I am so close to completely being degoogled, the last nail in the coffin is my tv.
I have a very old Sony Bravia (over 20 years old), it has a Firestick to get access to Plex and Smarttube, these are the only apps I use. I also have a Mycloud server for Plex.
I have heard you can stream through Raspberry Pi, but am an absolute beginner in this area and don’t even know where to start.
- Which Pi do I get?
- Can I get Plex and SmartTubeNext on it?
- How do I set it up?
I just need a start point, guide, tutorial, anything to get this last little bit of privacy interfering tech out of my life.
Thanks!
I have not messed with media streaming from a Pi to a TV since the 3B, which was a laggy experience that resulted in overheating.
For that reason, hardware-wise I would recommend at least a Pi4 with some kind of cooling solution. Could be a passive metal radiative case, or active fan cooling.
Out of curiosity, what other uses does Pi4 have outside streaming?
Oh, oh, oh! This is kinda niche, but OpenPlotter (https://openmarine.net/openplotter) is a complete and modular marine instrumentation/automation package that is designed for the Pi4. This was my entry point into the Pi universe.
Then there’s Pi-hole (https://pi-hole.net/), which provides network level ad-blocking.
Those are my main uses, but there are scores of others.
Hey, that’s pretty cool!
I run Immich on mine with an external drive.
Here is a guide: https://konstakang.com/devices/rpi4/LineageOS22-ATV/
Yes you can get Plex. Not sure about SmartTube, but probably.
It works reasonably well. I bought just the remote from the Google streamer and was able to connect it. You’ll need a keyboard and mouse to do the initial setup from what I remember.
Oooh! Thankyou! It’s android so theoretically it should be able to get Smart tube. This is an advanced user guide but it certainly will help when I get to this point.
I’m still at the “So, Pi is a green circuit board?” part of my learning.
So following up I have some options, all fairly affordable.
- Acquaintance has a **barely used Pi4 with the official case + power supply. **
- 2GB RAM memory.
- Uses micro-hdmi for display, they may have an adapter (if it can be found)
- Need a micro SD.
- Very cheap
2.On a local marketplace style website, Used Micro Linux PC is powered by a Raspberry Pi 5
- Processor: Raspberry Pi 5
- 4GB RAM Memory
- Case: Custom Cube with RGB lighting
- Operating System: Linux (pre-installed)
- Connectivity: USB, Ethernet, HDMI
- Custom Noctua Fans
- Custom heatsink w/ rgb fan
- 128gb Patriot NVME running at pcie 3.0
- Affordable
- Large Marketplace website, Lenovo M910q Tiny Mini PC i5 7500T 16GB 240GB SSD Win11 Pro WiFi
- Hard Drive Capacity 240 GB
- Processor Intel Core i5-7500T
- Graphics Processing Type Integrated/On-Board Graphics
- RAM Size 16 GB
- SSD Capacity 240GB
- GPU Intel HD Graphics 630
- Processor Speed 3.30 GHz
- Connectivity HDMI, USB 3.0, DisplayPort, RJ-45
- Operating System Windows 11 Pro ( I can put a linux os on this I’m assuming)
- Features Built-in Bluetooth Adapter, Built-in Wi-Fi Adapter, Slim, Ultra-Slim
- Affordable
I’m leaning towards Option 2. With my limited knowledge, Option 1 doesn’t seem like enough and Option 3 seems like too much. I’m getting many different thoughts and opinions from alot of places, I am but a simpleton, trying to stop my TV from spying on me. I’d love to hear your thoughts.
