whitch operating system should I use??

Madjackjr

Hi there I'm looking for advice on this.
I have decided to turn my old laptop in to a kind of media/entertainment center for my TV. The laptop it self is a dell inspiron 6400. It used to have 2 Gb of ram but on of the slots no longer reads the ram cards so I'm down to 1 Gb. I'm looking for an operating system to put on it that will use very little of the laptops resources. To date I have looked a few options.
Android x86. I liked the idea of android, it has a simple interface and loads of apps to use with TV. I have mixed results with this. 4.3 would only boot through a debug mode. This ment that I couldn't attach the laptop to another screen, also the wifi would not connect properly to any router. 4.2 would not work at all.
linux light. This works great. It only uses 200Mb of ram. Down side is that I can't get Netflix to work. I tried the Wine, Firefox, Silverlight thing I read about but it wouldn't work with the verson of linux I have. I also tried useing android on it through Virtural Box very poor results. (Side note 4.2 worked perfetly here)
So my thoughts now are to get a 2Gb card and put it into my remaining slot and get a better operating system.
So does any one have thoughts/advice on an operating system to use (I'm not hell bent on linux but they are free) or has someone done this before, what did you use?
Regards
John

johnmcdnl

Have you looked at OpenElec?

Basically it's a very slimmed down Linux os with just xbmc and core files running on it. At boot is jumps straight into xbmc so you shouldn't have to touch the laptop once your setup.
XBMC has supported plugins for Netflix and you should be able to set it up to stream shows saved on any other devices in your home. (takes a little bit of work to set up streaming but should be up and running in less than an hour even if you have no idea what your at - there's an amazing community and decent documentation if you need it)

And then you have the really nice feature of being able to use your phone as a remote with the xbmc app which is free or better imo Yatse (costs a euro or two but well worth it imo).

Madjackjr

XBMC is that the one that is on the raspberry pie? I heard of it. Right I'll look into that this evening after work thanks for the advice.

John

rovoagho

Have a look on adverts.ie for compatible memory, used memory is dirty cheap.

Madjackjr

rovoagho wrote: »

Have a look on adverts.ie for compatible memory, used memory is dirty cheap.

Will do I don't want to spend money on this if I can avoid it.

Madjackjr

rovoagho wrote: »

Have a look on adverts.ie for compatible memory, used memory is dirty cheap.

Will do I don't want to spend money on this if I can avoid it.

killanena

+ 1 on OpenElec, If your laptop has a HDMI port and your TV has hdmi cec, you can control your laptop with your TV remote control.

rovoagho

You should pick up a stick of ram for an old laptop for a tenner or less. 1GB RAM will work, but it'll be rubbish in the long run.

White Heart Loon

rovoagho wrote: »

You should pick up a stick of ram for an old laptop for a tenner or less. 1GB RAM will work, but it'll be rubbish in the long run.

More than half of that 1gb ram would suit doing nothing with OpenElec

rovoagho

There's a big difference between a Pi that's designed with running things like Openelec in mind, and an old laptop. Like I said, it'll run; but it'll probably run like an old lady. For the sake of a tenner....

White Heart Loon

rovoagho wrote: »

There's a big difference between a Pi that's designed with running things like Openelec in mind, and an old laptop. Like I said, it'll run; but it'll probably run like an old lady. For the sake of a tenner....

An Inspiron 6400 would have a Core2Duo, miles faster than a pi. Even a Pentium 4 would be faster than a pi, the pi really is a weakling, it's intended as a budget low power option and that's exactly what it is. OpenElec runs OK on the pi, but struggles with a big collection with artwork especially if you use one of the heavier skins like Aeon Nox.

The downside is the Inspiron 6400 will not have HDMI, VGA only, which does not carry sound.

Madjackjr

Thanks to the replies.
Just in from work so I'll give it a go. Going to stick with the 1Gb for now but if it's sluggish as ye said for the sake of a tenner. Yip the old 6400 only has VGA but luckily my TV has a sound input associated with the VGA so no real problem there. During my free time today I was reading the XBMC has TV record function. Would it be worth my while (or can it be done) getting a TV card to watch/record? It would be Saorview.
John

rovoagho

I put a card in my server because XBMC does indeed support it, but I haven't actually tested it yet I'm afraid. I think you should check if OpenElec supports it before buying, they're separate projects.

XBMC also supports Netflix via a plugin, but it seems to be hit and miss. I don't think I'm going to bother even installing it at this stage, I barely watch it on my PS3.

Madjackjr

cool will check
Having trouble installing it. I made the usb and all. When I plug it into the laptop i get as far as the boot menu and doesn't matter witch option I pick nothing happens it just sits there with openelec logo and does nothing