I have a 'gaming' laptop which I use for multiple purposes which includes serving as my shack computer (logging, callsign lookup, panadapter, etc.). I've also recently started using it to stream sporting events to a TV which are only carried online. Now I'm getting into the dilemma that my laptop can't be in two places at once, and my wife gets quite grumpy when she can't watch her favorite sports team . I'm thinking about getting a lower end laptop to handle the TV streaming, but I'm not really sure how cheap I can go and still have satisfactory results. Anyone here have experience with this?
You might consider an Android TV box, you can get one that is plenty good for $50 or $60 and leave it dedicated to your TV. It stays online and can stream pretty much anything. Think of it as a Firestick or Roku, only MUCH more configurable and useful. I use this one on my radio room TV: https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B07TVNNBV7/
It does need to have an HDMI port to connect to a TV, if I can find a tablet with HDMI then it might work.
There are many makes and models, and lots of web forums supporting them and even developing third party firmware for them. Don't cheap out too much - the cheaper devices can look appealing at $25, but the processors (Allwinner H3, etc) are trash, but you don't need to spend Nvidia Shield money to do what you want to do either. Once it is set up, you can also use it like a Chromestick, to throw your phone or PC images to it. A cool accessory is an air remote. They are very much like Nintendo Wii controllers, only for television: https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B08HV49DCB
Many can use dongles such as USB-C to HDMI--I have one for my iPad and it works FB. You also have the option of streaming to tablets from a computer--I use VLC Streamer (a freebie) to stream from my Mac to my iPad; I'm sure there's something for the PC and Android as well.
