• long running

[PS3, PS4, XB360, XB1] PLEX Client - Now FREE for Xbox 360, One, PS3 & PS4

2500
[PS3, PS4, XB360, XB1] PLEX Client - Now FREE for Xbox 360, One, PS3 & PS4
Go to Deal
QuickToThePointless on 19/12/2015 - 11:57 plex.tv (4137 clicks)
Last edited 19/12/2015 - 13:19 by 1 other user

WOW! Was part of the paid subscription for gaming platforms but now the apps are free apparently.

Many of you wont need that second or third Chromecast now

For those that dont know PLEX can stream your stored media over wifi - its really easy to set up and works flawlessy with all media files (even windows media centre / .wtv) - its like your own personal Netflix with all the media you have on your PC hard drive

It looks really pretty to boot with cover and background art, summaries, synopsis etc of all your movies and TV shows

Enjoy

EDIT: theres a bit of misinformation in some posts below - both the PC server and all apps for the consoles are FREE - if you have your credit card out YOU ARE DOING IT WRONG!

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closed Comments

    • [Deactivated] on 19/12/2015 - 12:02
      +13

      it would take you less time to google that and find out than make a pointless post here about it

        • Nillionaire on 19/12/2015 - 13:48
          +4

          You don't have to read from the company, read from Wikipedia or some review site if you want in-depth info.

      • save my dollarydoos on 19/12/2015 - 13:12
        +4

        It would take even less time to never sign up as a member and log in, just come for the bargains as a guest and move on.

        Cause you know.

        Google and Wiki

        • save my dollarydoos on 19/12/2015 - 21:33
          +7

          Feel free to neg me I care not.I've been around a while now.

          Just pointing out the fact that while llgemo doesnt exactly end up being the best example to higlight - when the first comment on a bargain is asking the community a simple innocuos question - quite possibly for a "laymans" explanation or for personal opinions is quickly negged to hell and rudely directed to wiki or google isn't exactly a welcome sign for guests to register, log in and subsequently post bargains and get involved.

          I've read plenty on the difference of numbers between members and guests but little on things done about it.

          A simple reply to the tune of "Its a easy way to share stuff like movies and pictures to all the tvs and stuff if you know nothing about networking or computers in an attractive way" would have been to the benefit to everyone. Why bother reading further and registering when you realise your likely to get all you need from just the bargain.

          Instead he is instantly deemed a troll by the first reply knowing the hunger for upvotes will surely be satisfied.

          It ended up being appropriate in this instance but could have been dealt with "constructively"

        • dazweeja on 19/12/2015 - 22:41
          +1

          @Themojorising:

          Totally disagree. They didn't show any evidence whatsoever that they attempted to find the answer to their own question before asking someone else to spend their time giving them the answer. That is the crucial point. That's just lazy and should be discouraged.

        • save my dollarydoos on 20/12/2015 - 01:07
          +1

          @dazweeja:

          I do get where your coming from and agree in this particular instance. Like I said it was deserved.

          Thee OP had detail and was obviously skip read. Something I'm often guilty of as well however continued with the antagnostic stubborn responses

          I'm just pointing out the first impression sort of thing that a guest wouldn't necessarily go past at a first glance

          And on that note iggemo - you are also part of the problem. Take back your upvote.

          You've been here long enough to either know better about how to ask for the sort of thing I was referring to. Or you were trolling.

        • Nillionaire on 20/12/2015 - 01:08

          @Themojorising:
          You won't be downvoted rather upvoted as you've made reasonable points. I just disagree in Iggemo's case.

          It's more of the way he phrased them. "What is it" simply came off as ridiculous. OP had already briefly described what it does, if he wanted clarification, he could have specifically ask about it in a different manner, if he wanted more depth he should have searched Google or Wikipedia. Instead of doing so, he responds like he wants to be spoonfed, "i want unbiased, objective information on the product".

          Sure, some of replies were rude from us but nothing personal meant against Iggemo, he's a part of the community, has contributed much more than me, I'm just saying why we responded to him the way we did.

