Plex, Kodi, Media Portal, Windows Media Center or what?

What media content application do you use?

  • Kodi

    Votes: 43 29.9%
  • Plex

    Votes: 68 47.2%
  • Media Portal

    Votes: 1 0.7%
  • Windows Media Center

    Votes: 24 16.7%
  • Apple TV

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Other

    Votes: 8 5.6%

  • Total voters
    144

ShepsCrook

[H]F Junkie
Joined
Feb 16, 2003
Messages
9,439
So I've been a long time user of XBMC into Kodi. However I'm starting to make the switch to Plex and was curious what other people are using.

My reasons for switching to Plex from Kodi:

Plex can cast to my Chromecasts
Plex on my tablets, phones, etc.
Picking up where you left off
Sharing of content

Current cons:
Limited Skins (all content applications seem to lack this)
The ability to play trailers from movie info seems to be hit or miss if it's available.
Library update can be slow (I think there's a setting to change this but I haven't looked).
 
I use plex for the same reason. Plex server handles all transcoding. The only major con for me is Chromecast transcodes dd 5.1 and dts audio streams. For ripped cable shows I don't care but for movies its a bigger deal.
 
Plex Pass. Love it. Runs on the server listed in my sig and all my content is available to ever device in my house and while we travel. For my main TV, I use a modified Chromebox running the new Plex Media Player. On the other TV's we use Rokus. The Chromebox is an amazing client box for pure Plex consumption. Way faster than the Roku 3.
 
i have been a windows media server guy from some time now. Im using Ceton and echo extenders. I love it.
 
plex all the way. Apple TV support, PS4, mobile, and stupid simple to use.
 
I was a long time WMC/HDHomeRun user on my HTPC. I am now in the process of getting rid of the HTPC and fully utilizing my XBOX1 with Plex running off of my media server. Much cleaner, less of a hassle setup as far as I am concerned. Add in the TV tuner to the XBOX1 with an OTA antenna and it is perfect.
 
Server running Plex, plex pass, Roku's. It's simple and it works extremely well.
 
I use WMC along with ServerWMC and Kodi. Works very well. Considering jumping to JRiver since they are working on adding copy once DRM support
 
"Switch" from Plex to Kodi? They aren't mutually exclusive. I use both, Plex on the server box that houses the files and Kodi on the HTPC. Plex is nice with the whole play your files anywhere thing.

Also have NextPVR sitting on the HTPC to do cable recordings.
 
Plex pass, Roku, iPAD, Android tablets/phones, and HTPC as extenders. Tried alternatives, and currently nothing comes close to what Plex offers me.
 
I like simple zero configuration auto discovery, stable, powerful and cheap. Love $4.69 BubbleUPnP Android app. Buy once and install on any number of Android devices. Can cast media from my phone to any remote device running BubbleUPnP or Chromecast on WLAN. Supports on the fly AC3 audio transcoding for Chromecast since it's not a supported codec. Windows 8.1/10 automatically discovers BubbleUPnP and can pull media from it (haven't figured out how to remote push to Windows 8.1/10 yet). On a $25 prepaid Moto G 2013 phone was able to push three video streams over WIFI to remote devices without issue.

Looking into getting this $37 Odroid C1+ SBC as a media server since it runs Android+Linux, has gigabit ethernet, eMMC storage, micro SD card slot and OTG storage support for optionally connecting a Samsung portable SSD.

http://www.hardkernel.com/main/products/prdt_info.php?g_code=G143703355573
 
Looking into getting this $37 Odroid C1+ SBC as a media server since it runs Android+Linux, has gigabit ethernet, eMMC storage, micro SD card slot and OTG storage support for optionally connecting a Samsung portable SSD.

http://www.hardkernel.com/main/products/prdt_info.php?g_code=G143703355573
Interesting products, they are like the guts of an Android TV-box. Bookmarked for further research, thank you.

Not sure how familiar you are with that product, but that one has the Amlogic S805 processor. There are other Amlogic products that have the slightly more capable S812 with 2GB ram onboard.

Just wanted to give you a heads up and here's a link to a comparison:

Chipset comparison: http://www.vipstech.com/industry-news/amlogic-s802-805-812-which-match-your-requirements.html
Link source: http://freaktab.com/forum/tv-player-support

Personally, i'm veering towards Intel's Braswell M-itx motherboard/cpu/gpu combo's, but some of this Amlogic stuff still looks interesting.
 
Last edited:
There are a lot of boards like this:

Pi Zero just released
C.H.I.P.
Banana Pi
etc.
 
"Switch" from Plex to Kodi? They aren't mutually exclusive. I use both, Plex on the server box that houses the files and Kodi on the HTPC. Plex is nice with the whole play your files anywhere thing.

This is what I do. My HTPC runs KODI while I run a Plex Server on my NAS for my laptop and phone. I normally use the latter for outside my home network.
 
Interesting products, they are like the guts of an Android TV-box. Bookmarked for further research, thank you.

Not sure how familiar you are with that product, but that one has the Amlogic S805 processor. There are other Amlogic products that have the slightly more capable S812 with 2GB ram onboard.

Just wanted to give you a heads up and here's a link to a comparison:

Chipset comparison: http://www.vipstech.com/industry-news/amlogic-s802-805-812-which-match-your-requirements.html
Link source: http://freaktab.com/forum/tv-player-support

Personally, i'm veering towards Intel's Braswell M-itx motherboard/cpu/gpu combo's, but some of this Amlogic stuff still looks interesting.

