After fighting with the shield I decided to migrate my DVR to a windows laptop I had hanging about and Viola.. everything works fine and in fact better than it ever did on the shield-- fingers crossed but if this continues I pickup a nice compact mini PC and make it the DVR home
I felt the same way. I decided to buy a Beelink U59 mini windows computer through Amazon for about $280. It came with Windows 11 Pro. It has an entry level CPU, but it works really well as my Channels DVR and Plex servers. I haven't found any performance issues with running the Channels DVR server. I was going to try a Raspberry PI, and I may still get one to see how it performs. Anyway, I am happy to get away from the Shield for now.
I actually run a NAS on a PI 4 works pretty well, but has issue transcoding. (Issues meaning its not the fastest) but It works I am using an old laptop right now, but think I will get a mini PC for dedicated Channels and Plex server like you
With my mini U59, I was able to run 4 transcoded streams without any drops or buffering, before it maxed out the CPU and GPU. Fairly certain I will never need 4 transcoded streams at the same time, but I didn't want to be underpowered.
Its now juts my wife and I -- so at home it would even be rare to need more than one stream at a time. So Perfect.. can you send the link for the unit your purchased?
Just look up Beelink U59. I believe it only comes configured one way. I got mine from Amazon for $280, but you might be able to find it for less. So far I haven't found any problems with it, and I really like the design. I hope it stays reliable.
Basicly a cheap bootleg/off brand Intel NUC.
whatever..
Yes, sort of like how the Dell PC was a cheap bootleg/off brand IBM PC. Anyway the U59 works great for me so far.
Not really proper comparison. Dell wasn't some Chinese ripoff, made in poor factories with the cheapest parts possible.
Regardless, if it works good, for now. then cool. Serves it purpose for short time use.
I still have my first gen Intel NUC in service 24.7 as file server, they built them to last.
The couple knock off brands i have tried over they years, burnt them self up in just over a year.
Your experience may vary. ( i find at least 10 rebrands of that same unit across amazon, ebay, aliExpress etc.)
For my use, the RiP4 is a great Channels DVR server appliance. Rock solid reliable.
There are lots of these. They're making them even smaller now: This pocket-sized PC is a desktop computer with Intel Celeron N5095 - Liliputing
It comes with a genuine intel processor and windows license, so it seems legit and fine to use.
Note that older beelink units wouldn't automatically turn back on after a power failure. But I think the new ones do. Just something to keep in mind, since you want your DVR to come back in case the power goes out.
Thanks for the tip about the auto power on. They did have a bios update to make this work. I don't see how you can keep up with all the activity in these forums. I am amazed you can maintain so many different server platforms and client applications.