          Edit: Had not seen your response to dazweeja when posting this. And as for your point on first impressions from guests, I agree and think that this comment thread should collapse after Iggeme sees all this and gets the point or if a moderator decides to.

        • save my dollarydoos on 20/12/2015 - 02:45
          +1

          @Nillionaire:

          My idea would be rather than collapsing the whole thread, the question remains there and helpful responses are upvoted and copied/tagged it as a reply at the top.

          If it becomes apparent the person asking is trolling, the rest of their comments are deleted and prevented from commenting in the thread again.

          The little Q&A could go to the top or highlighted for all to quickly see

    • QuickToThePointless on 19/12/2015 - 12:05
      +6

      what is it?

      What else dont you know, so i can try to fit it all in a single post for you and you dont have to stress your fingers using google or wikipedia ever again ?

      • Iggemo on 19/12/2015 - 12:24
        -8

        how about just info on the product which this post relates to? is that really too much to ask?

        • QuickToThePointless on 19/12/2015 - 12:41
          +3

          Ummm i included basic description in the OP - if you require more in depth info, googls and Wikipedia could have helped you, or you can glean more about the general concept by reding others posts below - hope you find a use for plex, its great

        • [Deactivated] on 19/12/2015 - 12:56
          +4

          theres a toothbrush post, imagine the comments if someone asked what it was for?

        • Iggemo on 19/12/2015 - 14:13
          -6

          @Makoto: toothbrush is everyday product ppl are familiar with.. plex ?

        • yoshiyoshi on 19/12/2015 - 15:05

          Yes it is to much

        • swiggity swag on 19/12/2015 - 15:59
          +1

          Is it really too much for you to look it up yourself?

        • Kaboda on 19/12/2015 - 16:51

          @swiggity swag:

          No the bloke rather post replies and is waiting to be spoon fed.

    • cheepo on 19/12/2015 - 12:07
      +11

      Think of it as an offline Netflix. It streams the movies/TV you have on your computer and downloads the poster, synopsis, duration etc. Puts it in a clean/friendly interface. It can do more though.

        • gimli on 19/12/2015 - 15:23
          -4

          yep you got owned

        • QuickToThePointless on 19/12/2015 - 17:27
          -2

          @Gimli: lol….some of your posts are as funny as mine.

      • Yuri Lowell on 19/12/2015 - 15:31
        +3

        Thanks cheepo. I was wondering what it is too.

      • Charity on 20/12/2015 - 06:59
        -1

        So it functions as a hdmi cable?

        (except in a extremely complex way via software, 3rd party software, accounts, a smartphone, encrypting, decrypting, uploading, downloading and wifi/bluetooth technologies)

        Seriously, Why not just organise your own folders and plug in a cable to your PC? (+bonus no lag, performance, privacy and reliability concerns!) lol

    • geoffs87 on 19/12/2015 - 14:51

      http://bfy.tw/3MPy

    • swiggity swag on 19/12/2015 - 15:53
      +4

      Plex organizes video, music and photos from personal media libraries and streams them to smart TVs, streaming boxes and mobile devices. It is a media player system and software suite consisting of many player applications for 10-foot user interfaces and an associated media server that organizes personal media stored on local devices. It is available for Windows, Linux, OS X and FreeBSD. Integrated Plex Channels provide users with access to a growing number of online content providers such as YouTube, Vimeo, TEDTalks, and CNN among others. Plex also provides integration for cloud services including Dropbox, Box, Google Drive, Copy and Bitcasa.

      Plex's front-end media player, Plex Media Player (formerly Plex Home Theater), allows the user to manage and play video, photos, music, and podcasts from a local or remote computer running Plex Media Server. In addition, the integrated Plex Online service provides the user with a growing list of community-driven plugins for online content including Hulu, Netflix, and CNN video.

      Plex Media Center (previous version) and Plex Home Theater (current version) are based on Kodi (formerly XBMC), Plex Media Center's source code was initially forked from Kodi on May 21, 2008, when it was still called "XBMC"; this fork is still used today as a front-end media player on Linux for Plex's media server back-end media host component. Plex Media Server, unlike the free frontend, is a combination of free and proprietary software, with the majority of the code being proprietary.

