What is everyone using as a HTPC?

Porcoolpine from SimplyNuc. That product line is fanless which is key for me in the HTPC environment with a flat screen. In the "home theatre" I have a projector with a fan so it doesn't matter.

Do have a pi but havent bothered setting that up to be the media server yet. at the moment have a ps4 for playback on the tv and jellyfin running on the pc with the *arr stack for gathering. Im glad I changed over to jellyfin a couple months ago moving away from plex, since plex doesn't work if PSN is down. Plex used to be decent, like 10+ years ago, jellyfin is exactly the same except theres no native app for the PS4 so I have to use the web browser but thats fine. Also have tailscale configured so I can easily reach the media server when im out and about.

I have an SFF PC currently running Mint, with Bello and steam as well as xemu and a few other goodies. The flexibility is great, if something is a bit borked I can usually just play it in VLC, and the compute allows me to run pretty much any emulator besides Xenia or that PS3 one. Once I plug a GPU into it, those should be fine too. Not bad for a cheap i5 system.

I've tried libreelec on a raspberry pi 4, but it just doesn't pass the wife test.
We have a thomson streaming stick 140G (EU branding for ONN). We just use jellyfin, smarttube and our national public service streaming apps. It's in apps-only mode, but Google still injects one ad on the home screen. I didn't bother with a custom launcher just yet.

I'm using a Ryzen Mini PC running Debian and Flex Launcher.
Works well as both a media consumption machine and light gaming rig.

Laptop hooked up to the TV. Always felt more reliable than any other device to me. I also use rustdesk for a remote connection solution

I'm using a Shield TV Pro with the default launcher disabled, replaced with FLauncher, and the netflix and voice search buttons disabled via button mapper.
I'm 1000% happy with it and absolutely would not go back to an actual HTPC.
Oh, I also uninstalled youtube and replaced it with SmartTube Beta
- Is there any way to fling YouTube videos to SmartTube from a smartphone?
  That's the one thing locking me into Kodi.
  
  Yes, you can cast from the official YouTube app (or Revanced). You need to generate a code for connection in the SmartTube settings, then connect your phone through the cast menu. The option in the cast menu on the phone is called something like "Connect with code" IIRC.
  
  Not that I've been able to find. I rarely notice but when I do it's quite frustrating.

The biggest question is, are you looking for Dolby Vision support?
There is no open source implementation for Dolby Vision or HDR10+ so if you want to use those formats you are limited to Android/Apple/Amazon streaming boxes.
If you want to avoid the ads from those devices apart from side loading apks to replace home screens or something the only way to get Dolby Vision with Kodi/standard Linux is to buy a CoreELEC supported streaming device and flashing it with CoreELEC.
List of supported devices here
CoreELEC is Kodi based so it limits your player choice, but there are plugins for Plex/Jellyfin if you want to pull from those as back ends.
Personally it is a lot easier to just grab the latest gen Onn 4k Pro from Walmart for $50 and deal with the Google TV ads (never leave my streaming app anyways). Only downside with the Onn is lack of Dolby TrueHD/DTS Master audio output, but it handles AV1, and more Dolby Vision profiles than the Shield does at a much cheaper price. It also handles HDR10+ which the Shield doesn't but that for at isn't nearly as common and many of the big TV brands don't support it anyways.
- I'm not a home theater power user, but this is good info to make sure my setup is future proof for when I finally get a new TV. All these different standards get really confusing.

I use an appletv. I have the version with a Ethernet port. It plays everything I’ve thrown at it so far and don’t have to endure commercials. The downside is you have to create an Apple account to install apps on it and not all apps are available. It’s also expensive.

Regarding DRM, Netflix (and probably others) require the Widewine library to play back DRM content. This works perfectly fine on a normal Ubuntu PC, but does not work on the Pi because the library does not support ARM, only x86.
So Id just get any normal PC. Used enterprise mini PCs can be had for quite cheap, and they are small and efficient, and high quality. Search for HP, Dell or Lenovo mini PCs , or 1 litre PCs.
- I haven't used Netflix on my Pi for a few years, but at least in the past it worked fine by pulling the DRM lib from Android. I used Netflix and Disney Plus on Kodi (with a plugin) for a couple years until we stopped watching on that TV (in the bedroom).
  
