2012-10-07, 08:35
You can centralize XBMC DB on a server machine and have your clients all connect to it
Quote:Also, over time, I've noticed that Plex does a better job with metadata.
(2012-10-07, 08:35)saitoh183 Wrote: You can centralize XBMC DB on a server machine and have your clients all connect to it
(2012-10-07, 17:33)Ned Scott Wrote:Quote:Also, over time, I've noticed that Plex does a better job with metadata.
With metadata or getting metadata? Because they both grab the data from the same sites, so there shouldn't actually be any difference there.
(2012-10-07, 06:37)car_ramrod Wrote:(2012-10-03, 20:36)pumkinut Wrote: Plex==XBMC for dummies with far less control of how it operates.
Nah. The biggest difference between the two is that Plex offers a client/server architecture that just doesn't exist in XBMC. XBMC is probably superior in almost every way, but unfortunately it's a standalone client. If you have a single PC that holds your libraries and everything all in the same place, then XBMC is the way to go. If you have things distributed, Plex is much better for it and that's because it's built around a client/server architecture.
I've used xbmc, myth, wmc, plex and some others I've probably forgotten about and the client/server piece was the key differentiator for me. Also, over time, I've noticed that Plex does a better job with metadata.
(2012-10-07, 17:33)Ned Scott Wrote:Quote:Also, over time, I've noticed that Plex does a better job with metadata.
With metadata or getting metadata? Because they both grab the data from the same sites, so there shouldn't actually be any difference there.
(2012-10-10, 03:35)rodalpho Wrote: It's not about just having a central DB, plex is truly client/server. They offer ios, android, windows, and OSX clients that can connect to the server over the internet to stream your media. It transparently transcodes down to lower bitrates when you're bandwidth constrained. This is a huge feature and extremely nice to have. It's why I run both XBMC and Plex-- I use XBMC when I'm sitting on my couch in front of the HTPC, but I use Plex remotely.
Theoretically PleXBMC can connect to the plex server, but it's not particularly well contained and doesn't work with their "MyPlex" setup to automatically connect no matter where you are. Plex is just so much slicker about the whole thing.
If you ignore the client/server stuff, XBMC blows Plex away. But that is an extremely desirable feature.
I know there's been talk of doing something similar with XBMC, but it never actually went anywhere, unfortunately.
(2012-10-10, 21:31)Diggs Wrote: I have only used XBMC, but since I do have an Unraid server delivering content to multiple XBMC on Windows installs, I have been tempted to look into PLEX. It is the only reason I even consider trying it. With the focus on Android, I would think a client server edition of XBMC would be something very desirable since most media is not going to be stored locally on an Android device. It seems likely the small Android based PCs will be the HTPC standard in the near future, and PLEX currently fits that model better.
Not trying to give the XBMC team a bad review by any means. I LOVE me some XBMC and appreciate what they do to make it happen. However, the "mysql" solution as it stands should be looked at. An Unraid package would be awesome...... Anyway, I can't really give a vote since I have never even viewed more than screen shots of PLEX and this seemed like a good opportunity to toss another client server vote out there.
(2012-10-10, 22:36)edrikk Wrote: I think at this point the KEY advantage of Plex over XBMX is the fact that Plex can transcode videos on the fly when serving to various clients via DLNA. This is a huge benefit as one can then stream the same video to an iOS device (via a DLNA app), to a PS3, to a TV etc.
This is a much bigger deal than 'just' being client/server based. If XBMC added transcoding, given that mySQL can already be setup, XBMC will take the lead once again when compared to Plex.
Right now, Plex gets much more use from me than XBMC does, simply because of the transcoding...
(2012-10-11, 06:45)Ned Scott Wrote: XBMC will gain this feature after v12 (Frodo) (so, in theory, it should be ready for v13's stable release
(2012-10-11, 06:45)Ned Scott Wrote: Also, in reply to some other comments, remember that small android HTPCs also have USB ports, and some even have SATA ports, in addition to standard local network streaming. The only time a transcoding server would be useful to another XBMC HTPC is if you want to stream over the internet from device to device, but like I said before, that's something that's on the roadmap.