After spending the last few days, tinkering and trying to put together an HTPC for my family, I wasn’t able to get a smooth enough experience to match even our old, ad-filled, laggy, Roku. In particular, every streaming service I tried needed to be controlled almost exclusively by mouse, as everything has been reduced to electron apps/websites with little-to-no keyboard or controller navigation support. As such, I’m looking for other options, although considering how quickly these platforms change and how outdated a lot of the information available on them is its hard to single out the best options.
In particular, I’m looking to be able to:
- Use Netflix, Prime Video, and Disney+. Ideally other services too, since we tend to juggle subscriptions.
- Control it with a remote, controller, or similarly simple device
- Be able to cast to it from a phone
Does anyone have much experience with options for this - esspecially if you’ve tried multiple and can compare?
I use a HTPC. Using a traditional mouse is the worst. For a long time I used a Mac Mini because the Apple Bluetooth trackpad is the only external trackpad I’ve ever used that’s any good.
Then I got a Bluetooth trackball mouse. It’s by far my favorite. It’s rugged, easy to toss around, and it just lives on a couch arm.
The only steaming device I have is a Chromecast that’s exclusively used to turn on and off the TV.
Do you have a link to a track ball mouse as an example of what you mean? What do you think are the pros and cons of using one?
Here’s the one I have:
I have another Logitech one that cost about $25.
I really, really like it. They’re really durable, easy for a kid to use, and pretty inexpensive.
Only con is if you drop it and the ball pops out, it can roll under the couch.