      Background

      Plex began as a freeware hobby project but since 2010 has evolved into a commercial software business that is owned and developed by a single for-profit startup company, Plex, Inc., a high tech company based in the United States that is responsible for the development of the Plex Media Server and media player app front-ends and back-ends, its client–server model, and all accompanying software under the "Plex" brand name, as well as the exclusive copyright of the proprietary parts, both when distributed on its own or when it comes as a third-party software component in products by other manufacturers via a strategic partnership.

      Plex Media Server

      Plex web interface: Users can manage their libraries, server settings, and watch content from this browser-based interface
      Plex Media Server is the back-end media server component of Plex, which consists of closed-source code as well as some modified open-source code. Introduced in 2009, Plex Media Server is used to host the content and plugins that are then streamed to Plex big screen apps (including Plex Home Theater) and Plex mobile apps, either on the same machine, the same local area network, or over the Internet. In addition to the platforms supported by the front end, the server is also available for Linux. Plex Media Server can be configured to index content in any directory on the machine it is run on, as well as automatically acquiring iTunes, iPhoto, and Aperture content. Content may be transcoded by the server before it is streamed in order to reduce bandwidth requirements, or for compatibility with the device being streamed to.

      Plex Media Server allows extensibility through the addition of plug-ins. Many of these plug-ins are available through the built-in Plex Online digital distribution service. This service can be used directly within Plex Home Theater or Plex Media Center's GUI.

      Plex uses the metadata from several free open-source online libraries to automatically find all artwork, media descriptions and theme music for the entire library.

      TV and streaming device apps

      Plex media player software supports a wide range of multimedia formats and includes features such as playlists, audio visualizations, slideshows, and an expanding array of third-party plugins. As a media player software, Plex can play most audio and video file formats, as well as display images from many sources, including optical disc drives, USB flash drives, the Internet, and local area network shares. DVD playback is not yet fully integrated and requires the use of helper applications like Apple's DVD Player. Plex media player can also play files from a local hard disk drive, or streaming over a network or ReplayTV DVRs. Supported network protocols include: Server Message Block (SMB) shares (Windows file sharing), Universal Plug and Play (UPNP) and Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA). Plex is designed to take advantage of an Internet connection if available, using, by default, TheMovieDB (TMDB.ORG) to obtain thumbnails and synopsis of movies, TheTVDB for TV show thumbnails and metadata, CDDB (via FreeDB) for audio CD track listings, and AMG for album cover images. It also has music and video playlists, slideshows, a karaoke function, and many audio visualizers and screensavers.

      Plex media player software is able to decode high-definition video up to 1080p, as well as 10-bit H.264 sources. With the appropriate hardware, Plex supports hardware decoding of H.264 video.

      The Video Library, one of the Plex metadata databases, is a key feature of Plex. It allows for the automatic organization of video content by information associated with the video files (movies and recorded TV Shows) themselves. The Library Mode view in Plex allows the user to browse video content by categories such as genre, title, year, actors and directors.

      The Music Library, one of the Plex metadata databases, is another key feature of Plex. It allows for the automatic organization of a music collection by information stored in the ID3 tags, like title, artist, album, genre and popularity.

      For audio playback, Plex includes the audio-player called PAPlayer which was originally developed in-house by the XBMC developers. Some of this audio-player core's most notable features are on-the-fly audio frequency resampling, gapless playback, crossfading, ReplayGain, cue sheet and Ogg Chapter support.

      Mobile apps

      Plex App for iOS on a 4" iPhone
      Plex mobile apps exist for iOS (version 4.1 onwards), Android (version 1.6 onwards), and Windows Phone (version 7.5 onwards) and Windows 8. The apps allow remote controlling the required Plex big screen apps, including Plex Home Theater. They also allow browsing and streaming content directly to the device from a Plex server, using transcoding when necessary, as well as from various online content "channels". Both require a MyPlex account for remote access (over the Internet) to Plex servers. Unlike the desktop versions of Plex, these apps are not freeware. Third-party applications are also available on all three platforms for remote controlling Plex.

