The HTPC / Media Streamer Thread

[FlameOn]

Originally Posted by psicodude

I have been using XBMC for quite a while now and mostly enjoy it. I see a lot of talk about Plex in this thread however, and am wondering if people prefer it and why. Or are you mostly using plex to stream to other devices?

I've used both and they are pretty similar for the most part (one being a fork of the other) but since I started running a Synology NAS I found it more convenient to customize XBMC and it was faster with SQL database sharing for my 3TB odd of media files for my whole house. Plex was much easier to set up for my 4 client distributed setup but there wasn't a build for my ARM based Synology NAS. Also Plex kept identifying movies and TV shows wrong and was charging money for the Android clients while XBMC wasn't. Guess your decision might involve what kind of clients you're using for your video streaming. Was there a specific feature you were looking for?

Good article from lifehacker, doesn't really help with the decision though.
http://lifehacker.com/5991757/should...ome-theater-pc

[psicodude]

Edit: (Some info about my current setup) I have a win 7 PC setup inside my storage room which connects via HDMI cable (Nvidia 220 card) to my Yamaha receiver. The receiver then connects via HDMI to my plasma TV. I have XBMC set to automatically startup on the PC in full screen mode. I control it with the iPad app called "constellation" (free and awesome).

The most important feature to me, is ease of use because my wife and kid need to be able to use it. Constant reboots, starting services, etc. are not really acceptable for me. My only issue with XBMC (and it's probably a PC issue) is that whenever I change inputs on my receiver away from the HTPC, it forget which sound "output" to use. It seems that when my HTPC doesn't have a direct connection to my TV, it switches the audio output to "speakers" as opposed to "HDMI", as it supposed to be.

Other than that, the ability to stream to a PS3 or Xbox would be nice, but I am strongly considering grabbing a Roku now.

[FlameOn]

If always on an always available are important to you then I recommend investing in a dedicated NAS to server your media. It's always on, lower power and will serve multiple devices simultaneously and potentially setup an automated downloader for your media.
Once set up correctly you have XBMC/Plex serving your entire house's media needs whether it's pictures, music, or movies. You might also want to look at XBMC's native wifi remote option, if it's on the same network your ipad/iphone/android phone now becomes your remote.

I think it's a receiver issue and not an XBMC specific thing for your sound output issue? Hm... a Roku huh? Have you considered an Ouya? @ $99 you can install XBMC/Plex on it and you have access to a library of games as well for the same price as the Roku. As for PS3/Xbox, I found them too limited in what it supported for media formats and display options without massive firmware hacking to get around the need to transcode. Even with transcoding there were performance issues playing 1080p MKVs. XBMC on my HTPCs spoiled me. :P

[Anduril]

Just wondering if there's a Hazel equivalent for Windows where I can automatically organize the various series I'm following into the proper folder I've already set up instead of having to do it manually.

[Rathji]

IFTTT? Heard about it but never used it. It is more Web based triggers, but I think I it could do what you are wanting

[FlameOn]

Sickbeard is really good for keeping series organized/consistently named. If you have a Usenet account it'll even do the downloading for you.

[jeep991]

Sorry for digging up a year old thread but I got excited about a new project I've got going. I just recently purchased a raspberry pi 2 and i'm going to use it as my always on Plex server, instead of having it on my laptop. I've managed to install the PMS onto the raspi, even though I'm a linux newbie. It wasn't too hard, just followed a guide I found online. The Plex page on the raspi looks just like the one on my pc, I was worried it might have been a bare bones version, but so far everything looks great. Now I'm on to figuring out how to mount my NAS to the raspi, but I'll worry about that this weekend.
The raspberry pi 2 is a sweet piece of tech. It's a tiny box that makes no noise while running and uses less juice than my laptop would (if I kept it on continuously as my plex server). All for about $80 plus tax.

[Hemi-Cuda]

Originally Posted by jeep991

Sorry for digging up a year old thread but I got excited about a new project I've got going. I just recently purchased a raspberry pi 2 and i'm going to use it as my always on Plex server, instead of having it on my laptop. I've managed to install the PMS onto the raspi, even though I'm a linux newbie. It wasn't too hard, just followed a guide I found online. The Plex page on the raspi looks just like the one on my pc, I was worried it might have been a bare bones version, but so far everything looks great. Now I'm on to figuring out how to mount my NAS to the raspi, but I'll worry about that this weekend.
The raspberry pi 2 is a sweet piece of tech. It's a tiny box that makes no noise while running and uses less juice than my laptop would (if I kept it on continuously as my plex server). All for about $80 plus tax.

Isn't the horsepower lacking quite a bit on the RP2 for things like Plex transcoding? What do you use for a viewing client?

[jeep991]

I don't know much about Plex transcoding but the site where I got the guide from says they've got it so that it will work. I'll let you know how it is once I figure out how to mount my NAS and can access some media. I'm going to use my android app to cast to my chromecast on the main tv to watch.