Who Here Uses Plex ?

[LocoBlade]

A mate of mine always raved about Plex so I tried it maybe 3-4 years ago but really didn't get on with it. It seemed a bit hit and miss getting it to recognise the media format / file structure I had, and didn't have enough access control to restrict who could see what (no ability to set up separate kids profiles etc) so initially I gave up.

I've used Kodi since the XBMC days (originally on an actual XBox, then on a Pi which I still have) and as a single device pulling media from a SAMBA share it works really well, but as a multi device solution it seems to have distinct disadvantages compared to Plex (at least when I last looked) which is why I tried Plex again about 18 months ago and now love it.

I now run Plex server on my Windows server / NAS, wth a Roku on the main TV and the Samsung bedroom TV both using native apps and with no equivalent Kodi client available AFAIK. I've also put the client on my iPad and my two daughter's Android tablets with their own kids only profile, the nice thing about the mobile client is being able to set content to be cached on the device so the kids can watch stuff on car journeys or whilst on holiday etc, without needing a separate media player and having the faff of manually downloading files, and it also allows resuming play where you left off on another device. I don't think Kodi can do any of this either, at least not natively.

Edited by LocoBlade on Friday 1st July 18:55

[Allanv]

I use Plex like others on a HP micro server, never any issues with the built in TV DNLA app on the 2 LG TV's.

I can stream simultaneously from both 2 different or the same movie, the LG range does not seem to have a plex client in all fairness but my phone has the client so 3 simultaneous connections still work with 3 films.

The HP box runs VMWare 5.5 and the Plex server is Windows servers 2008 R2.

There are 4 others servers on that HP as it is also my test system so the Plex server is not getting the full installed 16GB but rather 6GB.

I do however download movies or backup our DVD collection, but have not tried any online streaming with it or the PRO options as the TV and the Virgin package usually fills that void.

[scottri]

Allanv said:

the LG range does not seem to have a plex client in all fairness

Some of the range does as my LG TV has it and its pretty good.

[neilus]

Been using it for just over a year on a Synology DS1815+, without any issues. As far as I can remember the installation was painless and the only the two pieces of configuration I had to do was to firstly tell it where my media was and secondly when I set up remote access.

The only issues I have with indexing is when there have been multiple films with the same name, it's sometimes picked the wrong one but that's easily corrected. It didn't have any issues with the Harry Potter films, all recognised as films.

There's a second or two delay when it first starts streaming to a client but after that no issues. I mainly stream to the client on my Samsung Smart TV but also to my iPad and occasionally iPhone.

Not sure why you have had so many issues as I've found it just works out-of-the-box.

[Paper Lawyer]

Running flawlessly on open media vault (ie. DIY NAS setup). Access via chromecast or via nowtv box (which I have sideloaded Plex onto)

[Allanv]

scottri said:

Allanv said:

the LG range does not seem to have a plex client in all fairness

Some of the range does as my LG TV has it and its pretty good.

Thank you, will hunt it down was it pre-loaded or did you have to get it from somewhere?

[scottri]

Allanv said:

Thank you, will hunt it down was it pre-loaded or did you have to get it from somewhere?

I just downloaded it from the built in app store. Before the official one was available there was a version created by someone else with the same plex image for about £3 - that worked OK as well.

[Allanv]

scottri said:

Allanv said:

Thank you, will hunt it down was it pre-loaded or did you have to get it from somewhere?

I just downloaded it from the built in app store. Before the official one was available there was a version created by someone else with the same plex image for about £3 - that worked OK as well.

Thank you.

[Corso Marche]

Feedback here would be the same as the typical internet consensus then ! I know now that for the use we give it I won't be touching Plex again for a long, long, time. We don't actually use the server functionality per se from anywhere remotely. But on a rare occasion where that need might arise I've our laptops and phones set to access the NAS through it's native app anyway, so that'll suffice as it's only been used to access one file remotely in the last six months.

Our principal need is an efficient cataloguer and player with a nice, clean user interface, and quick playback of the chosen material. So essentially a simple-and-quick-to-use set-top box rather than a full-blown server is what fits our needs.