  Oh cool, didn't know you could do that

Beelink Mini PCs or ones like that, plus a wireless keyboard/trackpad combo.
- If you go this route I recommend installing Kodi + Jellyfin Plugin + Kore Android App. You can control everything from your phone or laptop.

Apple TV is rad, because you can pair it with a controller, and use the Steam link app to play on your computer from another room.
No need to have the computer near the tv for couch gaming. No need to listen to the pc fans screaming.
- Android devices can do that too. I use steam link on my shield.

I run a i3 14100 for my media server with Plex, a pihole on my network and a Roku box on one TV and just the app on the others I never get any ads or have issues but I don't use any streaming services I just use the arr's and my own content

Apple TV. No ads. Works great.
- None at all? If so how? My friends with Apple TV get an obnoxious amount of ads in their YouTube app for example.
  
  I think they mean no ads in the UI. There are still ads in the YouTube app since Google needs that revenue. Ads don’t take up approximately 50% of the home screen though like they do on a Roku TV.
- What I don’t like about ATV and the Apple ecosystem in general is the lack of ease with sideloading. Ha, I’ve created throwaway accounts with fake emails in the past and then lost access to the email account followed by the Apple device basically being bricked a result. If it’s so “private” then why not let me install free apps from the App Store without an account?

Intel NUC running Linux. Not the cheapest solution but can play anything and I have full control over it. At first I tried to find some kind of programmable remote but now we have a wireless keyboard with built-in touchpad.
Biggest downside is that the hardware quality is kind of questionable and the first two broke after 3 years + a few months, so we're on our third now.
- I was tempted by these n100 mini PCs, but worried about the no-name components. I saw many people on reddit/lemmy recommending Dell, Lenovo, HP micro form factor PCs. You can pick them up used from eBay as companies clear out "old" computers. The advantage of the known brands is ongoing firmware support.

Ryzen 1200/GTX 960 small build running Linux Mint. There's a UHD blu-ray drive in it as well with the custom firmware to rip disks. Media is stored on my NAS that handles Plex and transcoding. The parts were mostly old extras I had lying around, just needed the case, blu-ray drive and boot SSD. Oh and the like $20 wireless Logitech keyboard/track pad combo for control.

2x previous gen of these.
Man, I love them!
- Looks very nice. Also looks very pricey.
  
  NGL, that's true. But they are quite small, support HDMI-CEC, and run cold.
  Edit: new ones hardware decode AV1, too
  
  At that price I’ll buy an AppleTV and run plex / Emby / jellyfin.

Two Shield TVs because there's not really anything else.

Shield, mine is very stable, never crashes, doesn't lag

An old Dell workstation that I stole from a corporate job I used to work. I stole a few of them, actually, and used the parts from the others to upgrade one of them. For a computer that would probably not be able to run Minecraft, I now have a headless home server that uses the Servarr suite to fetch and stream media from Usenet to all the devices on my network. It works so well, I have it running an Audiobookshelf server as well, loaded up with books I get from MAM.
- Used workstations are great for home theater purposes. I've got a Dell SFF on one TV and a Lenovo 1L machine on another.

Jellyfin hosted on my primary PC with access to my GPU (NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060) for transcoding. The Jellyfin libraries instance SMB shares on my NAS. Stream everything with Jellyfin for Chromecast right from the TV.
Works amazingly well. Great transcoding times. No lag despite only having 10/100/1000 NIC on NAS and streaming WiFi with Chromecast.
I manage the media library with TMM (tinymediamanager).
Super happy with it, particularly considering the only thing it cost me was the NAS (because I game on my PC anyways) which I was also going to get, anyways.

