As the title says, what are the benefits to continue to use Plex.
After a SHTF situation this morning, I am needing reasons to keep using it as my primary from of consuming media…
For reference, I have been using some form of HTPC for watch 100% of my media since at least 08 (that is when I paid for SageTV). My media PC, is ONLY used for Media consumption and Plex is about the only thing running on it. Currently, I mostly watch at my desk (easily 90%). Sometimes via my Android Phone via Plex App (usually for music while driving, tho 50% of the time I use it, I am unable to connect to Plex - bad cell service issues) or on a in the bedroom TV via Roku App.
I have been using media servers for about the last 10 years… Plex i think since 2012 or 2013.
My photo library, mp3 library, and extensive movie and tv library.
I have worrked in IT for the last 32 years so know my way around servers and networks. I have had gig networking in my house for a number of years.
my plex currently runs on ubunto 18.10 with the media libraries. On 2012r2 shared out on nfs.
I ran windows media center until last november when i switched cable providers and finaly threw in the towel on wmc.
I have had some complaints about the user interface that are actualy being addressed.
My other gripes are minor…
I manage my own metadata using the xmbcnfo addins.
Frankly i have had few issues and overall think it has improved. My setup has been very stable with 6 family members usinng it; 2 samsunng tvs, 4 rokus, 2 plex Media players.
I use it becuase even with the few issues it has it still does basic media streaming simply and well for. Wide variety of platforms.
I am in a very similar position. I have worked IT for over 2 decades. I have setup, managed and maintained courthouse networks in the past.
For a long time I used SageTV running on a dedicated box running XP-7, then WHS2011 at the end, with my media saved on a separate unRaid storage box, which was upgraded several time thru the years. In fact, in 2012, I had Plex manually installed and running on my unRaid box for remote access to my media (paid $4.99 for the Android App). However, my experience with Plex then was not the best and I never used it. This setup drove 3 HD2000 extenders (Front Room, Bedroom, and Guest House in backyard). I LOVED this setup!!! It was stable and just worked amazing!! I had access to all my media, everywhere. About a year or so after Sage went defunct, this setup was replaced with WMC7 and MyMovies with Ceton Echo Extenders. I stopped using WMC when I moved back to CA from TX, where ComCast had all the channels marked copy once and sometimes copy never… My current setup is very simple compared to what I used in the past. Its just a single box running Plex with a couple HDDs in it. Its amazing the difference in file size going from full quality DVD / HDDVD / BD rips in MPEG2 vs watchable quality x264. What used to take up over 10tb now fits on under 4tb.
While I like the feature set Plex provides, after the SHTF moment I had with it, I no longer trust it to keep my media safe…
@loomdog32 - Probably the biggest reason to keep using it is that the other options are not fantastic.
Really the only other platform for you to try is Emby and that has some of it’s own issues. They are pretty responsive to issues and are in the forums answering questions but it is the same support setup as Plex - forums with the developer(s) and experienced users providing support. Unfortunately Emby has fewer of these.
I run both on one of my Plex machines, something you could think about to test. I know a number of users here have either run them both in tandem or switched over completely.
I understand your frustration but if your situation was common these forums would be filled with people as PO’d as you.
@loomdog32, I have always been impressed with the quality of the videos for so little effort. I have a 55" and at 58" HD TV… the majority of my movies are SD (standard DVD). maybe 5% are HD (1080p). Maybe it is my elderly eyes, the the standard DVD stuff looks just fine. HD give a little boost for stuff with lots of CGI or detail… But for most action movies (i like), HD does not really make that much of a difference.
I will probably stay with Plex until they go under :).
I am looking at your email regarding Plex deleting your movies… Apparently it did not… you had some issue where Plex lost contact with the storage.
Plex will not delete your media (outside of you runting on delete feature and you then manually deleting media 1 show at a time). Plex itself will never delete media.
Every time I have seen media ‘disappear’, it was a server, network or filesystem issue. not plex.
I have never lost media because of plex. My own errors outside of Plex, yes
All of my media is backed up. I am using a cloud backup service. for my MP3 and Photos, I also have multiple local backups too.
I have structured my media folders and metadata in such a way that if I lose plex I can plug in something in its place and keep going. Or reinstall plex and re-scan media (have done a couple of times)
I have always run Beta release of Plex. I have never had a major issue… Minor issues, I can just roll back to previous.
My only gripe about support, is the fact I PAID for the app. TWICE! (Android App back in 2012 and again for Plex Pass). Users should not be expected to fill support roles for a companys paid product, especially when the product says to use the forum for support.
Plex has been far from stable for me. But it has been about the only option that fits my needs so I’ve just dealt with it.
I am glad Plex is working for you! Its great when you find something that just works!!
