Best set top Plex experience?

[slackerinabox]

Currently using an apple tv that's non-hackable (my atv 2 ran plex just fine). What's the best plex experience someone can get right now? If I don't care about any other media features, would the roku 2 be as good as the roku 3 plex wise? Any other contenders?

 

[Crono]

Chromecast

 

[bearxor]

Nope. FireTV.

 

[Ravynmagi]

I like Plex the most on my Roku 3 (also have Apple TV, Chromecast, and Fire TV).

Plex seems kinda quirky for me on the Fire TV. For example I have a problem playing the Southpark channel on Fire TV because each episodes has 2 breaks in it (where commercials would be I guess) and on the Fire TV it won't resume after these breaks. But on my Roku 3 it resumes just fine. Also getting to the Plex app on Roku is easier than on Fire TV, I don't like the Fire TV UI very much.

I'd get the Roku 3 over Roku 2, it's a big performance difference.

Plex works nice on the Chromecast, but I like using a stand alone player and the Chromecast depends on a phone or tablet to work.

 

[bearxor]

I don't use the channels on Plex so I can't speak to that.

But also, for me, the Chromecast doesn't qualify as a STB.

 

[Kaido]

Roku 3 has been working well for me, although I don't like the interface as much as I did when I was running a dedicated HTPC.

 

[cronos]

It's going to be Fire TV vs. Roku 3. Retail price is the same, too, although FireTV is often on sale (and you may have credits, etc) and refurb units for Roku 3 is often around the same price.

For Plex, these two are the best imo, but depending on what additional features you want, you may want to pick one or the other.

 

[poofyhairguy]

I vote Roku 3, because Plex works great on there.

 

[Druidx]

On the Roku 3, I think Plex interface is improved with the RarFlix Mod
https://forums.plex.tv/index.php/topic/79897-rarflix-modified-roku-channel/

 

[Raduque]

I have a Roku Stick, and Plex works great on it, when my server behaves.

 

[bassoprofundo]

Good info here as I've been wondering the same thing... As MSFT continues to push MCE into the tech graveyard, I've mulled over ditching the HTPC altogether in favor of an STB of some kind. It certainly would clean up my entertainment area. One one hand, I hate the idea of losing that flexibility, but on the other, it'd be nice to ditch maintenance/upgrades/etc. on one more PC in the house.

 

[bearxor]

Good info here as I've been wondering the same thing... As MSFT continues to push MCE into the tech graveyard, I've mulled over ditching the HTPC altogether in favor of an STB of some kind. It certainly would clean up my entertainment area. One one hand, I hate the idea of losing that flexibility, but on the other, it'd be nice to ditch maintenance/upgrades/etc. on one more PC in the house.

faced the same decision a few years ago. It was clear when Win7 came out that MS wasn't interested in MCE anymore.

I still miss some things. Especially the program guide. Everything else really kind of sucks.

 

[slackerinabox]

It's going to be Fire TV vs. Roku 3. Retail price is the same, too, although FireTV is often on sale (and you may have credits, etc) and refurb units for Roku 3 is often around the same price.

For Plex, these two are the best imo, but depending on what additional features you want, you may want to pick one or the other.

Thanks guys, so the consensus seems to be that roku > plex. Since the box will be going in the bedroom the heaphone remote's kinda nifty, so I'm looking at the roku 2 or 3. Is the speed difference that much better?

 

[cronos]

Thanks guys, so the consensus seems to be that roku > plex. Since the box will be going in the bedroom the heaphone remote's kinda nifty, so I'm looking at the roku 2 or 3. Is the speed difference that much better?

Yes!

 

[Muadib]

I'm just going to jump on the pile. Get the Roku3! Check woot as you might find a refurb Roku3, and save $5 and get the rarflix channel. It works just like the plex app but is free.

 

[bearxor]

I'll have to check out that rarflix channel. The reason I always returned the Roku's I tried was the extremely crappy Plex UI.

 

[cronos]

Refurb Roku 3 is $63 at Woot today

http://www.woot.com/offers/roku-3-streaming-media-player-13

 

[arod]

Right now Roku3 or Rokustick but I am very intrigued by the upcoming android tv devices. They look to have a much better plex interface and have the seamless plex experience like roku.

 

[dlock13]

I'm just wondering if any of you are having playback issues with Plex. I try streaming to my Chromecast, and it stutters. I try streaming to my blu-ray player, and it stutters.

I haven't tried our Roku, but I can only imagine it stutters!

 

[whoiswes]

I've been running Plex on a HP Microserver (Gen 2, IIRC) for a few years now, in conjunction with a couple of Roku 3's. For the most part I've been happy but it's starting to show it's age. I also have two Chromecasts but pretty much do Netflix/Youtube on those.

However, I recently picked up a Chromebox and threw Openelec on it. Why? Because although I love how transparently Plex manages my media libraries, transcoding was absolutely killing my server. That, and the fact that the Roku doesn't support local decoding/mixdown for DTS/Dolby, doesn't support DTS-MA or TrueHD, only supports RGB, and cannot do 10bit decoding, left me wanting more. I've been ripping my Bluray collection to my server/NAS and have been going with higher quality encodes, but using the Roku as a playback device results in a washed out, lower quality experience everywhere but my home theater (where I can direct play).

In contrast, XBMC has played every single file I've thrown at it without a hiccup, including the advanced formats, and even interfaces with my Plex library via PlexBMC.

This is pretty close to the ideal configuration for me, as I can have anything from a dumb TV to my full blown home theater connected to the Chromebox, and every file in my library can be played back without any transcoding on my server.

That said, I'd love to see a Roku 4 with more features and/or some other alternatives come up - the ease of getting the Plex/Roku combination online was a pretty killer point, whereas XBMC has required a little more tinkering (albeit with much greater flexibility).

 

[poofyhairguy]

Well yeah, XBMC is the premium option for local content playback. But even I will admit the options in XBMC for Netflix and Amazon are lacking for ease of use compared to what something like a Roku has. If you need one box to rule them all, its Roku+Plex. If you don't mind a few boxes to have the best then its a Chromebox plus a Chromecast/Roku/etc.

 

[bearxor]

The Xbox One is starting to become an extremely attractive option.

This month's update adds DLNA and native MKV support. If I can stream MKV's from plex without transcoding and have access to all the apps then I'll be pretty happy. Still waiting on that HBO Go app on X1 though.

 

[smitbret]

Well yeah, XBMC is the premium option for local content playback. But even I will admit the options in XBMC for Netflix and Amazon are lacking for ease of use compared to what something like a Roku has. If you need one box to rule them all, its Roku+Plex. If you don't mind a few boxes to have the best then its a Chromebox plus a Chromecast/Roku/etc.

Not to mention metadata and art support are horrible when you stream Plex to XBMC.

 

[Muadib]

I'll have to check out that rarflix channel. The reason I always returned the Roku's I tried was the extremely crappy Plex UI.

The UI is pretty much the same, it's just that the channel is free.

 

[slackerinabox]

I'm just wondering if any of you are having playback issues with Plex. I try streaming to my Chromecast, and it stutters. I try streaming to my blu-ray player, and it stutters.

I haven't tried our Roku, but I can only imagine it stutters!

That's a good point. Does plex/ roku 3 do bandwidth based bitrate transcoding? Most of my media's in 1080p and works perfectly fine on my apple tv 3 that's hardwired, but sucks on our wifi connected bedroom tv. Downscaling to 720p would be just fine, but aTV seems to be playing at full res no matter what the connection quality. Roku/plex good at dropping down when necessary?