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Forum Index : Microcontroller and PC projects : Found another use for a Pi.
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Gizmo Admin Group  Joined: 05/06/2004 Location: AustraliaPosts: 5111 |
I bought a Pi 400 a couple years ago, been using it as a standing computer once a month when I do my invoices. Recently I trialed Apple TV+, got some interesting movies, but didn't want to sit at my computer or tablet on my lap to watch them. I use a Chromecast device on my TV to stream Youtube movies, Disney, etc, but it wont work with Apple TV+. Apple want you to buy their own streaming device, at a couple hundred $. Go jump. I connected the Pi400 to the TV, and added a wireless keyboard and mouse so I can sit on the sofa and use the Pi400. I'm using a wired network connection, wifi a bit slow for 4k video in my place. The standard Pi OS was OK, used Chromium to open Apple TV+ web site and watched movies full screen. A bit of stutter every few minutes, was OK, but could be better. A bit of research, and installed Tornado OS for the Pi. Its a lot faster at streaming, and you can choose different desktop themes, like Win95, WinXP, etc. I also installed Chromium Media Edition. Much better result. 4k video, may see a stutter once an hour if that. Glenn Footnote added 2025-05-08 12:28 by Gizmo As stanleyella pointed out further down, Its not Tornado OS, but Twister OS. The best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago, the second best time is right now. JAQ |
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| al18 Senior Member  Joined: 06/07/2019 Location: United StatesPosts: 225 |
AppleTV+ is built into many SmartTV’s built in the last 5+ years |
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IanT Senior Member Joined: 29/11/2016 Location: United KingdomPosts: 105 |
Yes, my new TV seems to be a lot smarter than me! :-( IanT |
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| damos Regular Member  Joined: 15/04/2016 Location: AustraliaPosts: 71 |
Just pick up an old PC from Gumtree or Marketplace. I got a 4000 series i3 a few years ago for $100 and connect to the TV using HDMI and use a Kodi style remote as a backlit keyboard and mouse. This is capable of doing anything a smart TV does, but much better. If you want 4k get a newer computer, but I can't tell the difference from where I sit and my old Plasma TV is only 1080p anyway but still looks better than anything that isn't OLED. If you use the DuckDuckGo browser, its YouTube ad blocker works extremely well. I use VLC for videos. All the TV networks work very well from any browser so we never use the antenna connection these days. These probably work on Linux including the Pi, but I am reasonably confident I will get browser updates for many years to come. Smart TVs often have PCs equivalent to old phones inside them and you rely on the manufacturer to provide updates. They rarely have good browsers so you are limited to content available through their apps. You are dependent on them updating their software. |
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| hhtg1968 Senior Member Joined: 25/05/2023 Location: GermanyPosts: 136 |
What is "Tornado OS"? I tried to use google, but i was not successful. |
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stanleyella Guru  Joined: 25/06/2022 Location: United KingdomPosts: 2417 |
What is "Tornado OS"? I tried to use google, but i was not successful. think means Twister OS? |
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| Gizmo Admin Group Joined: 05/06/2004 Location: AustraliaPosts: 5111 |
Ah, my bad. Its Twister OS. I'll add a footnote to the original post. The best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago, the second best time is right now. JAQ |
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| stanleyella Guru Joined: 25/06/2022 Location: United KingdomPosts: 2417 |
used twister os rpi 400 128g ssd and 256g ssd for emulation station. rpi keyboard has common fault .. useless. kingston sdd games roms stopped working, dead drive. gonna try twister os on sd card and usb kb. the pi400 has sat there for a year |
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| stanleyella Guru Joined: 25/06/2022 Location: United KingdomPosts: 2417 |
I recently used rpi imager on win to make a boot selector sd for rpi 400. then used rp[ imager to download latest raspian os 64bit desktop +apps to 120gb ssd. this is the fastest you tube I've used.. on chromium.. smooth as win. was using twister os but no sound through hdmi and pass word not working. tried ubuntu but youtube on firefox was poor. the new raspian 64bit on rpi 400 is impressive... but still looks old unlike twister os |
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Mixtel90 Guru Joined: 05/10/2019 Location: United KingdomPosts: 7574 |
I'm not sure if it still applies, but at one time only Raspian could use the hardware acceleration of the GPU. It gave it a useful edge over everything else when the display was driven hard. Mick Zilog Inside! nascom.info for Nascom & Gemini Preliminary MMBasic docs & my PCB designs |
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| stanleyella Guru Joined: 25/06/2022 Location: United KingdomPosts: 2417 |
It will go back in it's box. interesting but got a refurb hp mini pc connected to tv and another optiplex both win 11 and dell laptop all same price as rpi 400 but more power I5 and 14gb ram I think rpi is not a pc replacement even with ssd. get a win pc refurbished for £70 .it'll do more better than rpi. rant over |
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