Recommendation for SFF Machine for Streaming

[Kendoori]

I have a 40" LCD mounted on the wall in my office and am currently driving it with a repurposed Celeron 3865U-based Chromebox via HDMI. It works OK, but performance can be wonky sometimes (audio stuttering sometimes, especially with Bluetooth). I use it for Zoom classes, to watch XFinity cable streaming, and general streaming (e.g. Netflix, Hulu, Prime, etc...). The Chromebox is a good size and I have it velcroed to the back of the TV. It only has a 32 GB SSD and is totally sufficient storage wise.

I don't want to spend a lot of money. What's a good machine to target for this purpose, assuming I would run Mint Cinnamon.

P.S. I'm totally fine with castoffs and used. And obviously don't need anything with an OS on it.

[AndyMH]

Lenovo have a good reputation for linux compatibility and their mini thinkcentres sound a fit to your requirements, one example:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/274977180583 ... BMyt_MqrFf
Note - they come with a variety of different specs and model numbers so research required. Also note I don't have one, thinkpad user.

[Kendoori]

@AndyMH I too am a long-standing Thinkpad guy (my current daily driver is a T480, but I used to be an X series guy with the various docks, going back to the X41. In the early 00s I worked for a multinational who assigned me one of the models with the butterfly keyboard.. and I agree this would be a good candidate).

Being a cheapskate, it got me thinking about possibly repurposing my X1 Carbon second-generation (cast off by my mother, whose IT guys told her that since it has Windows 8 on it, she needed a new machine). I keep this guy in my closet as a Windows machine in case I need one (which I sometimes do). I haven't completely gone down the rabbit hole, but there are VESA mounts for things like cable boxes, so I think I could keep the lid closed and the display off and mount the TV mount.

I already have a mini wireless keyboard, but am going to have to figure out how to turn this thing on/off, unless I use the Lenovo breakout box (which I obviously can mount), and of course, there's the possibility that I can do Wake-on-LAN, but not sure I will be able to do that with either an external USB ethernet (one needs a dongle for this model unless you use the breakout box), or Wake on WiFi (I think there is such a thing). I suspect this will be a project over the next few weeks.

[AndyMH]

My 'daily driver' is a T430 (actually I have four of them), it spends its life sat in a dock with the lid shut, driven by a wireless keyboard & mouse, and driving an external monitor. Wireless peripherals maybe an option? Don't know if there are docks for the X1 carbon, but docks for the T430 are dirt cheap on ebay.

[Kendoori]

@AndyMH, the breakout box is actually a dock (https://support.lenovo.com/id/en/soluti ... vice-parts). It will definitely work, just another thing to mount

[AndyMH]

I've just learnt something