The Shield can supposedly be updated with LineageOS instead of stock, but I haven’t tried it. I also have a couple Onn 4K streamers that I debloated and swapped in FLauncher, and it’s on my TODO list to do the same with the Shield. My concern with stock OSes is of course any telemetry I’m not aware of or can’t disable. I usually setup Netguard, although I still get ads on my Shield, so its effectiveness is fairly limited.
Edit:
I found this Reddit post helpful for the Onn 4K devices:
https://www.reddit.com/r/AndroidTV/comments/12rya0t/change_launcher_debloat_the_new_onn_4k_streaming/
- I’ve also been meaning to do some debloating on my Shield as shown here, but probably worth disabling some of these first and testing a while instead of uninstalling just to make sure nothing important breaks.
  The Onn debloating recommendations above only uninstalls bloatware and not system components, so it’s less concerning.

I use a Beelink with an N100. Runs PopOs. I use Plex HTPC on it. Hardware decoding isnt working at the moment but it plays everything fine except HDR content so I'm avoiding that at the moment. Pass through audio work perfectly. I also stream sports on it, play mini games and roms with my kids using Lutris, and Moonlight for the more demanding games.
I used to use Kodi/LibreElec on it but that was such a miserable experience. Constant crashing and (3 or 4 times per day) inconsistent glitchy audio passthrough. The plex integration does mostly work but would also occasionally crash resulting in my stuff not syncing back to the server for days. Playback worked perfectly though.
- I use PopOS too. Switched to Bazzite though for htpc. HDR works out of the box, and added Plex htpc as a "game" that I launch from steam.

I don't do drm'd content, its all coming from JF so ive got random assortments in various parts of my home. An apple TV, a roku, a regular chromecast, a Chromecast with google TV dongle, and a lenovo m90q with a launcher running arch/KDE.

Raspberry Pi 2 or 3 (can't remember which) controlled through the TV with the remote. It's running LibreElec (Kodi) with the Jellyfin plugin. Discoverability isn't great through Kodi, but I can always use a computer or phone to find the media and cast if I need to.

I use a Radxa Rock 5B running an Android TV ROM. Sits in a 3D printed case and has a silent little Noctua fan keeping it cool. Could be better - the ROM has a little jank to it - but it has taken everything I've thrown at it so far.

I use a Radxa Rock 5B running an Android TV ROM. Sits in a 3D printed case and has a silent little Noctua fan keeping it cool. Could be better - the ROM has a little jank to it - but it has taken everything I've thrown at it so far.

i just use repurposed PCs. cost (or lack of, rather) is the prime factor.
the main playback 'device' is currently a 6th gen laptop that runs lid down (doesn't support turbo boost, so heat isn't an issue at all), and an old wireless kb/trackpad for a 'remote'.
storage is a hodgepodge of usb hdd, 2.5in hdd, and desktop systems. usually only one of which is being used (powered on) at a time.
i just use a text dump out of 'everything' for my 'catalog' and have numerous vlc playlists saved. i looked into things like jellyfin but the work involved in normalizing directory structures and filenames would be nightmarish.

just a normal PC? Streaming should work in a browser.
- Actually some browsers also have issues with 4k and certain codecs. IIRC Edge is (or was) the most compatible surprisingly.

Not the answer you are waiting but there is something wrong with your shield, I have a 2015 and 2019 Shield and both are just very good even if the first one has nearly 10 years
- Yeah I'm not super surprised... It used to work well when I bought it back in '17 but it's become worse and worse with updates.
  
  Have you tried a Factory reset?

I've been using the Jellyfin WebOS app, it works well but sometimes will transcode instead of direct streaming the first time something is played. Restarting a few times fixes it though. I also have jellyfin on my steam deck, but I don't think it does drm apps.

My old desktop, a Ryzen 3600/GTX-1080 mini-ITX build. After using a Pi 4 with Kodi for awhile it's nice to have a media machine that can run Crysis.

I just use a Chromecast and use my phone to cast from Jellyfin on my home server right to the Chromecast. No fiddly bits.

Some 2nd gen Intel Acer Aspire (?) SFF with an older gen NVIDIA card. Last Windows machine in the household due to WAF.
- What is WAF?
  
  I guess Wife Acceptance Factor, the number one parameter in home self host.
  
  wife acceptance factor :)