TV-Setup makeover

[xilef]

Hey guys,

 

I'm going to upgrade my family's living room setup. Right now they have a rather old TV (1080p) that works just fine and a bunch of peripherals: a dvd-player, a sat-receiver, a fairly old cd-player, and an audio amplifier. Since they discovered streaming via amazon prime, they're interested in bringing it to the TV in the living room as well. While I could just tell them to get a fireTV stick or chromecast or something the like, I would rather like to seize the opportunity to update the whole setup since most of the peripherals are completely outdated (some older than 10 years). I have basically come up with three options:

 

1. Replace everything by a smart TV

- high cost

- less privacy due to data hungry smart tv

- most likely no cd/dvd option (or can you attack an external dvd drive to a smart TV)

- proprietary Hardware and software, not customizeble

+ one device -> very simple setup

+ very easy to use

+ SAT TV

+ better viewing experience (though my parents don't care much about image quality and all that)

 

2. Keep the TV and replace the peripherals by a Set top box

- no cd/dvd option

- proprietary Hardware (and maybe software), not customizeable

- TV only via Internet livestream, no SAT TV

+ cheapest option by far

+ simple setup

+ very easy to use

 

3. Keep the TV and replace the peripherals by HTPC running windows

- higher cost than option 2, dependig on configuration

- not as easy to use as 1 + 2 (maybe someone has an idea of how to properly control a htpc without having a wireless keyboard and mouse on the table? )

- less stable (due to windows os compared to proprietary solutions above)

+ highly customizeable

+ future upgradeability

+ very versatile

+ CD/DVD support

+ SAT-TV via expansion card

+ I get to build another PC

 

For all three options I will most likely keep the old audio solution and maybe replace it later with a sound bar or something the like. My problem is that on the one hand I want a versatile and futureproof solution and on the other and it has to be reliable, easy to use for my parents and should not require me to do a lot of "maintenance". I don't mind spending some time setting it up, but once that's done I'd like it to be easy to operate for my parents so I don't have to look after it much.

I have no experience in home theater stuff, so I am looking forward to your thoughts and ideas, so I can figure out what would be the best option.

 

Thank you!

 

xilef

 

[MadsMøller]

I think that option 3 will be the one requiring you to maintain it the most. I don't understand why you can't add a firestick or something similar to the setup they already have and know how to use? I know that my parents would have a hard time adapting to everything being changed at once.

[xilef]

Yeah that is probably true. But is has some other advantages... The thing is, the setup as it is now with all the the different old devices requires me to look after it quite a lot, so I want to simplify the whole setup and not just add the next device.

[MadsMøller]

I would personally love to combine everything into an HTPC and get that up and running using Kodi or something similar, but it will require maintenance down the road

[xilef]

Thanks for the idea of using Kodi. I never heard of that before, but I'll certainly look into that. Can you recommend a user friendly remote control for a HTPC?

[Donut417]

Your talking about not wanting to be doing shit now with the setup. I think an HTPC will be harder to use for old people. I know, cause I live with 2 of them. Because I can tell you from personal experience, you will have issues with some DVDs on pc. I use VLC media player which plays about anything, but some DVDs wont play. Im sure Kodi could be the same way. Not sure how Satellite TV does it, but most cable providers encrypts all channels, meaning you need a cable card. So you need to check with your provider to see what they do. Because not all TV tuners accept cable cards. Also, not a lot of tuner add on cards out there. Ive checked, its pretty much a lot of older hardware. The best I could find is a network solution from Silicon dust. 

 

A slightly better solution would be a firestick and maybe a NAS running Plex. You could digitize some of the most watch DVDs so they can be streamed. For those you dont digitize, it sounds like you got a DVD player. 

 

Here my setup. I have an old LCD TV, not smart, large bezels. I have a firestick. I use PlayStation vue, Netflix, Amazon, and Youtube to get content. I have the option to connect my computer if I need to play DVDs. I also have a Plex server running on my computer with some of my fav DVD's digitized. We do not sub to cable TV because screw Comcast. I also have a antenna giving me OTA TV. Get about 30-35 channels. Mostly religious, but some good ones as well. Are only issue is this, Comcast has a 1 TB cap, though we only use about 500-700 Gigs a month. 

 

If you set on the HTPC, I know there are some Windows Remotes (from when MS had the best media center software) out there. Not sure if they work with Windows 10. I know Kodi was designed to work with a Controller. When I think Windows, I think Xbox controllers. The biggie for me is making sure you can get it to work with your TV provider. You might also consider putting some of the favorite DVD's on the hard disk, just to make things a little easy. 

 

My biggest advice to you is install Kodi on your computer. I use it all the time on my gaming rig. Play around with it, and look at how it works. Ive never tested the Live TV portion, so I cant comment on how it works. There are lots of add ons. Go thru them and see what one you want. 

[xilef]

@Donut417@MadsMøller

Thanks for your advice. Here's what I'm gonna do: I'll set up an old laptop as temporary HTPC with Kodi. I also have a wireless gamepad I don't use anymore, so I can use that as Remote. That way I can at no cost find out wether or not my parents get along. If so, I will chuck out all the old stuff and build them a proper HTPC later on. In that case I might comeback asking for advice about hardware, but for now I'm good. Cheers!