epike Posted January 8, 2017 Share Posted January 8, 2017 Ok, last question :). What do you recommend for inexpensively playing movies stored on a NAS? I'm intrigued by Plex via Roku with the Chowmain Plex Full driver but I haven't used Plex before and I'm not sure how this would stack up to other options. The primary goal is something is easy enough for anyone to use. Thanks! epike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cyknight Posted January 8, 2017 Share Posted January 8, 2017 2 hours ago, epike said: Ok, last question :). What do you recommend for inexpensively playing movies stored on a NAS? I'm intrigued by Plex via Roku with the Chowmain Plex Full driver but I haven't used Plex before and I'm not sure how this would stack up to other options. The primary goal is something is easy enough for anyone to use. Thanks! epike Kodi on an Android TV using Chowmain driver Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duck_man Posted January 8, 2017 Share Posted January 8, 2017 I second the Android box with Kodi and Chowmain driver. Cheap box, lots of functionality. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Leeds UK Posted January 8, 2017 Share Posted January 8, 2017 Kodi is a great option or you can use a Popcorn Hour/ Dune, Mymovies software (mymovies.dk). We run both (Upstairs and downstairs) still like the look and feel of my movies (software) on the GUI Photo below is of the C4 GUI when using my movies software Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ekohn00 Posted January 8, 2017 Share Posted January 8, 2017 I might be in the minority, but we like the Apple TV with Plex. We even threw the aTV in our backyard and stream plex over wifi. It's so simple to use, the kids don't spend a lot of time doing tech support with my wife. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jcmiro Posted January 8, 2017 Share Posted January 8, 2017 Plex by far is the best and most flexible IMHO. I share the server with my other homes thousands of miles away and it's flawless. Must have good bandwidth on both sides. Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N920A using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
epike Posted January 8, 2017 Author Share Posted January 8, 2017 I'd love to hear more thoughts on the pros/cons of Plex vs Kodi! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Leeds UK Posted January 8, 2017 Share Posted January 8, 2017 Can plex play iso files ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jcmiro Posted January 10, 2017 Share Posted January 10, 2017 Yes it plays iso files. I have kodi and I have plex. I prefer to keep plex outsider of kodi until plexconnect gets better. Kodi has so many options if your open to less legal options. Plex server and player is smoother and well thought out for local video file organization. Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N920A using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanchow Posted January 10, 2017 Share Posted January 10, 2017 Plex does not play ISO files. Kodi does however play ISOs. Note Kodi doesn't do BD menu's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cyknight Posted January 10, 2017 Share Posted January 10, 2017 2 hours ago, alanchow said: Plex does not play ISO files. Kodi does however play ISOs. Note Kodi doesn't do BD menu's. And here's why I still don't use either personally. Plex is fine in many ways, but no ISO is a complete no go for me, KODI is more plug and play so to speak (just point at a NAS and go) but no BD menu kills it for me.... As an inexpensive option with great drivers, reliability and ease of install. maintenance and use I suggest KODI to anyone capable of handling their own movies. There's better options out there, including just having a NAS and a Dune player and just using C4's native interface (without MyMovies - assuming you're willing to spend that initial time creating your catalogue), but for ease it's so hard to beat right now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanchow Posted January 10, 2017 Share Posted January 10, 2017 2 minutes ago, Cyknight said: And here's why I still don't use either personally. Plex is fine in many ways, but no ISO is a complete no go for me, KODI is more plug and play so to speak (just point at a NAS and go) but no BD menu kills it for me.... As an inexpensive option with great drivers, reliability and ease of install. maintenance and use I suggest KODI to anyone capable of handling their own movies. There's better options out there, including just having a NAS and a Dune player and just using C4's native interface (without MyMovies - assuming you're willing to spend that initial time creating your catalogue), but for ease it's so hard to beat right now. In my opinion the easiest solution for media is definitely Kaleidescape but it is also the most expensive. I would definitely recommend it as a solution for those who are not tech savvy and want a solution that works and offers the best experience. http://www.chowmain.co.nz/kaleidescape Personally for me though i love Kodi. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cyknight Posted January 10, 2017 Share Posted January 10, 2017 4 minutes ago, alanchow said: In my opinion the easiest solution for media is definitely Kaleidescape but it is also the most expensive. I would definitely recommend it as a solution for those who are not tech savvy and want a solution that works and offers the best experience. http://www.chowmain.co.nz/kaleidescape Personally for me though i love Kodi. Yup, still unsure on the future of KScape, but it's pretty much the BEST option out there for those that 'just want their movies' without hassle - provided you have to money to spend. KODI is great, and the driver you created is fantastic - I may still add it in one of these days if just for the TV series I have for easier browsing (ie have both my 'normal' movies via C4 and Dune player and 'series' via KODI). No Bluray Menu is just not an option for me though - kids love the mini movies, gag reals and sometimes the games included in many movies. Ah never enough time Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
