Been using Plex DVR for over year now.
It is incredibly unreliable, creates terrible media files and it still does not have a reasonable feature/functionality set.
It is still a train wreck with no light at the end of the tunnel for getting fixed.
Plex was running the free month during the NCAA Basketball playoffs, so Iām back until I decide that paying for the privilege of being a beta tester of the Live TV & DVR feature of Plex is not something I feel is worth it.
This time, Iāve a dedicated system to test Plex on, with a dedicated HD HomeRun Prime as itās source tuners.
(The wife approved Windows Media Center is unscathed in this experiment, except that the WMC system is now running off of the 2nd HD HomeRun Prime, and after renting a 3rd Cable Card from Frontier FIOS, I dusted off a Ceton InfiniTV 4 PCIe card and put it in the WMC PC. The wife got an extra tuner out of the deal for her WMC system:) )
Iād of preferred to have left the two HDHR Primes in use by WMC, and used the four tuner Ceton InfiniTV 4 PCIe card for my BETA testing of Plexās Live TV & DVR featuresā¦ but, guess thatās not an option.
Better yet, It would of been nice to offer up all 10 tuners on the network to be used by WMC and PLEX, but from what I read, PLEX doesnāt like sharing tuners with other DVRsā¦ so Iāll keep them segregated for now.
After re-reading all the comments in this threadā¦ Iām thinking I might be embarking back on a adventure that will not turn out well.
Off to figure out why closed captioning is not working for the movies and shows I recorded as a test last nightā¦
SJ
With Window Media Center, I record a movie, I watch the movie, I select closed Closed Captions, text appears and itās synced up with the audio.
With Plex, I record a movie, I setup Sub-Zero Subtitles to download an SRT file from OpenSubtitles, I watch the movie, and the audio is 53 seconds ahead of the Subtitles / Closed Captions.
Iām assuming my carrier is broadcasting Closed Captions, and Windows Media Center is using them.
Is plex able to do the same? Use the embed Closed Captions, rather than rely upon a downloaded SRT file? I saw an option to do this in Sub-Zero Subtitles Plug In settings:
āAutomatically extract and use embeded subtitles upon media addition (with configured default mods)ā
How do I know where Plex / Sub-Zero Subtitles is pulling subtitles from? There are quite a few options in Sub-Zero Subtitlesās settings.
SJ
I posted the āpollā Nov 2017, and have enjoyed the feedback others have provided. Apparently Iām not the only one frustrated with Plex.
Interesting that Iāve not seen a Plex Ninja or Plex Employee comment in this thread.
My question to Plexā¦ is, have any of you ever used Windows Media Center on Windows 7 as your daily driver for DVR services in your home with a significant other that is not so tech savy, using the product?
I am still amazed at some the the basic features that are missing from Plex, that work so well in that old discarded Windows Media Center that I just want to leave, but canātā¦ because Plex canāt currently provide the same feature set or readability as I have now with this tired old Windows Media Center.
And you want me to continue to pay you for the privilege to beta test your live tv/dvr features? As before, Iāll most likely have to let my monthly plex pass expire, as I canāt justify paying for a subpar product.
WMC is set and forget, it works.
Plex is far from that.
Iāll dip back in here in a year or soā¦ perhaps all will be well thenā¦ and then Iāll be happy to pay for a working product.
I didnāt want to, but I guess Iāll go check out Silicon Dustās DVR product.
SJ
I am running Plex DVR in parallel with my Tivo Bolt. Bolt is great, but if I am paying $150 a year for service it should have more streaming apps. The lack of streaming apps is ridiculous. What is there are the big names and many useless apps.
I used Windows Media Center as my main DVR for years and loved it. I quit when MS decided to dump it. What I cannot understand is why all these companies are trying to develop their own DVR software (still inferior to 10 year old WMC). Hasnāt anyone tried to buy the rights to the WMC software to springboard in to having their own DVR?
I like Plex. It is comprehensive and feature rich. What I question is development priorities. Plex DVR has been marketed for quite a while now while most of the client apps donāt even allow you to set a recording. Why would you develop anything else for Plex DVR unless your apps could, uh, DVR?
Second to that and probably a personal preference is app interface. Busy and unattractive. Take a look at Kodi and your mouth will water. I know I can plug in Plex to Kodi. Then I have yet another piece of software to manage that cannot be loaded on Roku.
Bring me the basics- 1- All apps can set recordings 2- A true programming grid. There are many other things that I would like, but these two things would go a long way toward me making the final switch.
Plex is still too unreliable for me. I continue to experience random early cancellations of recordings in progress. Consequently, I still run a Windows 8.1 Pro VM with WMC as a backup DVR (they are configured to use separate tuners so no tuner conflicts). Itās too bad, because I like certain aspects of Plex DVR.