      Media formats

      An example of the TV Episode interface on Plex. Includes fan-art background
      Like other XBMC-derived media players, Plex uses FFmpeg and other open source libraries to handle all common multimedia formats. It can decode these in software, using hardware video decoding where available and optionally passing-through AC3 or DTS audio directly to an external audio-amplifier/receiver via S/PDIF.

      Plex video-playback uses a video-player "core" which was originally developed in-house by the XBMC developers as a DVD player for DVD-Video contents, including the support of DVD menus. This video-player "core" supports all the FFmpeg codecs, and in addition the MPEG-2 video codec, and the audio codecs DTS and AC3.

      PAPlayer handles a very large variety of audio file-formats.

      Plex handles all common image file formats with the options of panning, zooming and slideshow with "Ken Burns effect", with the use of CxImage open source library code.

      Development

      Plex Home Theater source code was initially forked from XBMC Media Center on May 21, 2008; this fork is used today as a front end media player for Plex's back end server component. Plex Media Server, unlike the completely open-source Plex Home Theater frontend, consists of proprietary software used in conjunction with some modified open source code. Plex Home Theater is still distributed under the GNU General Public License (GPL), with source code on GitHub. Elan Feingold, one of the founders of Plex, was part of the official XBMC development team for a short while.

      Plex Home Theater is primarily programmed in C++, and makes use of the Simple DirectMedia Layer (SDL) framework with an OpenGL renderer. Some of the third-party libraries that Plex depends on are written in C, but are used with a C++ wrapper and loaded as shared libraries when used inside Plex. Since Plex Home Theater is based on XBMC Media Center it shares its flexible GUI toolkit and robust software framework. With themes based on a standard XML base, skinning and personal customization are very accessible. Users can create their own skin (or simply modify an existing skin) and share it with others via third-party public websites for XBMC skin trading.

      Developers can make plugins for the Plex Media Server proprietary plugin architecture using Python and XML. Many plug-ins for Plex Media Server leverage WebKit to display video from online sources using the same Adobe Flash and Silverlight players that the sources provide for web browsers.

      Plex Home Theater uses a skin called RetroPle by a skinning artist named se.bastian, while the latest version of Plex Home Theater uses a modified version of the "MediaStream" skin as its default skin, a skin that was originally designed by Team Razorfish for XBMC.

      Plex Home Theater is licensed under the GPL by the developers, meaning they allow anybody to redistribute the Plex media player source code under the conditions of that GPL license. Plex Media Server, the back-end server that all plugins for Plex are dependent on, is a combination of open and closed source code. The server installer is bundled with the GPL licenses and links to download the open source parts of the code which are mostly modified versions of the FFmpeg project.

      For most popular video and audio codecs, Plex includes native support through free and open-source libraries, such as LAME, faad (for faac), libmpeg2, and libavcodec (from the FFmpeg project). These source code libraries are released under open source licenses.

      Plex can automatically fetch metadata information and artwork from sites including IMDb, TheMovieDB, TheTVDB, freedb and Allmusic using built-in web scraping functionality.

      Plex includes libdvdcss in order to support playback of DVD-Video movies encrypted using the Content Scramble System (CSS) encryption scheme.

      Availability

      Plex also offers streaming apps for Amazon Fire TV, Android TV, Apple TV, Chromecast, Roku, Xbox (Xbox 360 & Xbox One), PlayStation (PS3 & PS4), and other Smart TV platforms (currently Samsung, VIZIO, & Opera TV).

      • geoffs87 on 19/12/2015 - 16:02
        +3

        A link to the info probably would have sufficed…

      • [Deactivated] on 19/12/2015 - 22:18
        +2

        tl;dr version?

  • Pughgo on 19/12/2015 - 12:09

    Ooh Awesome, wondering why I would need pay for the Plex Pass now?

