Dedicated youtube computer suggestions?

[tek9]

Hi all.
I have a customer that has a storefront - he sells furniture. He wants me to setup a small computer connected to a 32" (I think) 720p TV to basically just play children's YouTube videos non stop to entertain the kids while their parents are shopping. Initially I had set it up as a secondary monitor to one of his computers , the computer being in the office area, and the TV in the showroom on the other side of the wall, but that didn't really work out because they needed two people whenever they needed to change a video or something: one to operate the computer and the other to see what was happening. So I got him an Asus Chromebit with a Bluetooth keyboard. The problem with this is that for some reason the Chromebit would randomly shut down after an hour or so (doesn't seem to be a set time really, the TV would just go black and say No Signal) and the only way to get it up and running again would be to unplug the power to the Chromebit and start it up again. Obviously this is not ideal.
I googled this and it seems that many people are having this issue with the Chromebit. There doesn't seem to be any setting to keep it powered on, as far as I can see.
What would you guys suggest to do now? I was thinking of trying an Intel Compute Stick instead, but I'm not really excited of Windows on a low power device like that, especially with Windows Updates and all that. I'm considering a NUC or similar tiny PC, but since price is an issue as usual, I'd like to use a Linux OS. Does anybody have experience with something like this? Youtube on Linux, and being on 24x6?
Should I just try for a refurb Dell Micro or Lenovo Tiny PC?
Thanks.

 

[sapphirescales]

I'd recommend you just make a big freaking video file with say 48 hours worth of content and just play that locally. No bandwidth usage and if the net goes down you're fine. No buffering, no BS. And you can never 100% control what's going to come up on the screen with YouTube. You don't want him to get into hot water when something unexpected pops up.

 

[Markverhyden]

Was wandering around at Worst Choice after making a return and saw one of these. Plugs directly into a HDMI port.

 

[tek9]

I'd recommend you just make a big freaking video file with say 48 hours worth of content and just play that locally. No bandwidth usage and if the net goes down you're fine. No buffering, no BS. And you can never 100% control what's going to come up on the screen with YouTube. You don't want him to get into hot water when something unexpected pops up.

Good point on youtube showing unsavory content, but my question still stands. What hardware should I use? The Chromebit shuts down at random. If I were to connect the TV as a secondary monitor they'll still have problems sorting out issues. Sometimes the video will display on one monitor, sometimes on the other. Full screen display, sound, other issues. I need it to be a standalone solution.

 

[tek9]

Was wandering around to at Worst Choice after making a return and saw on of these. Plugs directly into a HDMI port.

This is similar to the Intel Compute Stick. Has Windows 10 which will be a nightware to update on the low specs of the stick.

 

[E Bell]

Why not use an AppleTV. My kids seem to have playlists that go on forever. You have other options as well with a Netflix, Plex server, iTunes, etc.

They also mount well behind the TV.

 

[sapphirescales]

Cheap USFF Dell Optiplex or HP Prodesk. Refurbs can be as cheap as $100 for an i5 model with plenty of storage. They also support VESA mounting so you can mount it right to the back of the TV. 1000x better than a cheapo little compute stick that can be stolen and damaged easy and anything Apple is just asking to get ripped off. You can attach a lock to the USFF computer so it can't be stolen.

Check this out for under $50 with no HDD:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Dell-Optipl...732029?hash=item2364d7fd3d:g:9Y8AAOSwezVWziAG

Pop in a cheap HDD or SSD and you're good to go for less than $100. VESA mountable and lockable.

NOTE: This particular computer only supports XP and Vista x32. They never wrote drivers for Windows 7 as it wasn't intended to be a full computer replacement. Still, keep it offline and you're good to go. If the budget isn't super tight, then you can consider the next model up with an i5 that has support of Windows 7 and 10. But it'll be about $100.

 

[ohio_grad_06]

Or if it's legal(i know some shows etc aren't supposed to be for public performance, so someone could answer to that), but why not a Roku stick for 50 bucks? We use one of those at home for PlayStation vue(30 a month cable for the basic package, all streaming), netflix, hulu etc. Dedicated remote, hides behind the tv. Only 50 bucks if something happens to it. If I can figure out a way of getting hallmark channel with it, it basically has all the other content we watch.

 

[gn2]

You can buy "stick" Android computers direct from China for less than $40. that will do what you want, many include everything you need to be up and running in an hour.

Just as an example, here's one: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B00OL7N6QI...m=A3DWYIK6Y9EEQB&pf_rd_r=G01F475XTWJN691B2FAT

You could remove all but the YouTube addon, then restrict the account by age, or make a playlist of kids videos and restrict the account to only that playlist...lots of options...