Apple media solution

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esawers

551 posts

Ultimate Geek

#144233 12-May-2014 13:24

Currently we have a Windows Media Centre PC, (not utilising the WMC software, basically acting as a storage drive that we occasionally use for browsing) setup in our lounge. In the bedroom we an Apple TV JB running XBMC that can access these movies.
The Media centre is playing up, as is the receiver (and the TV, looks like we need to upgrade a few things!)

Wondering if there is a good simple solution for Apple products, if we ran Apple TV to all of the tv's, we also use ipads.... perhaps we could get rid of the Media Centre and run a NAS drive, or an iMAC in the office to store movies. We are not big Apple people apart from the APple TV and iPAD so we are unsure of the best solution.

Briefly looked into the itunes server but would that play downloaded content or only purchased?

All ideas welcome to simplify our movie experience.

davidcole

6029 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#1042263 12-May-2014 13:35

https://github.com/iBaa/PlexConnect

Have a look at this. It's a plex client for any apple tv - including non jailbroken ones. This + airplay would probably be what I'd recommend. I used to have a recording machine a roku and apple tv3 - only the apple tv survived not going into storage while we look for a house. It's currently used for plex content (offline media), itunes media (US iTunes account) and netflix.

Also with plex I also had a channel written to read content on my recording machine (nextpvr) - so I also had live TV running on Plex - and by extension the apple tv.

Previously known as psycik

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trig42

5809 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

#1042266 12-May-2014 13:38

I have used PlexConnect on the AppleTV, and after a bit of mucking around to get it going (great guides available though) it goes fine.
I do not use it anymore as I have a Samsung SmartTV with the Plex Client downloaded, and that works better.

When I get Plex for another room (non smart TV I will get an Amazon FireTV.

EDIT: Also meant to say - with Plex, you still need a PC somewhere (or a powerful non-ARM NAS box that can do the transcoding)

esawers

551 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1042267 12-May-2014 13:41

What do you use for the Plex server/Storage?

trig42

5809 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

#1042279 12-May-2014 13:42

Sorry, edited my post above - you do still need the server (I use my desktop PC, which holds all my music/media).

davidcole

6029 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#1042280 12-May-2014 13:42

esawers: What do you use for the Plex server/Storage?

I use a windows 7 machine (A10 5800 with Drivebender and 12TB of drives) it should be listed in my sig.

esawers

551 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1042284 12-May-2014 13:46

Thanks
I have quickly played with Plex using the Ipad and HTPC

Does Plex run better on the Apple TV than jb XBMC? Would it be worth selling the ATV2 and getting ATV3 then, or is the ATV2 still good because it can be jailbroken?
We were hoping to either get rid of the HTPC or downsize it so we can hide it somewhere.

davidcole

6029 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#1042285 12-May-2014 13:46

trig42: I have used PlexConnect on the AppleTV, and after a bit of mucking around to get it going (great guides available though) it goes fine.
I do not use it anymore as I have a Samsung SmartTV with the Plex Client downloaded, and that works better.

When I get Plex for another room (non smart TV I will get an Amazon FireTV.

EDIT: Also meant to say - with Plex, you still need a PC somewhere (or a powerful non-ARM NAS box that can do the transcoding)

I wouldn't recommend a NAS unless you have a fairly powerful intel based one, else you can't transcode (which is more important for your IOS clients that the apple TV). I spare machine with if a better fit - and then you can utilise the channels more ( as a lot of them will use flash on the server to get the video and transcode it for a client)

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davidcole

6029 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#1042301 12-May-2014 13:48

esawers: Thanks
I have quickly played with Plex using the Ipad and HTPC

Does Plex run better on the Apple TV than jb XBMC? Would it be worth selling the ATV2 and getting ATV3 then, or is the ATV2 still good because it can be jailbroken?
We were hoping to either get rid of the HTPC or downsize it so we can hide it somewhere.

Personally yes, I find it much better. But I had plexconnect on both an ATV2 and ATV3 - looked pretty similar. While my ATV2 is jailbroken - I find I'm using xbmc less and less, I like the centralised watch lists (including pass through to trakt).

There's more channel support in xbmc, but I've found some channels work better in plex - it's normally the other way around though.