    • sauce2k6 on 19/12/2015 - 12:48

      doesn't a plex pass allow to watch your media offline? For example, I need my laptop to remain on while I watch Plex through my xbox. With a Plex Pass I can have my laptop off as it will store the media on their cloud? That was my understanding

      • [Deactivated] on 19/12/2015 - 12:57
        +1

        Plex Pass is a subscription service that gives you the best Plex experience available. Plex Pass gives you:

        Early Access to new Plex features.
Access to preview release versions of the Plex Media Server and other Apps before they’re released generally.
Enjoy an app on us. The latest Plex apps for Android and iOS are yours free.
Premium features like Mobile Sync, Cloud Sync, and Camera Upload.
Premium music libraries: Take your music experience to eleven! Enjoy better artwork and artist bios, album reviews, improved matching, artist and music videos from Vevo, and more.
Plex Home: Managed users, fast user switching, fine-grained sharing restrictions - parental controls and a whole lot more.
Trailers & Extras: Automatically gather high-quality movie trailers, interviews, and extras for movies in your Library.
Access to dedicated Plex Pass forums where you can ask the Plex Ninjas questions as well as vote up new feature requests.
A way to show your direct support for Plex.
And more!

        It doesnt upload your movies to the cloud for you to watch. You need your PC on.

        • sauce2k6 on 19/12/2015 - 14:07
          +1

          wouldn't the cloud sync achieve this?

          "Sync specific content from your Plex Media Server to supported cloud storage providers to enjoy it anywhere you have an internet connection."

          Wouldn't this mean I can select my media on the plex server and sync it to the cloud, then a device such as my iphone which has an internet connection, can connect and stream the content straight from the plex server?

        • sachz on 20/12/2015 - 00:23
          +1

          @sauce2k6:

          thats exactly what it means, plexpass costs $$…. and this OZB thread is talking about the APP not plexpass.

          i sync my movies to dropbox regularly using plexpass which i paid for years ago (one of my best purchases ever, btw!)

  • PVA on 19/12/2015 - 12:09
    +2

    i looked at the a week ago (and again just now cos of this post) when we got our PS4.
    In the description it says Plex Media server and Plex Pass subscription is needed. So does that mean its a paid service even though the app is free (kinda like how Stan/Netflix app is free but you pay to use it)?
    Is Plex any different to the Media Player app from Sony - I guess Plex looks prettier.

    • luxx on 19/12/2015 - 12:24
      +4

      Ok… so technically the app itself was always free (i.e. you could download it and install it), but it would only work for those people with the Plex Pass subscription. It now no longer requires a Plex Pass subscription, so it is free.

      If you're happy to use the media player app on your Sony TV, that's fine. Plex really works well when you're using it across different devices - I have it on 2 laptops, 2 phones, 1 tablet, a Nexus Player and now PS3, and I've never had a Plex Pass. Only had to pay for the Android App once, and I use that across my Nexus phone, tablet and player. We have a server computer that sits in storage, runs 24/7 and does all the heavy lifting.

      I can watch any/all of my media from anywhere in the world as long as I have a WiFi connection (can actually stream it over data on my phone too), and if that sounds complicated, it really is simple to set up and use.

      …and for free, why not download the PS3 app, the server software and give it a go?

      • PVA on 19/12/2015 - 12:29
        +2

        Thanks,
        thats the problem with me - Server software.
        All media is on a drive off the router - Sonys media software (ps3 and ps4), PCs, tablets can all see it and stream fine.
        I thought Plex for PS4 would be stand alone and smart enough to just run but Plex needs to have server software installed - mine is not a NAS so looks like I delete the app after I have just registered and installed.

        • luxx on 19/12/2015 - 12:36
          +1

          Yup, you need a server somewhere to use Plex. For example, even if you wanted to use it as a pretty way to organised your media on 1 laptop, that laptop would need both the server software and the client software to use it!

          Not sure if this is a limited time thing, seems that it has changed permanently changed to free for these clients, so there's no need to rush out and use it.

        • PVA on 19/12/2015 - 12:40
          +2

          @luxx:

          thanks for the help, your few comments have cleared things up for me.
          I will just delete Plex on the PS4 as it looks like its pretty useless in my situation.

        • Smigit on 19/12/2015 - 13:38
          +2

          Yeah I'm playing with the idea of using Plex but the server aspect is a bit of a sore point for me, so I'll possibly look at putting Kodi on a cheap piece of hardware like a Raspberry Pi instead. Yet to make up my mind which way I'll go, but I don't have a use for a server for anything else nor will that content likely be streamed to anything but the TV, so Plex might be overkill.

