I like the Canakit because of the black case, blends in well under the TV and would have a much higher WAF.
It seems that the Vilros is a slightly better deal though, not real sure about that though, or a different option altogether is better.
I would just be using it for a client, doing absolutely nothing else with it (unless it does not work out well, then it becomes a play box).
My media is a mix, no standard format. My Plex server is a 2012 Mac Mini.
Any recommendations. If I need to read more, please point me in the right direction.
A lot of things you don’t really need in either of the ‘kits’.
All you need really is:
RPi B2
Minimum 2A power supply
4Gb Class 10 MicroSD card
Cheap case (if you’re using CEC for remote then you can just pop the RPi around the back of the TV and don’t really need a case).
HDMI cable
If you’re intending to play high bitrate media don’t bother with WiFi (especially 150Mbps, too slow, 300Mbps is better) use Ethernet.
Any issues come back and we’ll try to help you out.
Just so I understand this, when I get my Pi, assemble it and get ready to use it, I download an installer from here: http://www.rasplex.com/get-started/rasplex-installers.html
and use the resulting MicroSD card (a SanDisk Class 10 8GB) in the Pi and it will have everything on it to run? It has the OS and RasPlex?
It boots into RasPlex and is ready to go?
@rsava said:
Just so I understand this, when I get my Pi, assemble it and get ready to use it, I download an installer from here: RasPlex Installers – RasPlex
and use the resulting MicroSD card (a SanDisk Class 10 8GB) in the Pi and it will have everything on it to run? It has the OS and RasPlex?
It boots into RasPlex and is ready to go?
The installer will write the RasPlex OS image to the SD card while plugged into your PC/Mac. Once placed in the Pi, on first boot RasPlex will run a partition resize operation so the whole size of your SD card is available to use in RasPlex. This can take a few minutes depending on the size of the SD card.
The system will then reboot automatically and you should see the “Plex for OpenELEC” splash screen followed by RasPlex splash screen and you’ll be presented with the first time setup menu, which is all self explanatory with the on screen instructions. After that you’ll get to the RasPlex (Plex HT) GUI and you can start exploring your library or tweaking preferences and such.
I recently just switched over from HTPC to Rasplex so some of this is still fresh in my mind. A couple of additional things that caused me a little frustration.
I bought my Rasplex bits as separates rather than as a kit since many of the kits included things I did not need.
I originally bought a Canakit 2.5A power supply from Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00MARDJZ4 however I had to send it back since it was resulting in the Rapberry Pi going into a reboot cycle. Reading the reviews a number of other people had similar issues with this supply even though it states it is 2.5A and suitable for the Pi 2.
As I have a Logitech Harmony Hub remote set up I wanted to have this control Rasplex rather than CEC. I therefore bought the Flirc IR adapter http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00BB0ETW8 Other than a couple of initial challenges on the configuration (my fault) it works very well.
For the case I originally bought a plan black plastic case but found it too light for what I needed and the cables would move the case around. I therefore switched to the Flirc case as it is a nice solid metal design http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00QB6F9I0 however there is no reason to not go for a metal case.
The biggest take away is how important the power supply and power supply cable are. If you have any issues that is the first place to look.
The metal case I went with (and my dad too after loving mine) is the “Tontec Premium Aluminum Alloy Metal Case”. I too didn’t opt for a “kit” and instead built my own as I wanted better options for the pieces than were being included in the kits.
