So for the past little while I’ve had a Pi 4 hooked up to my TV as a Kodi box running OSMC, which has been okay I guess. Having recently built a new PC, my old Ryzen 3600/GTX-1080 box is freed up, so I’m thinking of replacing that Pi with something that can also run Steam.
I’m completely at a loss for what system to run for a living room couch/TV experience. Kodi…could be better, OSMC doesn’t have a desktop and won’t launch just a normal web browser, it uses Kodi as its only UI and it’s just not fully good enough.
I’m also not sure if Steam Big Picture Mode is capable of being a media center. Like, can it play movies from there? My experience with Steam’s Big Picture Mode is it runs like microwaved shit anyway, feels as responsive as the average dogwood.
I want to be able to get to my collection of movies on my NAS, play Steam games, and do some web browser tasks like watch Youtube and that kind of thing. I just don’t do the streaming services, I don’t need Huflix or NetMax or whatever.
I have a hardkernel station m1 running android TV. You can set up with or without the play store, I did mine with. It’s great. The main control is a remote from the couch.
It uses flauncher for the 10’ UI and runs tivimate for iptv. I added a cheap nvme drive for dvr functionality. Other apps include stremio, YouTube, steam link, retroarch, vlc, etc.
Do streaming services still work with this setup?
You have the choice of whether or not to register with Google and use the play store. My wife and 5 year old require simplicity, so I registered.
Android TV is a little different than Android on a phone. Not every Android app is compatible, but most are. It’s just like a chromecast.
So any play store app like Hulu, Netflix, Disney+ etc will work just fine, as will plex / jellyfin.