I know that this topic has been discussed in a number of threads, but wanted to consolidate various different options and get your viewpoints on what to do.

 

Scenario:

- UnRaid box with media in user shares (TV, Movies-DVD, Movies-BluRay)

- Macbook Pro with Plex v.9 installed (runs 24/7)

- 46" LCD TV with HDMI inputs (1080p)

 

What I want:

To attach a permanent fixture to my TV to allow me to stream content from the UnRaid box.  As the laptop is on 24/7, having the media served through it is ok, although would prefer not.

 

Options:

- Mac Mini ($600-ish) - Benefits: can run the Plex server locally and free up my Macbook pro; can surf etc.  Cons: price

- AppleTV2 ($99) - Benefits: runs of the local Plex library; AppleTV is pretty cool; cheap.  Cons: needs jailbreaking

- LG SmartBox ($130-ish) - Benefits: custom made for viewing Plex on TV.  Cons: Prob bad interface, not currently available, restricted feature-set

- HPTC ($?) - Benefits: cheaper than Mac Mini; run XMBC; can surf etc..  Cons: Separate library from Plex; can't actually run Plex player

 

Are there any other options?  What do you think is the best option?  I'm thinking the AppleTV2 looks pretty appealing, I just wish there was a AppleTV App Store which Plex could be properly installed through.

 

Thank you for any thoughts

I'm borrowing a WD TV Live and it's a great alternative to an HTPC. Mine currently just sits there with five disks spinning 24/7. It's overkill for playing videos. BU (before unRAID), it was good for extra storage. But now the contents of those disks are on the server. I enabled sharing on my optical drive so I can still view all of my European bootleg concert videos in PAL format.

 

The upside is I'll have another system that I can try and install unRAID on.

 

I surf from the laptop when I need to.

  I have a Mac in one room running Plex and a ZBOX hooked up to my TV in the living room running XBMC and I couldn't be happier...Well maybe if I could get Plex on the ZBOX.  Anyway, what do you mean by a seperate library from Plex?  I have both Plex and XBMC pointed to the same files on my unRaid and everything works the way it should.

  I also have an ATV2 but it never really gets used.  Apple just updated the iOS and it's currently in the works of being jailbroken.  As of yesterday (30mar) I saw they had a tethered boot which might not be so bad for you since you have the MacBook right there but wasn't an option for me.  Usually once the ATV gets jailbroken you have a window of a few weeks to jailbreak yours before Apple puts out a patch.  As far as price goes, the ATV2 is very cost effective, and simple to use. 

  I know Plex is incredibly polished and I saw a poll on the Plex forums some time ago asking what people wanted to see as their next project (I'm pretty sure unRaid won) so it's only a matter of time until they manage to incorparate it.  *shrug* Keep your fingers crossed! I'm anxious for it, but until then, I'll stick with my cheap ZBOX running XBMC. 

Boxee Box.

http://www.popcornhour.com/

I'm pondering the same question...

I was going to build an HTPC and throw xbmc live on it, but then ATV2 came out, and it looks like a good path. Cheap, and appliance-like (once jailbroken). I tried the Boxee Box when it came out, but sent it back, I wasn't happy with it.

http://www.popcornhour.com/

 

+1.  Great community at http://networkedmediatank.com -- much like this place

Anyway, what do you mean by a seperate library from Plex? 

 

I mean that the XBMC system wouldn't be able to access Plex Media Server (PMS) library file - so this requires the maintenance of 2 separate "library" files, containing all the metadata (I appreciate they all point to the same underlying files of course).  Just would be neater to have one library (PMS) that all devices would work with.

 

I guess I could look at XMBC for my Mac... but I'm just really happy with Plex and am loathed to change from it.

Anyway, what do you mean by a seperate library from Plex? 

 

I mean that the XBMC system wouldn't be able to access Plex Media Server (PMS) library file - so this requires the maintenance of 2 separate "library" files, containing all the metadata (I appreciate they all point to the same underlying files of course).  Just would be neater to have one library (PMS) that all devices would work with.

 

I guess I could look at XMBC for my Mac... but I'm just really happy with Plex and am loathed to change from it.

There is a plug-in for XBMC that allows access to Plex PMS. I think it is called PleXBMC. Look it up in the Plex Media server plugin  forum section.

I use a Mac mini to connected to my tv and it works great, it's on 24/7. My atv2 is connected to my tv upstairs and it works great with plex but I don't think you can install PMS on it

I'm also very happy with my Mac Mini but another downside is that they can't handle HD Audio (hardware limitation).  XBMC doesn't yet either but if you buy the right hardware then I think they will have it ready "soon".

 

Popcorn Hour seems to tick all the boxes for many people.

Popcorn Hour does seem very nice, albeit a bit pricier than an Apple TV 2.  But offsetting that is the jailbreak which will be a nuisance for the life of the box, or until Apple let you install apps on the device.

 

Can someone tell me how attractive and user friendly the interface is for Popcorn Hour?  Would be particularly grateful of any comparison between PH and Plex on ATV2.

 

Does it pull metadata well and accurately for your movies/ TV?

 

Does it show TV shows in a similar way to Plex (by season etc.)?

I googled popcorn hour screenshot and got a few results.

 

 

I use a Playstation 3 at each of my TV's (2).  I run PS3 Mediaserver on my unRAID box and it more than serves its' purpose.  The scaler in the Ps3 cannot be beat in my opinion.