          This is nice news though. We use the Xbox One as our primary entertainment box so if I do go Plex it saves me the cost of the subscription at least.

        • sachz on 20/12/2015 - 00:24

          @luxx:

          hint: get a NAS. i use QNAP's and they run plex nicely….

        • Agret on 21/12/2015 - 03:46

          @sachz: hint: Get an HP Microserver, they're the bees knees and run any server software you can throw at them

      • sauce2k6 on 19/12/2015 - 12:50

        I have never had a plex pass subscription and was always able to stream and watch media on my xbox

        • Bigsta on 19/12/2015 - 16:26

          yeah me too

    • PVA on 19/12/2015 - 12:21
      -1

      yeah, seems to be no change from when I first looked at it.

      • QuickToThePointless on 19/12/2015 - 12:51
        +11

        Wrong

        • PVA on 19/12/2015 - 17:28
          -2

          well, its exactly the same as when I looked a week ago.
          Maybe before that there was a charge but nothings changed from a week back when I looked into it. same text, same everything.
          if its changed to free , well good, but seems the same as a week ago thats all i'm saying.

          anyway, it doesnt suit me at all, I dont want to run a server just to occasionally watch a wovie, I will just use the built in media player that seems, after using it today, work a heap better than the ps3.

    • Duggo3729 on 19/12/2015 - 12:23
      +2

      I just signed up to Plex for free and it's streaming from my PC on my devices, so I don't think you need a subscription

    • QuickToThePointless on 19/12/2015 - 12:51
      -2

      Wrong

  • Catarack21 on 19/12/2015 - 12:25
    +5

    You dont need a paid subscription to make it work now with the latest change. You just need a free account. The PS3 and 4 at least need you to go via their online presence to get the information from your locally hosted server. For those in the tinfoil hats that means information on your collection is going to be more east to find. Once you have your server and your PS3 and 4 logging in through the web it will stream from your local server to your devices now for nothing. You could stream using the default standard before tho without their app. but no pretty interface.

    If you have a large collection of movies / tv shows etc. This software makes it like you have your own online streaming service. It makes pretty interfaces for you with very little effort pulling meta data from the web.

  • ccarwyn on 19/12/2015 - 12:54

    Thanks OP.

  • shinichiduy on 19/12/2015 - 12:58
    +2

    Now it's time for me to return my Apple TV 4, a saving of $269.

    • QuickToThePointless on 19/12/2015 - 13:00

      Haha good call

    • sal_chi_cha on 19/12/2015 - 13:16

      Plex is available on the new AppleTV

      • TheMasterChief on 19/12/2015 - 14:45

        And now free on Xbox 360/One &PS3/4 thus why he's returning his Apple TV

    • muncan on 19/12/2015 - 13:26
      +1

      FWIW, most Apple products are available for 2 weeks free rental when purchased from an Apple Store 🍏

      • shinichiduy on 19/12/2015 - 20:07

        hmm, care to elaborate please?

        • muncan on 19/12/2015 - 20:54
          +1

          No questions asked refund up to 14 calendar days from purchase. Only question I've been asked is to which card are they refunding to.

  • fatpizza on 19/12/2015 - 13:01
    +2

    Awesome, just what pointless comment needs to stream his pirated Seinfeld rips to his gaming consoles!

    Seriously though, proper DLNA support has been a bit of a sore point with the newer consoles so this is great news for people who prefer to do this sort of thing.

    • QuickToThePointless on 19/12/2015 - 13:03

      Lol - but as i pointed out i payed for the DVD set and made back ups - ive actually never torrented or pirate bayed anything in my life…not so much that i am wholeheartedly against it but more that friends provide me with media and i dont ask / know where it comes from

      • fatpizza on 19/12/2015 - 13:05
        +3

        Yeah, but I'm pretty sure from a legal perspective as soon as you sold your DVD's you lost the right to keep the rips. Either way it was just a slight jab, I don't mean to start this whole debate up again. :P
        I have other things I want to do this Saturday. :)

        • QuickToThePointless on 19/12/2015 - 13:06
          +1

          I know mate….i coudlnt care less either way - im make a point of supporting fiml/Tv/music with my wallet if it deserves it ;)

          in seinfelds case, i think everyone on the planet with a tv set has payed by watching commercials on syndication broadcasts

      • Lysander on 19/12/2015 - 13:21

        You have knowledge or it can be imputed you have - still culpable. ;-) Just play the silent game about this when on a publicly accessible forum.
        Have a good Saturday though.

