I´m wondering that there is no dedicated PLEX hardware section.
I currently run PLEX on a Mac Mini/ Server on a Synology 713+ and it really works great. Is there any replacement hardware meanwhile which can compare with the Mac/PC?
Means: same performance, skin support
I was (and still) hoping for a native PS4/ Xbo app but as I understood there will not be such an app in future.
Plex is available for a lot of platforms but is it working somehow or is compareable with the Mac?
Apart from the PC clients the only other device with a client that is nearly on par (still in the tweaking stage) and where the latest version(s) of PHT is being incorporated is the Raspberry Pi with Rasplex. The Pi hardware is painfully slow however where the experience ultimately end up in frustration.
The Roku, Google TV and Android interfaces do not do the 10 foot experience justice. I tried Chromecast when it was first released but at the time buffering issues were major and using a mobile device or PC doesn’t really translate well to the 10 foot experience in particular when in my opinion what Tobias and Sebastian have done with PHT has totally enhanced the Plex experience.
Where XBMC has become ubiquitous on virtually every kind of device that can play media Plex has weighted their resources in the perfecting of PHT on x86 devices. This is good but the hardware is too expensive. What Plex needs to do is focus on like OpenElec to run on ARM based and x86. I want a Plex box. I don’t want the interference or necessity of an OS.
Frankly, the 10 foot experience on the Roku and Android is pathetic in comparison to what PHT 1 offers. I may be naive in my observations but there are times I wonder if who ever is in charge has woken up and smelled the coffee. Go on the XBMC websites and the Ouya for example is coming along nicely. Improving over time. Keplar on the Ouya just terrible.
It looks like I have to stick to the Mac. That´s a pity because I thought that in 2014 there should be a possibility to run a media center like Plex on a standalone, low-power, without a unnecessary OS in background.
WD TV and similar devices ar playing every content since ages but they look ugly.
I would also like to see a plex box or at least a Playstation/ Xbox app.
There are some 'Smart-TV' apps around already, such as the one used by Samsung, not only in TVs but also in some BD-Players. But from what little I know about them, through a friend who has both, those apps have more limitations than the normal clients. Such as no skinning, and no sending or receiving casts or remote control from other Plex clients. Thus my friend has to handle all library navigation through the remote control of his TV or BD-Player. So in that respect these apps are less flexible than a cheap RasPlex setup, since that can receive casts and/or be remotely controlled from any Android device (probably iOS devices too, though I've never tried that).
thanks for the hint. i already tried this option.
plex connect is nice but not compareable with a "real" plex client.
i hope that apple opens the atv for the ios app store and we will see a native running plex app on atv :)
Not sure what you mean by that, it acts EXACTLY the same way as all the other "native" ATV apps the only difference is in how it gets onto the ATV.
If you tried it a while ago it has had a lot of improvements made to it and is getting pretty feature complete and even includes some features not found in the official clients, eg trailers button on the pre play screen.
If it is just a preference thing then fair enough, each to their own :)
As previously noted, there are smart TVs that have the app such as Samsung. I have been using this for about 6 months now without a hitchy. My only issue is there are no skins available. What you see is what you get, but that being said its still very nice on the TV. As soon as someone starts making a dedicated Plex device that can seamlessly integrate live tv, ill be buying one.
has anyone tried out the cubox-i yet? i've been watching them for a while and they look to have lots of potential. would love to get PHT running in all its glory on one.
has anyone tried out the cubox-i yet? i've been watching them for a while and they look to have lots of potential. would love to get PHT running in all its glory on one.
The Rasplex guys are interested in making this their next platform.
I have personally been using the Intel NUC i3 platform for a while now and have been particularly happy, and as has the family.
I have a Debian install (considering moving to SteamOS, but not that ambitious just yet as things are working) that boots strait to Plex in under 15 seconds, has full theme support, and hasn’t stuttered with anything that I have thrown at them. I have 4 of them and haven’t had any issues since I got them rolled out.
I have a little celeron 847 board that will work, but I’d prefer an even smaller form factor than mini itx. The nuc has been on my radar, but they’re pretty pricy for what they are. I’ll prolly just use the board I already have.
I am a great plex fan... strated with synology nas and hdland dune as client...;
the syno cpu was too weak for transcoding on ipad/iphone, but the dune didn't need transcoding...;
then I switched to bigger nas cpu to run mu plex server, but is was not enough...
now I am running pms on a laptop (core i5)... it is working great, but still my dune does all the job and transcoding happens only when synching or playing to upad...
so what's the problem?
on the dune, I am using a plex development which isn't 100% plex native, thus the dune is not viewed by plex client as a plex client...
so I cannot plex a video from my phone to my tv....
yesterday, my dune died, and I am wondering if I should switch to some other hadware (med8er...) to get a native plex client....
(chrome cast and cheap client are not an option to me as my plex server is still a bit weak to transcode hd, thus I would like a REAL plex client, that run on a powerfull media box....(even if I admit plex's concept is more about "light client hardware"
in short: what is the most powerfull hardware I could connect to my tv completely supported by plex client software....
I guess mic mini would do the trick but it's a bit expensive....
does anyone know if a medx600 can run plex cleint and be seen by other plex clients as such?????
@zagon: I’m not familiar with any of the equipment you’ve mentioned except for the generic ‘i5 laptop’. “med8er”, “medx600”, “mic mini” are all unknown to me. Though I guess the last one could be a typo for “Mac Mini”.
However ANY real PC, capable of running x64 or x86 Windows or Ubuntu Linux (or a few others) can run “Plex Home Theater” (aka: PHT). This includes all HTPC variants capable of running such OS.
Your request is quite self-contradictory by the way, as you ask for “most powerful hardware” and then complain about expense.
Obviously the MOST powerful hardware will cost the MOST money too. So you will have to lower your requirements to lower the cost.
Personally I use PHT on all my normal PCs, and use various other clients on other hardware, including the RasPlex port of PHT for my ‘Raspberry Pi’ and the ‘Plex for Android’ client on phones, tablets and other Android-based equipment such as my OUYA console.
And it’s the Raspberry Pi with RasPlex that I use as my main media player for my living-room TV set.
The RPi itself is fairly cheap, but one also needs a case for it, a class10 SD card, some form of remote (I use a mini keyboard) as well as a good CPU of at least 1 Amp, so it all adds up to a cost of appx 2-3 times the cost of the RPi board. Eg: Here in Sweden an RPi board costs appx 350 SEK, and my full RasPlex setup costs appx 1000 SEK (currently appx 133 USD).
This little device would be pretty nice: It runs a version of raspbmc.. which naturally makes me wonder if rasplex could easily be ported to it. Full PHT in a little cheap box!
The specs indicate radical hardware differencies which probably rule out porting any software 'easily'. And since current RasPlex is specifically based on OpenELEC, an OpenELEC port would have to come first.
Don't get me wrong here, as I'm not saying it can't be done. Of course it can be. But it will not be done 'easily', and possibly not at all.
This is just one of MANY different new set-top boxes, most of which are more powerful than the original RPi. But NONE of them has achieved as widespread adoption by users, and that is the key to software availability. Porting of software from other platforms is only likely to happen if the target platform has a large user base. Or if it has a user base including dedicated developers willing to donate their free time on such projects.
