2015-02-23, 06:02
I understand there are tons of threads about finding the right box but this is not one of those threads, so please bear with me and hopefully give me some advice. Also, if this is not the proper forum for my question, I apologize for the long post in advance.
I had my Windows laptop connected to the TV via hdmi and everything worked fine but my laptop recently died. Until I can find a designated box, I have been using my Chromebook running lubuntu with crouton to run kodi. However, I can not get the screen to work properly on my TV through hdmi, full screen would take up only a quarter of the screen. I can manually resize the kodi window to take up the whole TV screen but it's still within a window. Also, when streaming, the TV screen would have a horizontal line in the middle. Bottom line is, it is somewhat working but barely acceptable. I am not sure if this is an issue with my TV, with lubuntu (should I have gone with Kodibuntu) or a chromeos issue.
Initially, I bought a NUC to flash ubuntu but the bios screen wouldn't show when connected to my TV (I don't have other monitors or TV), but it showed up fine on the retailer's TVs. I was lucky enough that the retailer refunded my money. Another issue I noticed on my TV is that when I connect my chromebook via hmdi in ChromeOS, it would not mirror the screen with a proper resolution. I've seen it work properly on numerous youtube tutorials, so I suspect my 5 year old panasonic TV might be the problem.
I read good reviews on chromebox as htpc but worry it would have the same issues as my chromebook. And getting a new TV would be the least preferrable choice. Should I risk it and get a chromebox or pay about the same to get a minix x8-h plus or buy a cheap android tv stick/box from unknown chinese brands? (I don't think I'm tech savy enough for rasberryPi)
My requirement for streaming is quite low, no need for bluray or 3D, so I suspect most will do. I am open for suggestions. Thanks heaps for the help!
I had my Windows laptop connected to the TV via hdmi and everything worked fine but my laptop recently died. Until I can find a designated box, I have been using my Chromebook running lubuntu with crouton to run kodi. However, I can not get the screen to work properly on my TV through hdmi, full screen would take up only a quarter of the screen. I can manually resize the kodi window to take up the whole TV screen but it's still within a window. Also, when streaming, the TV screen would have a horizontal line in the middle. Bottom line is, it is somewhat working but barely acceptable. I am not sure if this is an issue with my TV, with lubuntu (should I have gone with Kodibuntu) or a chromeos issue.
Initially, I bought a NUC to flash ubuntu but the bios screen wouldn't show when connected to my TV (I don't have other monitors or TV), but it showed up fine on the retailer's TVs. I was lucky enough that the retailer refunded my money. Another issue I noticed on my TV is that when I connect my chromebook via hmdi in ChromeOS, it would not mirror the screen with a proper resolution. I've seen it work properly on numerous youtube tutorials, so I suspect my 5 year old panasonic TV might be the problem.
I read good reviews on chromebox as htpc but worry it would have the same issues as my chromebook. And getting a new TV would be the least preferrable choice. Should I risk it and get a chromebox or pay about the same to get a minix x8-h plus or buy a cheap android tv stick/box from unknown chinese brands? (I don't think I'm tech savy enough for rasberryPi)
My requirement for streaming is quite low, no need for bluray or 3D, so I suspect most will do. I am open for suggestions. Thanks heaps for the help!
