submitted 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) by TimewornTraveler@lemm.ee to c/techsupport@lemmy.world

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Not sure a good discussion place to post this. I just want some brainstorming.

Looking for ideas on how to set up a faux-TV in the living room using a computer. I want to put an entertainment center across from the couch and have a place to watch media. But I have no interest in paying for cable/satellite/public broadcasts. (Why pay to be advertised to?)

I have a good collection of shows and movies on external hard drives. I figure I could buy a big monitor and plop it up there with a laptop attached. I could do a makeshift mouse using a game pad and Steam.

I just wanted to check if anyone had alternatives in mind. The mouse situation is suboptimal. Having to get another laptop is also suboptimal. The "TV" would also be about 200cm (6.5ish ft) away from the seating area, so I wonder how expensive an appropriately sized monitor would be. But I can't think of any other way! Any ideas or have I pretty much figured it out?

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[-] PP_BOY_@lemmy.world 0 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

I'd look into the HTPC (home theater PC) community. Many of your problems have already been addressed. "htpc keyboard" on Amazon pulls of plenty of options for you to consider

E: If you've got the money to spend, there's no reason to do something as unsightly as external HDDs>laptop>>HDMI>monitor when Plex exists and is plug-and-play. Throw your laptop and drives in a closet or a backroom and put a Roku (or Shield) on the "TV." Much neater and you can navigate with the remote too.

[-] TimewornTraveler@lemm.ee 0 points 1 month ago

Hmm about Plex, never heard of it before, but it seems like it's just another streaming service? Seems like Roku is the same kind of thing.

To clarify, I'm not looking to stream from any paid services. No amount of cables or devices are as unslightly as advertisements!

Also I looked up the HTPC reddit community and yikes their "basic" support is just a bunch of links to standalone CPUs -- that's way over my head!

[-] PP_BOY_@lemmy.world 1 points 1 month ago

Plex kind of has to advertise itself as that because it's real product is sort of in the grey area, legally speaking.

Essentially, a Plex server allows you to stream locally stored files from your computer to any clients running the Plex app. A lot of people use this as a way to watch pirated media.

For example, I run my server (desktop) in my home office and have several drives attached to it and in one of those drives is "Pride.and.Prejudice.2005.mp4" and because I have my Plex server attached to that file, I can go to my TV and watch Pride and Prejudice (2005) on my sofa. The movie file "moves" through my hard drive into my desktop, then goes through my router and gets streamed into my TV. (A bit of a simplification but it gets the point across.)

So, no payment necessary to stream media you own through Plex. There is a paid tier but the features it enables are nothing someone wanting to watch movies on their sofa should worry about, all the essential stuff is in the free option.

[-] JoMomma@lemm.ee 0 points 1 month ago

Book

[-] TimewornTraveler@lemm.ee 0 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

not a great way to entertain guests. read the post.

[-] JoMomma@lemm.ee 1 points 1 month ago

*Books

[-] caroline@r.nf 0 points 1 month ago

I bought one of those mini PCs for a little over 100 bucks. Used an old laptop before. Hooked it up to a TV (I don't connect the tv to internet). And have a logitech wireless keyboard with trackpad for about 30 dollars.

[-] TimewornTraveler@lemm.ee 0 points 1 month ago

$130 for a setup like that sounds pretty awesome. What kind of TV and sound system are you using? Are you mostly just watching locally stored media?

[-] caroline@r.nf 1 points 1 month ago

Nothing too fancy on the TV, just some Vizio from Walmart maybe 100 ish dollars. Any TV is fine with me.

I do both stored media with VLC (I have a 2TB external that will need to be upgraded soon) and also youtube, various streaming providers I will just watch with Firefox.

Nowadays I find myself more and more just torrenting everything and dropping it on the external.

this post was submitted on 23 Feb 2025

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