        • QuickToThePointless on 19/12/2015 - 13:25
          +1

          But i always watch in the presence of said friends, who i reasonably assume have just made back up copies of media which they already own so their original copies are not damaged when handling or transporting - its not a public broadcast so no illegal activity has occurred.

          Ever.

          and i just deleted my backups of seinfeld as i realised i dont actually own the dvds anymore

        • strangeloops66 on 19/12/2015 - 13:32

          @pointless comment:

          Excellent disclaimer.

        • Lysander on 19/12/2015 - 13:50
          +1

          @pointless comment:

          Funny. I would love to see this argument used - always watch in the presence of friends. I think if you found a judge who bought this (and is sober and not high), you would deserve a medal. ;-)

        • QuickToThePointless on 19/12/2015 - 14:15

          @Lysander: innocent until proven guilty, id like to see a prosecutor prove i dont watch in the presence of friends which supply bakc up media to view

        • Lysander on 19/12/2015 - 14:51

          @pointless comment:

          Copyright is not a criminal matter, but a civil one. So no prove beyond reasonable doubt needed. Just on the balance of probabilities. So all the prosecution would need to show is that on the balance of probablities you did not watch movies in the presence of your friends all the time which I am sure you would admit yourself is a very far-fetched scenario. And voila - you pay.
          Also, if your smart TV was checked (records a lot of things without you knowing) and/or friends asked, I doubt anybody would lie and open themselves up to liability for you.

          Also, in Oz that "innocent until proven guilty" already does not exist in many areas. Example: if you go into Big W (or other shop) with a bag or backpack, you have to show your bag upon exit. This means that you are assumed guilty of stealing something unless you prove you are innocent by showing them your bag. And most people accept this and think this is normal, including government and police.
          In this country I definitely would not rely on "innocent until proven guilty". Sorry.

        • Smigit on 19/12/2015 - 16:52
          +1

          @pointless comment: Is it even legal to backup DVD's and Blurays or CDs for that matter, regardless of the use? From what I'm reading it isn't legal here in Australia to back up from digital mediums, at least not for films. Whether or not your friends watch the film with you might be completely irrelevant.

          Unless it's changed in the past year? - http://www.lifehacker.com.au/2014/07/ask-lh-is-it-legal-for-… (Found similar outcomes on other articles between 2013 and now)

    • Agret on 21/12/2015 - 03:47

      The PS4 has a proper DLNA player now it's called Media Player and a free download from PSN

  • bwatt72 on 19/12/2015 - 13:10

    I have 3 apple tv in house 2 chromecast not even used yet and soon to be a minix neo u1 box what can i do with this plex with the above i dont really have much download stuff i take its more for this?

  • JediJan on 19/12/2015 - 13:14

    Re: What is it? Yes, I am also reading through all the comments (and disagreements) to get an understanding of this product. (Often the advertising hype does nothing more than product overkill). I have a question anyways (please don't shoot); does this product offer any usefulness (now or in near future) for us? We do not have PS3, PS4 or XBox platforms. Have a smart Panasonic tv (internet we do not use on this … never made use of current or downloaded any other apps to it), WiiU, old laptop and iPad2.

    Serious question. I realise we still live in the Dark Ages here. As I said … please don't shoot.

    • atrorz on 19/12/2015 - 13:22
      +1

      not much use to you by the sounds. Plex is mainly useful for people with a stack of movies/tv/music etc living on a server/desktop - it organizes it for you, gives you IMDB ratings and synopsis, and gives you portability to other devices like tablets, phones, tvs, ps3 etc - turns tv's into smart tvs by connecting back to the main server which has the content on it. Personally I find it very useful in my situation, where I have a desktop PC, and a tv in another room with a ps3 connected. I can download things on the PC, and watch it in the lounge using plex. I can also give my sister who lives 30mins away my login info and she can connect and stream remotely as well.

