How to make my old laptop into a media center?

autono-wally, erotibot300

Basically, I want to use my old laptop to play Netflix and Disney plus over hdmi, easily controllable over a remote (that I already have)
I'm using a raspi for something similar, but keeping the Netflix app running (fully legal of course, with my own credentials) is a true nightmare as it basically breaks all the time, and it doesn't have enough power for Disney plus.


I tried using kodi on windows and it kinda works but there's still no decent way to run the Netflix and Disney plus apps-even if I enter them into the launcher in kodi it launches them, but then kodi stays on top and I can't see the netflix app, no matter if it's full screen or not.

Anyone got an idea?

Anyone knows a way?

BlindZenDriver

An almost random thought here, but you can use Netflix from a browser so maybe it would be better to just access it like that.

Radiation

No personal experience here, but a buddy was talking about https://osmc.tv/about/ a bit ago. I think he was looking at it and hadn't yet deployed it. It seems to leverage Kodi, but might run better on linux?

Tav

kodi and osmc are the best options for doing what you want to do but i found them both to be randomly buggy and their updates break things in annoying and unpredictable ways

honestly your best bet is just buying a chromecast or an apple tv and using that. I know it's annoying to buy a new thing to do the thing your laptop should be able to do but really a dedicated piece of hardware is going to be infinitely better at doing this and will save you both time and stress

Chall

I second getting a Chromecast. The cheapest ones are like $35 and you just use your phone as the remote.

I used Kodi but runny apps through it is mostly a pain in the butt. Now I just use the Chromecast and the apps on my phone, with the Plex app for my personal media.

Edit:. If you are set on using the laptop, I would skip Kodi and just setup links to the sites you want on the desktop. If your remote has a mousepad that will work a lot better

autono-wally, erotibot300

Chall wrote: »

I second getting a Chromecast. The cheapest ones are like $35 and you just use your phone as the remote.

I used Kodi but runny apps through it is mostly a pain in the butt. Now I just use the Chromecast and the apps on my phone, with the Plex app for my personal media.

Edit:. If you are set on using the laptop, I would skip Kodi and just setup links to the sites you want on the desktop. If your remote has a mousepad that will work a lot better

I'm probably gonna end up doing something like this.

I don't wanna use google stuff, currently I'm trying a raspi4 with raspbian and some very recently release chrome media center edition that has widevine support-

Netflix runs flawlessly on 1080p, disney plus runs great on 720p, which might be enough for now.

Does anyone know good launchers / overlays for linux and windows that make starting apps easier and "better looking"?

mRahmani

Could use steam big picture mode and just create custom shortcuts to the apps you want to use

Burtletoy

Yeah, I occasionally use my steam link to stream my hockey games from my pc to my TV, it works pretty well

Figgy

autono-wally, erotibot300 wrote: »

Chall wrote: »

I second getting a Chromecast. The cheapest ones are like $35 and you just use your phone as the remote.

I used Kodi but runny apps through it is mostly a pain in the butt. Now I just use the Chromecast and the apps on my phone, with the Plex app for my personal media.

Edit:. If you are set on using the laptop, I would skip Kodi and just setup links to the sites you want on the desktop. If your remote has a mousepad that will work a lot better

I'm probably gonna end up doing something like this.

I don't wanna use google stuff, currently I'm trying a raspi4 with raspbian and some very recently release chrome media center edition that has widevine support-

Netflix runs flawlessly on 1080p, disney plus runs great on 720p, which might be enough for now.

Does anyone know good launchers / overlays for linux and windows that make starting apps easier and "better looking"?

I personally just made my icons super huge and made Netflix/Disney+/etc. the only things on the desktop smack in the middle, then made custom icons for them so they weren't all just Chrome shortcut links. Drag the taskbar down so it only comes up when you hover down there, set Chrome to open in full screen, etc. Just minor adjustments here and there to make it as minimalist as possible. I've tried messing with Kodi and similar setups before and too many times, I'd be set to relax for the night but then there was some issue or update I had to worry about first. Not worth the hassle.

I also personally prefer keeping the functionality of Windows at-the-ready because my HTPC is always the previous gaming PC. I can play PC games directly on my HTPC or even Steam share from my main gaming PC.. play Jackbox when friends come over, etc.

Chromecast is fine but it will be slower and clunkier than just using the laptop directly. Especially if your laptop isn't all that powerful.