Converting an old laptop to HTPC, which OS is best?

Forums › Home Theatre (including HTPC and EPG Collector) › Converting an old laptop to HTPC, which OS is best?

TeaLeaf

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#175200 21-Jun-2015 14:20

I have a low power CPU laptop, long life battery etc, that I dont use anymore.

As im fed up with trying to use the smart apps on my sony I was thinking of connecting this via HDMI. Its fairly quick, has a small SSD.

What is the best OS to use, would Linux be appropriate?

Unfortunately the Windows 7 rebuild discs from the manu wont work due to the SSD, so I dont have a copy of windows 7 and cannot download anymore the ISO. I have a windows 8.1 dev ISO and Windows 10 eval as well. But dont mind using unix if its a good GUI as the Mrs is not tech minded.

timmmay

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#1328678 21-Jun-2015 14:39

If you have a W7 serial number you can potentially get media somewhere. W10 tech preview is free. Linux Mint could be ok, though unsure how well streaming would work. I use a R.Pi 2 which is plenty fast enough to run Kodi.

Batman

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#1328706 21-Jun-2015 15:20

for me windows 7 because everything just works. if you ran something that's not compatible on win 10 ... you're back at square 1. but if they all work, win 10 could be a winner, but it hasn't even been released properly. win 8 .... don't ask!

chevrolux

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#1328715 21-Jun-2015 15:44

Kodi is awesome. Nothing but a media player. Just stick Debian or Ubuntu on the laptop and then put Kodi on it. They might even have an all-in-one distro, I only use Raspberry Pi's so not sure. But installing Debian and then Kodi is fairly trivial, plenty of documentation out there.

Edit:... Just checked, they have 'KodiBuntu' as an all-in-one so just get that.

Edit2: Kodi is very wife friendly. I just put the XBMC remote on the wifes phone and she manages just fine.

robjg63

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#1328765 21-Jun-2015 18:51

http://openelec.tv/get-openelec

Nothing is impossible for the man who doesn't have to do it himself - A. H. Weiler

TeaLeaf

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#1328777 21-Jun-2015 19:12

thanks all. ive heard of Kodi, must do my research.

i think i should be able to get a win 7 disc our of windows support, just costs $30?

robjg63

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#1328779 21-Jun-2015 19:18

If you install openelec its basically Linux that boots straight into kodi.
You won't need windows at all.
Won't cost you a thing.

Nothing is impossible for the man who doesn't have to do it himself - A. H. Weiler

TeaLeaf

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#1328847 21-Jun-2015 21:21

i looked at openelec and got confused i thought it was a system builder.

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timmmay

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#1328849 21-Jun-2015 21:22

OpenElec is a media oriented OS, I thought it was just for R.Pi and small computers.

TeaLeaf

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#1330043 23-Jun-2015 16:31

good to know.

this old lappy is 720p at best. if i connect it via hdmi to my 1080p screen. will netflix etc be limited to the laptops screen or will it pick up the new screen resolution?

Batman

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#1330049 23-Jun-2015 16:37

it will do 1080p on the tv. but it might not handle the video rendering ... what GPU does it have

TeaLeaf

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#1330118 23-Jun-2015 18:07

g210M 512MB, its far from new. does about 4000 on 3dmark06. im guessing the same as the prior round of built in intels.