After my WD pr2100 failed. Looked at a mini PC, but adding a monitor and Keyboard was as much as a Laptop. Bought this https://www.bestbuy.com/site/sku/6587788.p?skuId=6587788&sb_share_source=PDP
Seems powerful enough.
That is one of the reasons I keep one of these handy .....
1 Like
I have that. Bought it over 10 years ago when there weren't dedicated tv apps and you had to use mobile apps. Not sure where I put the USB to connect to a PC
As mentioned many times in the past, your mileage may vary while using a Windows laptop as an Always On Server.
Windows is very aggressive with sleep as it is, but getting a Windows laptop to not shut down while closed can be problematic.
Additionally, laptops are built to run open, and their cooling depends on it. I would expect that to be the case for a $300 laptop and for it to not have very efficient cooling period.
Laptops can work in a pinch if you have one around, but investing in them for an always on appliance is something we've suggested against for ages.
I'm not sure why you need either of these. Once you have things set up, you can just remote into the computer to manage it, from any computer. And that's only if you manage the Operating System. Channels DVR Server can be managed remotely because it uses a simple web admin which can be accessed from any computer.
I totally understand not wanting to have to have a monitor and keyboard for a simple server appliance, but in 2025, you don't really need to anyways.
I believe he said that he did not have a Keyboard and Mouse available for the initial setup.
I know. I usually use my phone or Chromebook to access Channels I could just buy a keyboard and hook the mini PC to a tv. I looked at this CPU benchmark and it is a lot better than N100 or N95, plus I can always use the laptop instead of my Chromebook which is getting slow. The laptop only comes about $100 and is more functional for other things
I have a HP laptop similar to this, I've had it for 2 years..
I have it set to NEVER sleep, I don't remember having any trouble making this setting.
It is connected to a Logitech wireless keyboard, mouse, 24" TV monitor via HDMI, external hard drive.
In the 2 years I can count on one hand how many times I've opened the lid, maybe a power failure or two
or turned off during a thunderstorm, never had any kind of overheat, it cost more than $315 so maybe better cooling??
It sits on a little shelving thing about 4" high about the same size, with holes in it so there is good circulation.
Remember to do these things:
Set it to NEVER sleep, I learned the hard way when I first started using CDVR
Reserve your DHCP server connections so they never change.
Turn WiFi OFF on your server if it is connected via Ethernet.
Just to add to this, with Microsoft's forced updates and intrusive startup banners, running a server on Windows has gotten to be a major headache.
Why you can easily run Windows headless and run your DVR ETC ... as a service. That is what I run and have absolutely no problems. Folks are always making blanket statements based on their experiences. That has been your experience not mine.
I am glad it works for you.
You are correct my experience hosting Windows 7 and 10 had quirks. Like transcoding with the iGPU not working unless you had a display on or RDP'ed into the box.
Also, some of the things I ran it was not possible to set up as a service, even with something like NSSM.
http://dvr-laptop-rnb3gta7.local:8089/
That's what it says on my account. Is that the right address for local. I can't access the DVR on my phone.
that is the localhost what is the network IP.
192.168.12.132
That didn't work either
What exactly are you trying to do explain ?
I can't access the server from my phone
Via what the Client or a web browser ?
Web Browser http://yourserverip:8089
Via Client just your serverip.