Tough i'm guessing you can go PlexBMC way, even if it is not full PHT it is actually usable sollution.
BTW I don't care about the price so much, say i'm looking for something in $300 range, that simply works - cec and everything, but just power on, no hastle. And there is just nothing, even rPi has its problems when it fails to boot up for no obvious reason after power outage etc. I looked at wintelbox Alienware alpha and again issues with CEC and keeping it simple stupid.
I guess it is hard as hell to build just working media (plex) box that just works as otherwise some would make and sell it for sure.
BTW i guess i would not have such high standards for it, but as i have job in tech i would like to just watch my show when i get home and don't need fiddle with things.
Tough i'm guessing you can go PlexBMC way, even if it is not full PHT it is actually usable sollution.
BTW I don't care about the price so much, say i'm looking for something in $300 range, that simply works - cec and everything, but just power on, no hastle. And there is just nothing, even rPi has its problems when it fails to boot up for no obvious reason after power outage etc. I looked at wintelbox Alienware alpha and again issues with CEC and keeping it simple stupid.
I guess it is hard as hell to build just working media (plex) box that just works as otherwise some would make and sell it for sure.
BTW i guess i would not have such high standards for it, but as i have job in tech i would like to just watch my show when i get home and don't need fiddle with things.
A budget of $300 gets you quite a lot. You could get a basic model Intel NUC with small internal SSD and 4GB memory. Install Openelec and PLEX HT on there, it seems to be under constant development but even right now is very usable and can be considered an "always on" set-top type Plex box. PHT with the Night theme is in my opinion the best tv interface out there for Plex. Openelec also supports Pulse8 HDMI-CEC right out of the box, so you can up a Pulse8 adapter for that integrated-into-my-tv feel. I use that adapter with a Windows 8.1 machine and it works flawlessly, you can even customise certain buttons.
Other than openelec you could install Linux, Windows or even Adnroid on there to increase your customisability and client options; Windows 8.1 Plex app perhaps? But I don't think you can go wrong with openelec, I was using it for years with XBMC and it was idiot proof.
And there aren't any problems with playing even bit exotic files like Hi10p on NUC platform? I actually came across few Hi10p videos and i hate when i finally decide to watch something when it does not play. My plex server should be capable to transcode on the fly, but that means client would need to tell server to transcode :)
Also i would be ok with spending more on box that can run steam games, but again it would need to be easily switchable between plex and steam and no windows trickery. So i guess that is impossible :) Having NUC for plex and then separate PC for steam seems like unnecessary spending to me, but i guess there is no way around it.
I even tried samsung TV with plex app, but ended up returning it, it bugged out in some way on 3 out of 5 videos i tried ("brand" anime release, scene release and some 1080p show - again from "reputable" group), so that is also no go for me.
So Intel NUC DN2820 is probably best under 300 (i need to also purchase some reasonable fast storage for it, ram and pulse eight adaptor) for dedicated plex only client.
So can someone actually confirm from experience that this with open elec can play 24p, does not crash, plays "everything" (hd audio, hi10p, standard x264 things, basic xvids and x265 in future) and still has responsive UI?
So Intel NUC DN2820 is probably best under 300 (i need to also purchase some reasonable fast storage for it, ram and pulse eight adaptor) for dedicated plex only client.
So can someone actually confirm from experience that this with open elec can play 24p, does not crash, plays "everything" (hd audio, hi10p, standard x264 things, basic xvids and x265 in future) and still has responsive UI?
24p will be fine but I can't speak for HD audio as I believe Linux has issues with these newer HD audio formats. Windows + PHT will have better support in that case.
Divx is definitely supported in PHT, also x264 and multiple containers (MP4, MKV, AVI etc), DTS, AC3 etc. As for x265 or hi10p I don't use them myself so I can't tell you.
The UI will be totally fluid on any NUC no matter what skin you use, or even if you're using Windows as the base OS. Openelec will have better performance though (boot time, hassle with updates etc).
I just found out there is client on ps4, so that may be nice solution. I know it is not PHT, byt PS4 should be able to make things smooth.
Playback should be pretty good but I believe there are some audio codecs not supported and will be transcoded by your server without putting too much strain on it.
Also, cinavia can be an issue on the PS3 and PS4 for content ripped from certain sources.
