Reposting this from here from 2023, after I stumbled across it tonight and it hits hard.
The text in the image:
I love my smart TV. I love the way it takes a long time to boot up because it’s trying to refresh the advertisements on the home screen. I delight in the way it randomly restarts because it’s downloaded an update without asking me, each of which makes the TV slower and slower with every subsequent install. I adore the way it buries the apps that I want to use, and that I use without fail every single time, below the apps that it’s being paid to promote and which I have never touched in my life and would never use without the cold metal of a glock pressed hard against my sweating temple. I am infinitely thrilled by the way the interface lags constantly, due to the need to have one thousand unnecessary animations rendered on hardware ripped wholesale from a ten year old phone. I feel myself borne aloft on wings of pure joy when I am notified that my data will be collected and analysed to determine my usage patterns. Even now I am writing this from a field of beautiful flowers and soft luscious grass as I lie and look up happily at the bright blue sky, smiling happily to know that this is the future of technology
My 2017 Shield pro is starting to die and I'm dreading getting another TV box. Anyone have good experience with LibreElec or a similar distro? I am thinking of getting some sub $100 USFF from eBay
Another Shield Pro?
What do you mean by starting to die? Have you tried factory resetting it?
My recommendation is still the 2019 Shield Pro, unless you're all-in on the Apple ecosystem, in which case the Apple TV is pretty decent.
One issue with a PC is that you won't be able to stream 4K or even 1080p content from services like Netflix if you run Linux, as Linux only supports Widevine L3 which is limited to 720p. Widevine L1 is needed for 4K content, and it's only available on more "locked down" OSes (Windows, MacOS, unrooted Android, etc). Of course, that's not an issue if you're using Plex or some other form of non-DRM-protected content.
The HDMI Forum are also blocking open-source implementations of HDMI 2.1, so it likely won't come to open-source Linux drivers for a long time: https://www.phoronix.com/news/HDMI-2.1-OSS-Rejected. DisplayPort is superior to HDMI (as it does basically all the same things except it's an open, free protocol) but TVs tend to not have DisplayPort ports since the major manufacturers are on the board that receives royalties from the usage of HDMI. That's an argument for another day...
Good thing the Shield TV Pro can serve as a Plex server. Just don't store your content on short thumb drives plugged directly into the device - they can overheat and corrupt, since the device appears to be using them as heat sinks. Use a USB extension cord or hub.
No HDR support kiils LibreElec right away for me.
An Android device like the Shield Pro really does seem to be the best choice. I think mine is the later model. The only thing it doesn't seem to do is AV1 hardware decoding, and it does struggle a little with full 4K BR remuxes. Sometimes I have to reboot it before playing one.
Yes, I'm on CoreELEC with an Odroid N2+ but I only play content without DRM. If you're streaming DRM protected content you will have an easier time using Android.