Thanks but I'm aware of other SoC offerings. When shopping for these SBCs you not only have to consider hardware but also software and support. Raspberry Pi probably has the best software and support but they don't offer Android and hardware doesn't have gigabit ethernet and the storage interfaces I'm looking for. Odroid is close second in software and support and does offer Android for running BubbleUPnP. There's also others like Banana Pi, Orange Pi, etc. with SATA interface but one might be gimped going through USB interface and support is questionable. For a fanless server that feeds multiple players the Odroid C1+ meets my needs the best and the price point is a no brainer. When I invest in 4K then I'll consider something more powerful like Shield TV or one of the beefier SBCs with SATA.
 
One thing I love about plex is the dirt easy idiot proof sharing so my dad access my media as well. Plus plex can be used for live tv. I get OTA via plex HDHR Viewer plugin. I even have guide info as well. Its not fancy, but I only use OTA for news, live sports, and specials but thats it. I get all my cable shows via newsgroups.
 
One thing I love about plex is the dirt easy idiot proof sharing so my dad access my media as well. Plus plex can be used for live tv. I get OTA via plex HDHR Viewer plugin. I even have guide info as well. Its not fancy, but I only use OTA for news, live sports, and specials but thats it. I get all my cable shows via newsgroups.


I share my Plex media with some of my family members also. However, I do not have any OTA setups yet. Are you able to share those with the same permissions when you're sharing your media or is that only available to devices within' your home?
 
I share my Plex media with some of my family members also. However, I do not have any OTA setups yet. Are you able to share those with the same permissions when you're sharing your media or is that only available to devices within' your home?

The aforementioned HDHR viewer shows up as a channel so any permissions you can apply to a channel you can apply to it.
 
"Switch" from Plex to Kodi? They aren't mutually exclusive. I use both, Plex on the server box that houses the files and Kodi on the HTPC. Plex is nice with the whole play your files anywhere thing.

Same. Synology and a QNAP running Plex, Apple TV and a Roku with Plex pass for the wife. Kodi in the living room reading the same data from the NAS, though it can read ISO and image folders unlike Plex. I'm way too lazy to convert and name that much media.

FreeNAS running Plex on DMZ for me while on the road and for my mom to access.
 
I've been slowly dropping KODI in favor of Plex just because it's so well rounded. I haven't loaded KODI on the HTPC in a few weeks now. Slowly extracting files since Plex wont play archived files (rar) and I've also been slowly renaming them to fix Plex's naming convention.

I think I will be uninstalling KODI in the very near future now.
 
I share my Plex media with some of my family members also. However, I do not have any OTA setups yet. Are you able to share those with the same permissions when you're sharing your media or is that only available to devices within' your home?
I am on the free non plex pass and I can not share the channels with others(Have not messed with it much) I do share my Movie library with several people.
 
Plex for me has been the easiest experience, it was decent on Linux but it was a bit more work keeping it running than I would have liked.
Just re-imaged the box to Windows and installed the Plex Server and it just worked, was great.
 
Too bad you can't choose multiple. Use WMC+MediaBrowser for PVR/HTPC/Server duties and run PMS on the same box to distribute to the rest of the place.
 
I use Kodi at home but for streaming to everything else I started using emby. Emby is soooo much better than plex. The HUGE problem I had with plex was that to use the most of my content I would have to rename all the files. You don't have to do that with emby. It plays all the major formats and can read any file name.
 
I use Kodi at home but for streaming to everything else I started using emby. Emby is soooo much better than plex. The HUGE problem I had with plex was that to use the most of my content I would have to rename all the files. You don't have to do that with emby. It plays all the major formats and can read any file name.

I have about a thousand movies and unknown amounts of TV shows. I've never had to rename a file for Plex to pull it in properly with the correct metadata.
 
I have about a thousand movies and unknown amounts of TV shows. I've never had to rename a file for Plex to pull it in properly with the correct metadata.

Well then you're lucky then. It took less research and install time of emby then it would be to rename all of my files for plex. If they are not in a easily absorbed naming format, Plex won't even recognize there is a file there. You can do a quick search on Google and find this is one of the major drawbacks of plex. Lots of anime and international films have this problem.
 
Too bad you can't choose multiple. Use WMC+MediaBrowser for PVR/HTPC/Server duties and run PMS on the same box to distribute to the rest of the place.

so WMC you use to record live TV and plex on clients in the house to consume it

can plex view live TV from a cable card?

I have been toying with silicon dusts HDHomerun DVR that I backed on kickstarter. the kodi addon works well... and i was thinking of going that route...
 
that is good to know...

too bad it is so hard to get live TV, DVR, Netflix, Amazon and iTunes content in 1 place :(
 
Been using WMC because of TV. If HDHomerun DVR works well with DRM and kodi I might switch.
 
I used to use WMC + Chromecast + BR player for all my media needs.

Now I use Tivo + Android TV + BR player.

My Logitech Harmony remotes have, and continue to make swithing inputs/devices virtually seamless.
 
Emby works well with Home Run devices. Been using Plex but started using Emby and have been quite pleased with it.
 
I use plex, works great and I share my media with family and my brother does the same with me. I need to look into this HD Homerun option to stream live TV, I feel that would be awesome if I could watch lives tv from my phone out on the go
 
I've seen where you can use plex with an HD Homerun box to view live tv.
You can but its not the same as WMC. Also you can't record live TV. Plus on top of this you will need to re-encode the live TV signals which you will want a decent Intel Core chip ( i5 4 cores)
 
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