epike Posted January 10, 2017 Author Share Posted January 10, 2017 Great info guys! Much appreciated. I was leaning toward Plex (I'm not quite sure why), but this is making me think twice about Kodi with Alan's driver. Cyknight and Alan - why do you prefer Kodi over Plex? What is the preferred device for Kodi? I currently have a relatively small collection in iso and I do like the menus. But I would give that up if necessary. I'm tech savvy but time is in limited supply. I just need a setup that works, that requires little of my time to add new movies and is simple enough for anyone in the family to find and watch what they want using C4 without me around to provide tech support. I'm not interested features other than movie/TV series play back. Thanks again! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanchow Posted January 10, 2017 Share Posted January 10, 2017 1 hour ago, epike said: Great info guys! Much appreciated. I was leaning toward Plex (I'm not quite sure why), but this is making me think twice about Kodi with Alan's driver. Cyknight and Alan - why do you prefer Kodi over Plex? What is the preferred device for Kodi? I currently have a relatively small collection in iso and I do like the menus. But I would give that up if necessary. I'm tech savvy but time is in limited supply. I just need a setup that works, that requires little of my time to add new movies and is simple enough for anyone in the family to find and watch what they want using C4 without me around to provide tech support. I'm not interested features other than movie/TV series play back. Thanks again! Plex requires a relatively powerful server (i3 and upwards NAS, PC) and clients. Kodi does not require a server as the client does everything. For a single player setup Kodi would be the better solution. There are quite alot of devices which you can install Kodi on. If you want the best experience (in my opinion) go for an intel nuc i3/i5 with openelec. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cyknight Posted January 10, 2017 Share Posted January 10, 2017 9 hours ago, alanchow said: Plex requires a relatively powerful server (i3 and upwards NAS, PC) and clients. Kodi does not require a server as the client does everything THIS is the reason KODI is just easier to deal with than PLEX. Maintaining a Plex server is peanuts for any half-way decent 'techie' - but it's still more work. Plus, any server using PLEX is more or less by default going to simply cost more than an otherwise equal NAS you can use with KODI. While I wouldn't directly go against Alan's recommendation for device (he made and maintains the driver after all) - personally the best I've seen so far is a NVidia Shield to run KODI - but it's a relatively expensive option. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuart England Posted January 10, 2017 Share Posted January 10, 2017 I used to be an avid kodi (XBMC) fan but have moved over to Plex exclusively over the years. Plex support is as wide spread as Kodi these days and it gives you the added benefit of being able to easily cache shows/movies onto your iPad in preparation for a road trip/flight - a task that is substantially more difficult with Kodi. You could even create separate libraries for kid safe material, give your kids their own username and only allow them access your kid safe content on their tablets etc. If you have more than one home you can stream content across them - we often take an Amazon TV with us on holiday and stream anything in our library to our holiday destination. If you have friends who run Plex you can share libraries. The only issue that I had with Plex over Kodi is the requirements for a powerful transcoding platform. I ran a Synology NAS for a while with a Nuc doing the transcoding (Synology NAS - except the really expensive ones are not powerful enough) but even though this is a relatively light setup it was still more problematic than not having to have this middle man. I built myself a NAS running a hacked copy of the Synology DS software (which has plex server apps) and now run plex on the NAS itself and have not looked back.. its solid and fast and gives the additional benefit of being able to run docker containers for any other bits and bobs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cyknight Posted January 10, 2017 Share Posted January 10, 2017 Yes, Plex allows you to do a lot of 'illegal' stuff as well Understand that no-one is saying there's anything wrong with Plex, just that for a 'cheap' option KODI tends to pan out better - plus it's easier to setup and maintain (as per your own post). PS if you ARE looking into Plex, my advise would be to look at building a FreeNAS server - it has a Plex server jail. All fully supported, no 'hacking'. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
epike Posted January 11, 2017 Author Share Posted January 11, 2017 I will be needing 3 - 4 separate streamers, as we aren't using a matrix. I already have 2 Roku Ultras. So I would just need to buy one or 2 more Rokus and a Qnap TVS471 with i3 ($1,000) or build a FreeNAS for Plex. I'm leaning toward the Qnap based on simplicity/time. I'd need 3 - 4 Nucs or Shields and a basic QNAP or Synology NAS. The rough math seems about the same for my particular situation and therefore unfortunately doesn't help with the decision. Would I need to buy a single instance of Alan's Plex or Kodi driver for my entire system, or a separate license for each streamer/C4 controller/NAS/TV etc? In other words, what dictates the number of required licenses? Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanchow Posted January 11, 2017 Share Posted January 11, 2017 3 hours ago, epike said: I will be needing 3 - 4 separate streamers, as we aren't using a matrix. I already have 2 Roku Ultras. So I would just need to buy one or 2 more Rokus and a Qnap TVS471 with i3 ($1,000) or build a FreeNAS for Plex. I'm leaning toward the Qnap based on simplicity/time. I'd need 3 - 4 Nucs or Shields and a basic QNAP or Synology NAS. The rough math seems about the same for my particular situation and therefore unfortunately doesn't help with the decision. Would I need to buy a single instance of Alan's Plex or Kodi driver for my entire system, or a separate license for each streamer/C4 controller/NAS/TV etc? In other words, what dictates the number of required licenses? Thanks! All of our licences are site licences. You can use it as many times as you want in the one project. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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