something to do out of actual need.

Boy do i miss cheap sbcs.

Ps. Dont bother with the stock os; when i booted the box for the fist time with his original os i saw a spike in my pi hole's blocked domains; yikes...

Landless2029 OP ,

Yeah for $25 I'm tempted to get it as a side project.

I'd hook it up to my guest wifi that I use for IoT and see if I can start research on sideloading an OS. The thing has USB and SD card slots. Who knows if I can get it to boot off of the external media to a custom OS.

That would be a massive win.

brokenlcd ,

Just as a quick tip, check the armbian csc forum for the type of processor, or even better, if someone has already attempted to do mod your device; they are pretty nice folks. in general i suggest to get a box with an rk3328 or an rk3318( essentially a binned 3328) since you cant brick them and worst of all cases; you can do what i did and cnock the emmc off and still have a working box

Landless2029 OP ,

Nice resource! Thanks

Landless2029 OP , (edited )

what tv box are you running for $20?

I assume the Walmart ONN stick. Looks good!

brokenlcd ,

T9 box from ebay actually; rk3318. I'm european so getting an ONN stick isnt a possibility

Landless2029 OP ,

Orange Pi 3B is looking REALLY GOOD. Full HDMI and SD / eMMC / M2 (sata3) slots!

Orange Pi 3B 4GB RAM Rockchip RK3566 Mini PC Quad-Core 64-bit WiFi+BLE Gigabit Run Android Linux OpenHarmony OS SBC Single Board
https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256805733558464.html

possiblylinux127 ,
@possiblylinux127@lemmy.zip avatar

Don't buy that it is almost certainly infected with Malware.

Perhaps you could install Kodi on a device?

Landless2029 OP ,

Yeah osmc is basically linux with kodi built in.

Best option might be raspberry pi 400 or the CM4 HDMI board

Osmc has a build for the pi as well...

I don't know enough to flash one of these sticks with raspberian or anything like that. I'm sure it's possible.

anamethatisnt ,

The CM4 won't get you H.264 4K, just so you know:
H.265 (HEVC) (up to 4Kp60 decode), H.264 (up to 1080p60 decode, 1080p30 encode)
https://www.raspberrypi.com/products/compute-module-4/

Landless2029 OP ,

Good to know. I'm OK with a under $20 solution that does 1080.

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