When I was in college, I was a media fanatic. I went to best buy almost every other day to buy dvds. I ended up with closets full of dvds, unable to track where specific movies were. I decided one day, long before Netflix and streamers, to digitize my collection. 7 months later, utilizing programs like anydvd, handbrake, MovieStyle 4.0... I finished my collection on an overly expense WHSv1, 8 terabyte machine. I used the Xbox 360 to stream from my server to my main TV, an original xbox with XBMC to stream to the gaming room TV. I also attempted to install various programs that failed at remote streaming.
Years later, I invested into VPN service, Air Video, XBMC plugins, and a few others which always fell short in certain areas.
Fast forward to last year, when I decided to buy my lifetime Plex Pass....
At first, I was skeptical b/c I had a system which somewhat worked. I used Air Video for my iOS devices. I use VPN for direct streaming from a remote computer. I used XBMC for my home HTPC. And all and all I was pretty happy. I purchased Plex mainly for the ability to stream to android and Windows Phone/8 devices.
And slowly I fell in love with Plex. I first replaced my Air Video with Plex b/c it offered better content display and more options and Plex streaming to iOS was just a reliable as Air Video. I then tried the remote connection, and realized I didn't need my VPN service for media any longer. Plex slowly started taking over my digital ecosystem b/c the alternatives always fell short compared to Plex's user friendly, virtually flawless streams (Oh did I mention awesome looking too).
The next task I saw before me was my HTPC. I never thought I would replace my Xbmc b/c It was a piece of software I customize and spent a lot of time configuring to get it perfectly the way I wanted. XBMC visuals are awesome and for a long time (I modded an original xbox and installed xbmc) I was loyal.
Until, I download Plex Windows 8.1 apps for my HTPC. Wow. I gave it a few weeks to see if it performed as good as it looked. It did and more.
Now my HTPC sports two apps on my Metro UI, Plex and Netflix. I uninstalled XBMC and have officially adopted PLEX for my sole streaming media management service. I want to thank all the DEVs and community who worked on this project. There has been only a few pieces of non-forensic software (I work in computer forensics) I go out of my way to complement, Slysoft Anydvd and TMPGeNC Movie Style 4 are the only other two.
Thanks again for a great product and keep up the great work!
-Chris
