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Kane99

Compact PCs for TV usage

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I kind of want to get a small compact PC from intel or somewhere, so that I can use it as a media streamer. I feel like my roku player will eventually become obsolete with streaming, and I figure a compact PC would be the way to go. And I can also do some light browsing while I stream. But, I wouldn't mind to be able to play some games, but I wouldn't expect to play intensive games. 

Any suggestions? I know Intel makes some good ones. 

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How small do you really want your PC to be? I would go with raspberry pi 🙂 It's small and perfect for running apps and to stream from it 🙂 It will take time to set it up yourself however it's fun and able to learn and troubleshot. It's cheaper then a compact PC, I mean max of around $150, then again less. 

 

 

 

 

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A raspberry pi is a good option, but I'm looking more for compact PC, as it has more power to run games and media. I have a raspberry pi with an OS installed on a SD card, and I stream content that way. It works fairly well, but freezes up when you go up a resolution. 

But, it's a good budget option. 

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I second raspberry pi. that is one way you can even get back the old console games and even make replica of them. same with the compact PCs or even the tablets that can be made with the raspberry pi. All you need is being creative and design the stuff around it. 

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12 hours ago, Kane99 said:

It works fairly well, but freezes up when you go up a resolution. 

THen you might be doing something wrong. Only Raspberry Pi 4 can output at 4K but other then that it shouls able to do 1080P at 60hz on any screen size 🙂 

12 hours ago, Kane99 said:

as it has more power to run games and media

Well, then the PI won't and can't so that if you after to play games 😛 

 

Cost?

 

 

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5 hours ago, Empire said:

THen you might be doing something wrong. Only Raspberry Pi 4 can output at 4K but other then that it shouls able to do 1080P at 60hz on any screen size 🙂 

Well, then the PI won't and can't so that if you after to play games 😛 

 

Cost?

 

 

I have the raspberry pi 3b I think it is. It does 1080p fine, but after sometime of use, the videos start to slow down or freeze up. Either it's the OS I installed on it (some raspberry pi OS with Linux). But I think it's the CPU, as it takes ages to load the YouTube homepage for example. But other sites work fine. 

I wouldn't mind getting the newest Raspberry pi, but I feel a compact PC itself would be more ideal. As for cost, I was thinking around $80-$150 or so. I don't want to spend too much though. 

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Well, there is always a fix for everthing. Is it warm or gets hot easy after hours of use. OS might be outdatted 🙂 Can be anything. I hear that there is a custom version of Chromium you can use on Raspbian, I mean you need to use something that's not requires Flash player but rather then HTML5. I wouldn't be surprised if Flash along with whatever load of JavaScript that page runs for advertisements and other functionality cripples the Pi. 

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10 minutes ago, skyfire said:

Anything that needs videos and the gaming, you need more RAM to compensate for the same. Raspberry is not meant for big heavy lifting but if you can work up with the RAM then it can work around with that. 

You can add 32gb ram 🙂 so I deal that's the error. Yes 500mb is not enought but can be replaced and add more 😉 

https://uk.farnell.com/raspberry-pi/cm3-32gb/raspberry-pi-compute-module-3/dp/2989464?gclid=Cj0KCQiA4L2BBhCvARIsAO0SBdYHTRrpQv7QrEG9cSflIuMoLICkCBrxuOVCAprg5aC_V3Ry6RQ0UX0aAjIwEALw_wcB&gross_price=true&mckv=s_dc|pcrid|483687683215|kword||match||plid||slid||product|2989464|pgrid|112844087463|ptaid|pla-300800138134|

JUst the your PI will be getting bigger and running out of hardware slots 😛 

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Get a Mini PC that comes with a Ryzen APU (they are performing almost similar to the GT 1030/ GTX 750Ti), so they are good for pretty much everything (except intensive gaming), the Ryzen models come less cheaper than intel ones and come with better integrated graphics

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On 2/19/2021 at 5:40 PM, Empire said:

JUst the your PI will be getting bigger and running out of hardware slots

Yeah and it wont be pi anymore. I think that is the problem with customization some people think just because it can we have to push. I think expecting media center and the gaming level performance from pi can be overkill. 

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4 hours ago, skyfire said:

I think soon the arduino and the raspberry pi would be added in schools for learning. Pretty handy small unit worth learning. 

Already have, Seen schools have them already 🙂 When I Was atcollage back 10 years ago. One of my teachers had two PIs and he brought them over for his I.C.T class to play around with them. 

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