Folks,
I’ve spent the better part of my career working on computer hardware and building apps. That said, I’m struggling to really understand the value of Plex over the top of my Roku.
I purchased Plex in 2016 thinking that I could build a media PC and completely cut the cord. I never got around to completing the project, mostly because Uverse got extremely aggressive on their pricing and the single interface is simple for my wife to use.
That said, I’m on the hunt to cut the cord and have been experimenting with streaming services and devices. Roku with DTVNow seems to have the edge for my tastes. However, we still need local OTA channels and since DTVNow does not have a DVR service today, I would need something like Playon for my wife to record certain cable content.
What I’m struggling with is whether Plex can help me consolidate everything into a single user experience. If it can, I’m not quite sure what other hardware I’d need to make this work.
Appreciate any feedback from users with more experience, as well as any Plex employees on these questions.
Thanks in advance!
Rick
When it comes to cord cutting, I’ve found that part of the experience indeed splits your choices across a few different options. You pay a premium now to have all of your things in one place. Odds favor that if you leave that single portal experience, you’ll be left with a small plate of different places to go for your entertainment needs.
I can tell you from experience that I haven’t yet found a single “one stop shop” that replaced cable in its entirety. Although I have to switch around a little bit depending on what I want, I have found that I have WAY MORE options than I had in the past.
From a Plex perspective, depending on how you want to set it up, you’ll likely be using it for your movie and show libraries, possibly your over the air DVR, and a few other things. It may end up replacing the shelf of DVDs and BluRays you have.
Likely, you may also elect to subscribe to Sling, DirectTVNow, or some other service that has some channels that fit your needs in their package. Lastly, to round things out, you’ll discover a breadth of free and pay apps to fill in any gaps to fill in the hole you created when you cut cable.
Long story short, you’re not going to find one thing that replaces cable. This is where the Roku comes in pretty handy. It can take almost all of those things and group them together into one device… So, not quite the same as before, but not as tedious as it sounds in the beginning.
I’m happier today than I’ve ever been with my entertainment needs, because I get to pick and choose, rather than sift through 400 channels of things I don’t need. (and I pay less too) Plex is a huge part of that, and because of the size of my library and the DVR, it’s the one I go to the most.
Thank you AmazingRando24. I don’t have much of a media library regarding video. Lots of music tho. What I’m most concerned about is the ease of use factor. I can certainly work through the interfaces, but my concern lies with how my wife will adapt.
I know I can use external tuners and use Plex to record OTA. Do you know if Playon can be used with Plex to record streaming content?
Thanks again!
Rick
I have PlayOn, but I don’t really use it much… if at all. The only “with” you can apply to Plex and PlayOn, is that PlayOn can produce materials, which then needs to be placed into a directory (not sure if this can be automated) that Plex can pick up. I’m not even sure if PlayOn will work with some of the live streaming services, or how well. Mostly, I’ve used it for getting things from other types of on demand streaming services such as Netflix and HBONow. Don’t trust me though… I haven’t used it in probably a year.
I found PlayOn files to be a bit large without tinkering the software. That got a little bit too complicated for me to care about. Much like you, I prefer things to be simplistic when possible.
Honestly, if you’re looking to DVR cable shows, I’d look into a service that offers it natively. I believe both Sling and PS Vue do for Roku, and DirecTVNow isn’t far behind. YouTube TV might as well as Fubo. I use the Sling DVR and it is pretty simple. Since I don’t keep DVR’d content for the long term, I don’t really care which service performs the function. The new commercial removal for Plex OTA recordings is pretty nice though.
Thanks again for the feedback. Reason why I’m leaning toward DTVNow is the full 60 fps rate. I tried a number of services and watching football or basketball was incredibly painful. DTVNow is supposed to have DVR this spring, so perhaps we can live without it for a couple of months.
I’m thinking that finding a good activity based remote may be the ticket for my bride. Something where I can program 1-touch actions so it can manage when she’s in stream or OTA mode. That will allow me to give her something easy and predictable while I play with the Plex options.
Guess I’m just getting too old for this - something in me just wishes a service like Uverse or Comcast would offer ala carte programming and be done with it… 
Thanks again,
Rick
I highly recommend the Logitech Harmony remote. The button customization alone has kept every other remote I own in a box. You don’t need a fancy one with a screen. Just the basic remote with hub is sufficient. Up to six activities available, but I’ve found I really only use 3.
I truly do love this stuff, so no thanks necessary.