I know there is no issue with file-naming conventions, as we used Videostream previously. The media sat on a Linux machine in another room and was accessed through the Videostream app on any Android device to hand and played back through a Chromecast on the TV.
Since getting the Shield a few months back (and Plex let me down for the second time) we've been using Archos Media Player with the Shield remote or a remote app on our phones.
Both Videostream and AVP read the media folders and files correctly, and AVP has catalogued everything correctly.
Before that (3 years ago), it was Kodi (or XBMC as it was at the time) on the same Linux laptop hooked up to a tv for playback. XBMC also read the catalogues correctly back then.
The filenames are fairly standard e.g. The Americans S01E01.mp4 etc
The directory structure is equally simplistic;
Movies
Music
Photos
TV Progs
Plex just seems to have fallen on its face so I'm out for another few years for now.

scottri said:

I love plex, it worked perfectly on my NAS/Server. I got the nvidia shield yesterday so i am letting that be the server and client as its more powerful. It took about 10 mins to set up and i was more than happy configuring it via laptop as it would have taken a lot longer using the remote on the shield. It did take a while to rebuild the database but that's not surprising as i have 3TB of files for it to crunch through and its all stored on the NAS. Its worked perfectly for me so far on the shield.

Always interested to hear how it goes for you. Keep us updated on how it performs over time, if you don't mind ! Thanks.

[maccas99]

Another happy Plex user here. I have Plex server running on a Shuttle PC with Win10. Media stored on a rack mount Synology and using the Plex player on the Roku 3 which goes through my Denon Receiver. All works seamlessly without issues.

Only problem is my Panny plasma just won't die! It's fast approaching 10 years old and I just can't justify a new 4k panel due to the Panny still working (1080p) and there not being much 4k content out there.

[tankplanker]

LocoBlade said:

A mate of mine always raved about Plex so I tried it maybe 3-4 years ago but really didn't get on with it. It seemed a bit hit and miss getting it to recognise the media format / file structure I had, and didn't have enough access control to restrict who could see what (no ability to set up separate kids profiles etc) so initially I gave up.

I've used Kodi since the XBMC days (originally on an actual XBox, then on a Pi which I still have) and as a single device pulling media from a SAMBA share it works really well, but as a multi device solution it seems to have distinct disadvantages compared to Plex (at least when I last looked) which is why I tried Plex again about 18 months ago and now love it.

I now run Plex server on my Windows server / NAS, wth a Roku on the main TV and the Samsung bedroom TV both using native apps and with no equivalent Kodi client available AFAIK. I've also put the client on my iPad and my two daughter's Android tablets with their own kids only profile, the nice thing about the mobile client is being able to set content to be cached on the device so the kids can watch stuff on car journeys or whilst on holiday etc, without needing a separate media player and having the faff of manually downloading files, and it also allows resuming play where you left off on another device. I don't think Kodi can do any of this either, at least not natively.

Edited by LocoBlade on Friday 1st July 18:55

Multi client is possible on Kodi but it requires a lot more work to setup as you need to setup a MySQL server, export the "master" SQL databases from the main Kodi client, update the config files for each of the Kodi clients but then you get shared progress between clients, single client can update the library, multi users, etc. I run a central Kodi instance on a VM on my NAS that is triggered to update the library when when stuff is downloaded. Moving files to mobile devices I use the Kodi remote, Yatse, as it does everything for me, including switching a film/show from TV to mobile device while I am actually watching something.

An alternate media server to Plex is Emby, and you can connect Kodi clients to the Emby server if you wish: https://emby.media/ Emby is based on Kodi and designed to be the backend for Kodi.

Who else is using download managers? I'm using Sonarr, get_iplayer, and couchpotato to manage everything for me, I just add a program and off it goes, removes all the pain of finding downloads, renaming and moving files myself.

It was a lot more work to setup but I find it much more powerful and a lot less hassle once it was all working.

[essayer]

scottri said:

I love plex, it worked perfectly on my NAS/Server. I got the nvidia shield yesterday so i am letting that be the server and client as its more powerful. It took about 10 mins to set up and i was more than happy configuring it via laptop as it would have taken a lot longer using the remote on the shield. It did take a while to rebuild the database but that's not surprising as i have 3TB of files for it to crunch through and its all stored on the NAS. Its worked perfectly for me so far on the shield.

How you getting on?

Tempted by the Shield, so I don't have to leave my PC on (the HP Microserver isn't powerful enough) .. are you using the 16GB version?

Presume you don't have to connect it to a TV if you'll be using Plex clients on those TV's..?

