Thanks for your help in my last thread! I was looking at Thomson box which I think is called Onn in the US. It says it has built in chromecast so is it not degoogling?
I have zero tech abilities so I have no clue
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It might not exactly fit your scenario, but maybe consider a mini PC. Many streaming services work in a web browser, so you could check that all yours are available that way beforehand. I’m partial to Beelink but many companies have similar offerings. Little, quiet or fanless, low power usage.
Costs are a bit higher initially, though it’ll likely have security updates longer than an Android box like the Onn one, and having more RAM might lend to that longevity in that role as well.
A mini PC gives you options like switching to Linux, running an arr stack for ditching streaming etc., that might seem worthwhile.
I don’t even use the browser on my Raspberry Pi - I just watch movies from my hard drive. I did doubt at first that Pi3 with just 1GB RAM would handle videos, but turns out it’s okay, it has hardware acceleration for video. Although I now only watch Youtube by downloading videos in very specific formats.
The Onn Box is considered amongst the best in class, but it’s heavily Google. Honestly in terms of smart TVs, there’s not many options outside of Google if you want the best functionality.
I thought onn was the Walmart store brand electronics.
Ahhhh I see thanks 😊
The way I’d do it is to use the box to run a Jellyfin client and run an IPTV app, I’d have the box connect to my router which would route it via a VPN and then I’d pretty much never think about it again. But there’s more traditional methods available.
The Thomson Streaming Box uses Chromecast technology and relies on Google services
“The Thomson Streaming Box, specifically the Thomson Streaming Box 240, allows you to turn a regular TV into a Smart TV. It operates on the Google TV platform, which is based on Android 12. This means it relies on Google services for its functionality, including access to various streaming applications like Netflix, Disney+, Prime Video, and YouTube.” It’s all Google all the way by the looks of it.
Thanks any tips for finding one that isn’t? Buzzwords I should avoid etc?
I’m not sure I’m the person to answer, the way I look at it Google is hard to get totally eradicated from every service. I think if you check out Kodi, Roku or if you are on a Mac Apple TV, these would be better options to use when trying to avoid Google. Of course using Plex as a server to stream your own content would work, but I would guarantee that one would be encountering Google on the way of getting that media unless its your own DVD rips etc.