As for as my issue, yes, the application attempted to delete the files as indicated in the logs. I have file permissions set to allow read and write, but not modify (which stops accidental deletion).
I also have my media backed up. This is standard best practices.
I’ve done OTA DVR/Media serving since the very early days of WMC on XP (2004/5?). Have tried every other HTPC system at various times - and didn’t like any of them. WMC passed the “family can use it” test - none of the others did.
Then, about 18 months ago, tried Plex. Totally different UI/UX to WMC obviously, but similar to the Netflix/Hulu generation.
Immediately paid for a lifetime pass, even before LiveTV/DVR was officially available. I’m a lifetime PlexPass’er.
Why?
Constant updates
Mainstream device support (TVs, Firestick, ApplyTV etc)
Effortless metadata
Ubiquitous media handling
Family approved
Does it have bugs and issues? Sure - one DVR issue especially, that is driving me nuts right now . However, I’m in software for a living, and this stuff, for what we pay, is very good in my opinion.
FWIW #1 - I assume I’ll be rebuilding my PMS regularly (I’m always tinkering). So, I have all media backed up weekly, on a $140 RAID/JBOD enclosure filled with old HDDs. This includes the Plex metadata.
Paying: Android app was 5 bucks… Plex pass, depending how you got it is $4 a month, or lifetime ($75 to $120). Not a lot of money in my opinion. My monthly HBO Now, costs a lot more. Maybe it is just me, but I dont find this very costly. And for better or worse, plex makes clear its support model.
As to your logs… you are misinterpreting them. If I add new media to a folder and plex is scanning, it will show as being added. If I delete data from a folder plex will show it as being deleted. Plex is NOT deleting it from the folder, it is deleting it from the LIBRAY INDEX it maintains.
If your plex server cannot reach the file system where you are storing your media, and it goes to scan it. It will show up in the logs as DELETES. it is NOT deleting anything from your file system, it is DELETEING IT FROM its INDEX.
you have some sort of a server/network/filesystem issue and need to troubleshoot that
EMBY pro - is a great alternative to use at home only within your network. For not having the premium version, I think it does better software transcoding than PLEX.
EMBY con - has the ability to play outside of your network and share with your friends but it’s very difficult to do. It does not work straight out of the box like PLEX does
PLEX pro - works fine in the house and outside the house. I like the ability to share with my friends easily out of the box and see the details of my PLEX (Dashboard) as users stream media such as bandwidth, CPU and RAM usages. Can setup home users for fast user switching. Supports many clients and has a Plex Media Player on the computer for free.
PLEX con - I have been very fortunate to not have any issues to where I needed to post on the forums for help. I have learned a lot on the PLEX forums and have been able to assist other users with their issues on similar setup that I have.
It’s still all preference but mostly personal experience.
They’re both great generally.
Perceptions can vary greatly though.
In the last day or two I have seen posts here on these forums including “as soon as Emby get there garbage h/w transcoding sorted I’m outta here”
Meanwhile on Reddit and such places there are posts saying similar but even more that say anything between h/w transcoding in Emby is far better… all the way through to Emby’s far superior h/w transcoding is the reason they switched.
I guess there’s no right or wrong just personal experience.
For me Emby is better, right now, than Plex. That has happened mainly because Plex has focused on things, like live TV and playing online sources, that I have little or no use for.
Emby also has live TV but them do not seem to be spending as much time developing it.
The other HUGE advantage of Emby for me is the responsiveness of the developers. I have asked questions of and made suggestions to Plex and about half go unanswered while with Emby every single question and suggestion has been answered. They sometimes answer NO or they say that the behavior is expected but they always, so far without exception, have answered.
I use Emby now 99.9% of the time for playing my media but I keep a Plex server active just in case and to keep a server active for testing.
I agree with everything you’ve said but don’t think Emby will overtake Plex for awhile.
I’m assuming the poster I responed to mesnt overtake as in more users. Maybe not.
I’m pretty sure he didn’t.
He does tend to drop in for a day or two, every few months then that’s it’s for a few months more.
Nothing wrong with that and both Plex and Emby both have their merits.
It’s all about if what one does better than the other is important to an individual.
I really like how Emby handles Live TV and DVR functions. We are using two HDHomerun Primes that have three tuners each. It was a breeze to setup in Emby. The program guide info populated very quickly. I am using Emby solely for Live TV and DVR right now and it is impressive. I can’t tell you how refreshing it is to be able to watch a program that is being recorded from the beginning and be able to scan forwards and backwards without it locking up or freezing. I used the default selections when setting it up. Emby appears to be having no conflicts utilizing all six tuners as well. Emby has a lot of customization options available, but it is not intuitive. I need to do some investigating before getting it tweaked to my liking. I will be keeping Plex to serve up the rest of my media as I really like how Plex does that.
