TVs, televisions, soundbars, projectors, surround sound, etc

I want a nice picture and I don't want shit sound. 32 inch max.

You'll be lucky to get that in a 32" tv. This is Which's comment on their top rated 32" TV:

It’s mediocre across the board, which actually makes it one of the better 32-inch TVs out there. It sounds better than most, but we expected more.
https://www.richersounds.com/samsung-qe32q50ae.html

I'd go Samsung or LG but small TVs have been a bit left behind.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/285891226251?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=7aGmFcA-TSi&sssrc=4429486&ssuid=wy0OkC-2S9G&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

It’s not getting wall mounted, just sit on a unit/the floor (as the bed is low).
Almost a monitor would work.

Few monitors for sale in misc classifieds that may work.

Yeah will work my way round to this solution in the next couple of months.

Looking at a XGIMI Horizon Ultra - anyone got one? Thoughts?

FFS it looks like an update has been pushed today and now my firestick isn't reading the external memory stick.

Could also be the stick being fucked. It was quite hot.

Anyone got any smart ideas on how to check if it's the stick in particular? I guess first step is plugging it into a laptop and seeing if it works. Really don't have the motivation to go through this again 😭

Anyone got a Chromecast with Google TV 4K?

What are they like? And are they full of ads?

Main noticeable bit of advertising is at the top, various banner images for shows that scrolls through 4 or 5 of them. The highlighted bit, it's easy enough to ignore.

Also a couple of channels with shows to buy and similar that you can't remove. You can move them right to the bottom and never look at them though.

The shield has the same ads as does my Humax Aura, it's pretty consistent across anything that runs pure android TV. By all accounts they're very difficult to block.

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Cheers that's helpful. The Shield is just a lot of money for a 5yo product some reviewers/commentators seem less keen on as time passes. I'd prefer to move from Amazon to Google just because the constant creep has fucked me off.

Probably useful to explain my use case:

Me:

• admin/tech support
  
• option to install NordVPN
  
• a YouTube app that blocks ads
  
• kodi to borrow content
  
• iplayer, 4OD, prime video, Netflix and Disney +
  
• locking codes and kids profiles for the main apps above (fyi amazon is awful for this, both displaying inappropriate content and allowing Alexa to bypass the code. Albeit not for adult content)
  
• option for moderate storage expansion would be good as kodi quickly bloats. +8gb would be fine.
  
  

OH:

• viewer
  
• easy access to iplayer, 4OD, prime, Netflix, Disney +, kodi
  
  

Kids:

• viewer
  
• self control once in a mainstream app
  
• voice control to search (tbh Idk how I feel about this, but my eldest loves it)
  
  

We have an old shit TV which we'll replace in the next year or two. The replacement will be a 40-50" at a price point - rather that top of the range. I'm nervous about using any built in smart TV functions, both for performance but also access to kodi and data privacy.

All that said I just watched this

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nsz8EE1Eml0

so it looks like I'll just suck it up for now and wait for it's release to see if it impacts my decision.

The size of Kodi is probably your main issue, I only run it on my shield but I've pretty much moved away from it. One of those dodgy android boxes which has USB could be an option but you'd need to do a fair bit of research to find a none shit one.

Or move Kodi to a different device (raspberry pi the obvious).

Or maybe the new Google one will actually have some easy usb options. Saying that, the old Chromecast with TV is meant to work with a usb c hub although I've never tried it.

I'm not sure though.

Kodi was sitting on a 32gb flash drive so plenty of space. Having tested the stick in some laptops I think the it's the flash drive that's fucked. My current thinking is that my great idea of using a fast charger when I was troubleshooting the original install/expansion fried the flash drive.

If I fix it I should also try and remember to see if I can block updates and make a cloan of the stick incase it happens again.

the old Chromecast with TV is meant to work with a usb c hub

Just tested this with a usb c hub and a 2tb HDD I had lying around and it worked fine. Bonus that it just works and power supplies are a bit more reliable with USB C.

Cheers. That's helpful.

Maybe I'll have a look at those instead. I guess first port of call is testing another USB. But after a sunny weekend and the effort first time around I really cba.

Does anyone have a good knowledge of Kodi?

I'm getting a bit lost.

What I have:

• A usb flash drive (Flash-A) plugged into my firestick as external storage with kodi on it, and all the addons I want on kodi.
  
• A second, clean/empty, identical make of usb flash drive
  
  

What I want:

• in the event Flash-A fucks up, I want a second USB Flash Drive (Flash-B) which I can swap out Flash-A for which loads kodi with all my addons and skin.
  
  

I think I need to cloan the drive. However, I'm guessing this isn't as simple as simply ctrl+c in Windows Explorer as there will have to be either some sort of formatting or mapping of the correct path which may be unique.

I could always just perform the same steps to install on the second divice but there must be an easier way, right?

Oh and something I'm totally baffled by... upon downloading kodi to the firestick and then doing all the steps from the other page to move it to the new replacement flash drive, all my addons except the skin are present. Even the search terms.

I genuinely don't understand how that works. Have I mounted the app itself to the Flash drive, but am saving all the associated data etc. to the firestick?

If so have am I defeating the point of even having the app on the flash drive?

Are you adopting as internal storage or just using as an external drive. Suspect it may be the former if you're transferring apps across.

In which case you need to clone it. I'd use dd in Linux to do that. I'm Windows I'd look at something like minitool partition wizard.

Pretty sure they're encrypted when adopted though so wouldn't guarantee any of those would work.

Cheers.

My Linux laptop is quicker. So from a skim of this https://www.cyberciti.biz/faq/linux-copy-clone-usb-stick-including-partitions/

.. I basically need to find out what the drives are called then run the dd command to cloan it?

Are you adopting as internal storage or just using as an external drive.

Good question. What would

pm move-package org.xbmc.kodi 1a939fc8-3b9c-4876-8e1e-00235611ae3b

do?

It moves the package for kodi to the USB volume, right. But this has flagged that I probably don't properly understand the real definition of 'package' and 'volume'.

Hi all, I've had a Philips neopix Prime one for a few months, just a budget projector that we use occasionally. Today it won't work, the power light just flashes on and off, white then red, and the main projector bulb is flashing on and off. I guess it's fucked?

I'm attempting a projection mapping thing for project at a venue, and to avoid humiliating failure on-site need to get a projector to test/develop with at my studio. No sound requirements, just picture. What do I buy?

Could you borrow one from a Library of Things rather than buying one?

Loads of second hand stuff for cheap if you don't mind it being a bit big and heavy.

Main thing to consider is resolution, how bright you need it to be and whether you can get it pointing direct at the screen.

If you're around North London I may have one you can borrow.

I'm in Somerset, our share library recently closed due to landlords being landlords :( I've got a call out on the local creative network for a loaner, but I'm happy to buy one as it's the kind of thing that's handy to have around the studio for mocking up 1:1 scale large format stuff in the future.