[Oakey]

I have Plex on my Gen 8 Microserver running Xpenology.

I used to be an avid Kodi user (since the XBMC days) having a HTPC plugged in downstairs to the main TV, unfortunately my toddler kept turning the HTPC on all the bloody time during the day so I killed the power on the PSU at the back of the HTPC which made it a ballache every time I wanted to watch a film and had to reach behind to turn it back on. In the end I started using Plex more and more through the TV's Plex client.

For those baffled as to why Plex keeps transcoding despite your media being compatible, you want to go in to the client's settings and change it to 'Direct Play' (I forget which menu it's in).

Also, I've never had many problems with Plex finding the metadata for stuff although it does seem to get confused if a film is named like 'Generic Film, The' as opposed to 'The Generic Film'.

[mp3manager]

All my Blu-rays are ripped to mkv on my NAS and Plex on my PC/PS3 and Amazon FireTV, won't play them due to the 'server is not powerful enough to transcode video' error.

So I run Kodi on my Amazon FireTV and they play just fine from my NAS.

So IMO Plex is just a load of whiny bks.

Edited by mp3manager on Monday 4th July 13:35

[maccas99]

tankplanker said:

ulti client is possible on Kodi but it requires a lot more work to setup as you need to setup a MySQL server, export the "master" SQL databases from the main Kodi client, update the config files for each of the Kodi clients but then you get shared progress between clients, single client can update the library, multi users, etc. I run a central Kodi instance on a VM on my NAS that is triggered to update the library when when stuff is downloaded. Moving files to mobile devices I use the Kodi remote, Yatse, as it does everything for me, including switching a film/show from TV to mobile device while I am actually watching something.

An alternate media server to Plex is Emby, and you can connect Kodi clients to the Emby server if you wish: https://emby.media/ Emby is based on Kodi and designed to be the backend for Kodi.

Who else is using download managers? I'm using Sonarr, get_iplayer, and couchpotato to manage everything for me, I just add a program and off it goes, removes all the pain of finding downloads, renaming and moving files myself.

It was a lot more work to setup but I find it much more powerful and a lot less hassle once it was all working.

I'm also using Sonarr and Couchpotato. I find Sonarr to be very good at it's job but Couchpotato is a bit hit and miss. What's get_iplayer? Any other alternatives to Couch?

[tankplanker]

maccas99 said:

I'm also using Sonarr and Couchpotato. I find Sonarr to be very good at it's job but Couchpotato is a bit hit and miss. What's get_iplayer? Any other alternatives to Couch?

Auto downloads from iPlayer, not quite as polished as Sonarr as some bits are easier from the command line but it does the job.

I found Couchpotato needed some real tweaking to block certain formats and languages but I haven't had to touch it since I did that.

[Oakey]

CouchPotato was the dogs danglies when NZBMatrix existed... these days... not so much

[maccas99]

Oakey said:

CouchPotato was the dogs danglies when NZBMatrix existed... these days... not so much

If you were to use a paid indexer and two usenet subscriptions then it covers all bases with no missing items.

[bodhi]

Another happy Plex user here, have it installed on my MicroServer G8 running Ubuntu Server. I find content can be quite slow to load when I use the app on my Bravia, but switching to the PS4 soon solves that, and content plays almost instantly. I use both Plex clients (PS4, Bravia, NowTV, PS3) and DLNA (MediaMonkey, Phone/Tablet etc) all without issue.

It can be a bit of a pain to update as you have to drop to the command line, and I can't find it in any of the usual Ubuntu repositories, but getting it manually seems to work OK.

Haven't tried Kodi to compare it to, but as Plex "just works" I'm not in any particular hurry.

[scottri]

essayer said:

How you getting on?

Tempted by the Shield, so I don't have to leave my PC on (the HP Microserver isn't powerful enough) .. are you using the 16GB version?

Presume you don't have to connect it to a TV if you'll be using Plex clients on those TV's..?

All good still, watched several films (15GB ish) each, 1080p DTS sound and all perfect. It did have a little moment with itself where it just showed a green box when i tried to play something but a quick restart and that went away. I have the 16GB version as i have all my media on the NAS so didnt see the need to pay for the 500GB version. I have not tested not having it plugged in but i cannot see why you'd need to (other than installing stuff in the first place) if you are just using the server functionality

I can record a quick video of how fast the client works if people are interested?
.