 

Kryspy

I have two Dune D1's and they work great.  I use Zappiti (www.zappiti.com) as the media jukebox and it is awesome.  Plays every file I can throw at it, bitstreams or decodes to PCM Dolby TrueHD and DTS MA, and it plays bluray iso files with full menu support.  The Netgear Neotv and the newer popcorn hours also play bluray isos with full menu support.

A Zbox HTPC can be assembled for less than $300.

Another item you may want to consider about the ATV2 is the fact that it currently only outputs 720p.  It can handle 1080p content, but it only sends out a 720p signal.  Seeing if it will output 1080p isn't currently a priority.  Not sure if this will be an issue.  On the positive side, the recent jailbreak a day or 2 ago now allows for untethered jailbreak on 4.3.1!

 

I currently am running a first gen Intel Mac Mini (upgraded CPU to 2.0 Core 2 Duo) with a CrystalHD card in place of the wi-fi card.  This setup works great for me on my Bluray / HD-DVD rips, but only with XBMC.  Plex has not plans to support CrystalHD (as far as the last time I checked).  I have a DVI->HDMI cable for the signal to the TV.

 

Also, a lot of people have been very pleased with the Acer Revo's, but again, this is with XBMC, not Plex.

Living Room - XBMC On Dual Core AsRock ION 330 Over clocked to 2GHZ (Sexy Interface) $300

Guest Room - Western Digital Live Plus (Text Looking, but plays well) $119

Office - Western Digital Live Plus (Text Looking, but plays well) $119

 

Of course all 3 of them can stream at the sametime via my mostly Gigabit network on my Budget Build I have in my signature.

 

Viva La unRAID Resolution ....................

Alright, so i'm going to build my first unRAID server sometime in the next week or so whenever I am done with my back and forths about parts.

 

I have spent the past week or so reading everything i could on these amazing forums. Now I am looking at what options i will have for media streaming and figured this was the best place to ask some questions. 

 

Let me tell you a bit about what i have available and then if you guys would be so kind to give me your recommendations, that would be awesome.

 

I have a 40" Samsung LCD which supports DLNA.

Xbox 360 and PS3.

 

I originally used the Xbox and PS3 to stream to which worked great until i started on 720p and 1080p content. This caused problems with bitrates being higher than my network could stream and others. Once i got the new TV (LN40C630), it had the ability to play natively from a USB drive. So i started putting content onto a portable drive and watching wih it directly attached to USB on the TV. The built in media player does an excellent job of playing almost anything i throw at it. Only issues i have found are .mkv files encoded with [email protected]. Anything below that works great.

 

My question to you guys is. I would like to be able to stream all of my content to the TV, hopefully without going through the PS3 or Xbox, and maintaining the ability to play .mkv format in 720p and 1080p. I have not tried streaming from my Windows 7 machine directly to the TV. If that would work, than is the easiest solution to just stream through my desktop to the TV from the shared network drive on the unRAID server?

 

Thanks for any input you guys can provide, these boards have been great to read and get ideas so far.

I don't know how good Samsung TVs are with codecs...but unless you want to build or buy an HTPC, your easiest (and guaranteed-to-play-it-all) option is probably a WD TV. Network shares from unRAID show up in it without any configuration. Easy. 

I don't know how good Samsung TVs are with codecs...but unless you want to build or buy an HTPC, your easiest (and guaranteed-to-play-it-all) option is probably a WD TV. Network shares from unRAID show up in it without any configuration. Easy. 

 

+1

 

Easy to config and also easy to use. Be sure to share an optical drive on another PC if you need to view "old fashioned" media on your tv.

Or Popcorn Hour.  Can create pretty sleek looking "Jukebox" interfaces.  I'm not sure about WDTVs though.

Just to throw this out there as LG has teamed up with Plex, so that some Medialink supported LG TV can be used as a client to a Plex server.

It's still really early days so I'm not sure how well things are supported, but just to let you know that there is this option.

 

It might be something to consider if you already use Plex and are thinking of buying a TV.

I use a Foxconn NetTop (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16856119017) running Windows 7 and XBMC. It has played everything I have thrown at it so far without a hitch (although when first hooked up, it did choke playing a m2ts file in VLC until I unloaded the video processing to the ION chip from the processor). Also provides internet, light gaming, etc.

 

Cost: $145 w/ matching external DVD burner (Black Friday sale), +$32 for 2GB SO-DIMM. I had a spare 2.5" drive that I used.

 

I bought a AppleTV2 when they were $80 awhile ago, but have yet to open it.

I don't own a Popcorn Hour (PH), though, I have dabbled with it as well as assisted to hook it up (initially), I like them for the appliance feel of them and gets done pretty much what an HTPC with say, XBMC will accomplish.  My configuration is:

 

1. Living Room - X3 450 based HTPC w/ XBMC

2. Master Bedroom - X2 255 based HTPC w/ XBMC

3. Kids/Guest Bedrooms - 2x WDTV w/ the hack

 

The guest bedrooms can access only common shares right now, purposely setup that way.  The hack is nice, allowing cover art, NFS, etc.  But, if you don't like to dabble, a slight pain initially to setup.  Once one was setup, it was easy enough to essentially ghost the other.

 

I like the HTPC route due to the ability to perform light gaming here and there (I'm still a player of BF2, will likely play it until there are no servers to play on) and what better to do it than on a 55"  The master bedroom had a hacked WDTV as well, until my wife informed me she wanted the same as was in the living room (browing ability, etc.) so, in order for me to stay happy, SHE has to stay happy..

 

I got the two additional WDTV's off of eBay on the cheap, with the hack, from an aesthetic point of view, they're just about as nice as XBMC/PH, etc.