What's a good computer to plug into a TV?

July 27, 2023 1:46 PM

The Mac Mini I had plugged into my TV for the last decade has died. So what are some of the best machines or tools on the market now to watch media on your TV?

The Mac Mini was a perfect solution for me as I had ripped all my CDs and DVDs to it, saved all my family photos on it, etc. But, it seems like the Mini is now aimed at a more prosumer market than when I got my Mini a decade or so ago.

I know some people talk about Roku's, Fire sticks, and Raspberry Pi's, but they don't seem quite like what I'm looking for.

So what's a good affordable option for a machine with a small physical footprint that still has a strong enough of an operating system to handle multiple media types (mp4, mkv, jpg, gif, webp, etc) without too awkward of a user interface?

posted by jaybeans to Computers & Internet (15 answers total)

So, it sounds like based on your question that you're looking to play mostly local media.

What you want/need, in my opinion, is a two step solution.

1. You need a device on your network that is a media server. It has a bunch of disk space. It holds your pictures, ripped DVDs, music, etc, etc. You could use your Mac Mini for this, for example, potentially. This device is not connected to your TV. You've got some home media server software installed on it. The best example of this I can provide (and what I use) is Plex Media Server.

2. Then you have another device that's plugged into your TV. This can be a Roku, Fire Stick, Chromecast Ultra, Apple TV, whatever. I'm a Chromecast guy, but whatever works for you. I think they're mostly interchangeable. You install the Plex app on this from the Apple store or Google store or *whatever* store... then Plex app talks to the server on your network and is the mechanism by which content gets served to your TV.

So, two pieces. Server and client.

This model works really well. Plex is really good. The best part of this is the flexibility - because now the Chromecast (for example) connected to your TV can play local content from your Plex Media Server, and it can also stream all the rest of the usual online streaming content - YouTube, Hulu, Amazon Prime, whatever...

Happy to talk more about this if you have questions. Drop me a mail.
posted by kbanas at 1:53 PM on July 27, 2023

Personally, I'd plug a large external drive into an Nvidia Shield TV with Kodi installed on it. The only downside is that you have to use something else to rip the media and then upload it to the Shield.

I hate having dependencies on other local devices that I may want to turn off or need to update or whatever, so I'd rather my media device be independent.
posted by wierdo at 1:55 PM on July 27, 2023

Google "mini PC." There's a burgeoning market of tiny computers that are basically laptops without keyboards or screens. Intel's NUC is a prime example of such a thing; Asus, Beelink, HP, and Lenovo all have offerings in this field. The mini PCs are generally about the size of a mac mini or smaller and have tons of power for media.

I use a beelink mini PC for gaming and media. It works fine, but I find that Windows 11 isn't a great media frontend. As far as I can see, I'm stuck with regular old Windows mouse and keyboard operation, which isn't a great couch experience. That said, you were using a Mac Mini in this role for a long time, so maybe this isn't a problem for you.
posted by Sauce Trough at 1:56 PM on July 27, 2023

I forgot to add - the best part about the client/server setup is that it seamlessly supports multiple clients. So if you ever envision a case where you have, for example, *two* TVs, you could plug a Chromecast into each, they would both talk to your Plex server and could both stream content independently. It scales better than a "one to one" model where you're just plugging a damn computer into your TV.
posted by kbanas at 1:57 PM on July 27, 2023

Can you be more specific about what's not good about the new Mac Minis? Is it the price? They basically look identical to the Mac Minis that came out 10 years ago. Because if you're used to MacOS and using one on a TV, I'd say just getting another one would be the lowest friction option for you.

A Mac Mini does a great almost-zero-maintenance option for a Plex server, if you want to go along the lines that kbanas is talking about. You could actually plug it into your TV and also run the Plex client on it, connecting to itself, if you want to.
posted by zsazsa at 2:08 PM on July 27, 2023

gonna agree with wierdo here; if you're comfortable just plugging a damn computer into the tv because that's what you've done for the past, stick with that, and don't worry about a client/server approach.

client/server does indeed have its virtues, but it also increases complexity and will trip you up in weird ways. Ask me about making subtitles work on my Roku / Plex setup, or about how my 2.4GHz wifi network stomped on all my 2.4Ghz wireless accessories. That kind of shit is fun for a dork hobbiest like me but is definitely not an "it just works" approach.
posted by Sauce Trough at 2:11 PM on July 27, 2023

I think the Mini is no less valid a living-room computer today than it was before.

That said, I used to have a Mini plugged into my TV same as you, but just got tired of it. You can't quite run it from a remote control, there's just a little added friction to everything. I replaced it with an Apple TV that plays media stored on my Mac (as well as streaming services). This has its own quirks, but fewer of them and they're easier to live with for me.
posted by adamrice at 2:31 PM on July 27, 2023

If the Mini has been a perfect solution for you all these years, I don't see why a current model wouldn't also be so. The move to Apple Silicon and modern connectivity shouldn't negatively affect your media consumption.

The base price for a Mac Mini is the same now as it was 10 years ago. You could also get a recent refurbished model from Apple that's about $100 cheaper.
posted by theory at 3:03 PM on July 27, 2023

Form factors of PC's are really varied at this point in time, so, really you can just do anything you want. We run a projector to a full sized gaming PC that sits out of sight, and use a wireless mouse and little tiny mini keyboard to just use it as a regular device. We've had to monkey with some of the text size settings to make it ideal, but nothing wild or outside of the regular display settings.

I game on it too, infrequently, and swap out the mini keyboard for a larger one or a controller. It has room for shit tons of hard drives in it, with most stuff running off an SSD, and backups going in triplicate.

I prefer larger cases so that I can repair them piecemeal if needed, but YMMV. Really, any computer is a good one to hook up to a TV.

I personally, vastly prefer the UI and controls of a full computer to something like an apple TV, which is not a small factor as to why we've avoided it, even though it will do many of the things we need it to do.
posted by furnace.heart at 3:04 PM on July 27, 2023

Serve the Home is a good source for in-depth mini-PC reviews, if you go that route.
posted by snuffleupagus at 3:43 PM on July 27, 2023

Also, there are ways to coerce Windows Media Center to install on Windows 10/11. Some discussion here.
posted by snuffleupagus at 4:24 PM on July 27, 2023

I just plug a hard drive into my TV's USB port. I hook it up to a computer to add files, then unplug it and plug it back into the tv. A lot of TVs now natively support various audio and video files.
posted by verbminx at 5:23 AM on July 28, 2023

Check out ebay for a Mac mini from 2018 or so. I would budget about USD $200 or so? And while newer minis don’t have DVD drives, you can add an external one, from eBay for $30-40, in case you are still adding to your physical media collection. Apple calls them Superdrives. Just make sure that you buy both from the same era—SuperDrives switched to USB-C (oval plugs) instead of USB-A [rectangle plugs] probably around 2018 or so.
posted by sdrawkcab at 6:50 AM on July 28, 2023

Note that the SuperDrive does not support BluRay. You need a third party drive for that, and a third party player (unless you prefer to rip the discs to files).
posted by snuffleupagus at 7:05 AM on July 28, 2023

I would keep using a mini I and look for a used Apple TV. Add the free jellyfin to the mini and import your media. Then use the AppleTV jellyfin app to interact with your content.
posted by terrapin at 2:04 PM on July 30, 2023