@Silversee said:
Plex is still too unreliable for me.
I am still running Plex in parallel with the Tivo, so I am not really relying on it yet. I may be having the same reliability issues and donāt know it.
After years of working with Media Center and Tivo I see Plex DVR as being very different in how it works. I think it shows that Plexās background is in media organization. Tivo / WMC show all your TV recordings in a single location regardless of whether it is a movie or a TV show. Upon recording completion Plex immediately separates the two and loads them in their corresponding libraries. Makes sense for archiving media, but not as convenient for accessing shows you have recorded. More button clicks.
Here is how I see what it needs in order of priority. Like I said above, give me the basics. I donāt really care if I can access my DVR content on the international space station if I cannot set a recording or I cannot count on it actually being recorded.
- Get it stable and reliable
- Give all clients the ability to set recordings
- Need a real programming guide grid. I know about the copy rights etc, but the workarounds are just that, a workaroundā¦
- Work on the āpresentationā of the recorded material on the DVR clients. Something more than a visual display of all the CD cartons. That works fine for media organization, but a DVR presents that in a more pleasing way. WMC, Tivo, and Kodi should be examined closely.
Plex programmers appear to be working feverishly on it. I will hang on for a while longer.
For anyone still struggling with this, I suggest that you check out Channels DVR (https://getchannels.com). It is light years ahead of anything else out there. The DVR back end runs on virtually anything - I am running it in Docker on UNRAID right now. The front end client is available for Apple TV, Android TV (Shield, which I use), and also works through the web. I switched to it and havenāt looked back.
The ONLY drawback right now is that it costs $25 for the app and then itās an $8 a month fee for basically guide data. Great product, fantastic support from the 2 developers, too.
If you have protected content I suggest the HDHR DVR you can watch and time shift protected content on Windows 10 and IOS. No recording of protected content yet but recording of not protected content is also available.
I am working with unprotected content only. All mine is OTA via antenna.
While I purchased a Plex Pass I also purchased a year of HDHomerun DVR. Live TV loads faster than Plex. Picture quality appears the same or better. More simple to get to your recordings as compared to Plex. On the con side, does not trim commercials, and no real automatic maintenance of recorded material. It just keeps recording and recording shows that do not delete unless done manually.
The main thing I want from my DVR software is that it records what I want ā¦ the HDHomerun DVR has never failed me it has recorded everything I have wanted ā¦ While PLEX has a nice qui and nice presentation of recorded content it does not always record what I want or release tuners when it fails. Currently I am using KODI with the HDHomeRun Unofficial DVR addon and PlexKodiConnect. Plex is my preferred media serverā¦ not my preferred DVR.
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Well I have a Lifetime Plex Pass so there is that,ā¦
Still, to address the question posed by the thread:
āPLEX ready to replace Windows Media Center?ā
Short answer,ā¦āNoā.
As I have stated before, I really need to take a look at NextPVR, Emby and Kodi. Plex DVR unfortunately falls short of the mark in a number of key ways.
@Octavean said:
Well I have a Lifetime Plex Pass so there is that,ā¦
Same here. I am someone who normally studies something to death before making a purchase. I thought I did here as well, but I really missed the boat with regard to the state of readiness of the DVR. No fault of Plex. I should have opted to buy a 1 month Plex Pass to see what it was all about.
So, now I have a Lifetime Plex Pass for a DVR I donāt think will work for the āwife factorā. My original plan was to just purchase a Tablo TV DVR for a simple replacement. The load times for the shows turned me off. I then looked at HDHomerun DVR. Close to Tablo in simplicity, but no channel guide grid and no lifetime pass available for guide data ( I hate monthly fees) and would not work on Roku. Then came Plex. Works on everything and I also can create a media server for all my own content. And, there is a Lifetime Plex Pass. How could I lose?
In reflection, I wished I had stayed with my original plan for simplicity with the Tablo. Trying to instruct my wife on how to find her soap opera on the Plex guide data when she is used to just using the grid from Tivo or WMC just isnāt worth it.
I may still just buy a Tablo and chalk this up to one of my many mistakes.
Have you looked at emby? Setup is a little more involved than plex, you can buy their lifetime service forget the cost, you can setup a grid guide after setup easy to use, I run one in parallel with plex to decide what I will eventually stay with.
@rljnc said:
Have you looked at emby?
Played with Emby several years ago. At this point I think I am not going to put in anymore time in media servers. All I needed to replace was my DVR and somehow I ended up building a media server. I am going to continue to use Plex so i give it a good shot. Especially since I already spent the money on a lifetime plex pass. If development does not match my needs I will move on to the Tablo.