    • sal_chi_cha on 19/12/2015 - 13:39
      +9

      I recently dabbled with Plex and it's less fancy cousin Emby recently. Here's what you need:

      1) media files - on external or internal hard drive, or attached to a router, or in a NAS, it really doesn't matter where they are as long as the server computer can access them.

      2) a "server": usually a PC (although some NASs have the capability to act as a server) that has the grunt to re-encode media files on the fly if necessary.

      • I said "server" in the sense that this computer will "serve" the media to the "client", which is, in this case, your PS4, XBox One, XB360, AppleTV4, another computer or whatever you'll be playing the media on. This receives the media from the server to display. The "server" can be any old computer, but the better the CPU the less hard the "server" will have to work to reencode.

      3) "client", as described above.

      So, in order to serve, the "server" must be pointed in the directions of where the media is kept. Once it knows, and your media files' names are in the correct format, it goes about getting the metadata (actor pics, series info, wallpapers etc) to make the viewing experience nice and pretty.

      Once it's ready, your server is ready to serve.

      You then need to prepare your client, which usually only requires downloading the client software and logging into the account you will have make when setting up the server for the first time, which connects server to client.

      Re. Reencoding: if your client device is unable to natively show a media file's file type (e.g. An AppleTV can't natively show a Windows media video, so the server would have to rewrite the video file into a file format that the AppleTV can read), the server can change the file type to one that the client can show. This is generally done on the fly, so requires a PC with a bit of grunt, especially for large 4K or 1080p files, or HEVC/h.265 files. (If you don't know what that are, Google is your friend). A reminder: the server does the reencoding, the client just shows what the server gives it.

      That's a basic explanation. If it sounds too complicated, then honestly, Plex or Emby probably aren't for you.

      For an alternative way of streaming your media, you'd need an HTPC (again, Google it), or a gutsy Android media box (?Nexus Player) that you can download Kodi onto. All this system needs is a computer/media player that finds the media file, and plays it, all in one. No servers or clients. This is what I do at home, with a last gen NUC with Ubuntu 14.01 and Kodi installed.

      • RamsesII on 19/12/2015 - 14:19

        Very informative. Thank you.

      • JediJan on 19/12/2015 - 14:54

        Thank you; very informative. We don't think we would have need of this service at this point in time. Happy to buy our dvds or blu rays as required and also have too many dvd tv recordings to keep pace with. Son also saves his personal YouTube videos on a separate 1 TB "WD" hard drive, so far not even interested in playing the WiiU games online.

        The HTPC you mention sounds the way to go for the future. It is difficult for the regular internet user to keep up with the technologies. Perhaps a need for more education for the masses, or an avenue for some lucrative employment assisting others.

        • sal_chi_cha on 19/12/2015 - 15:07
          +1

          To be honest, even my set up was frustrating to perfect, although I've learned a bit about Linux in the process.

          I think for the lay person, or the less technologically inclined, a Google Nexus Player, or better still, an Nvidi Shield Tv (it's also a media player, on special on Amazon for US$179 incl remote control at the moment…I'm seriously considering getting one) would be the way to go. Install Kodi from the Google store, and play your media from a USB drive plugged into a router or a PC. You could also download the Netflix app should you wish. Not sure about Stan or Presto on Google store.

          But you're right, it's a bit of a scary one the world of personal media steaming. I think that's what Apple and Amazon and Telstra are banking on to get customers into their platforms, because it's easier than fiddling with servers and clients and media players (Oh my!).

      • garage sale on 20/12/2015 - 09:21

        yeah, i went the simple way, i have an android media player with kodi plugged into the TV, and the other content is on a simple NAS .that can be used by any devices in the house…. works fine ……. and the android box also does the netflix, you tube, VLC, and lots more. It start playing as soon as some of the file is buffered not whole file downloaded, so not sure what all this other stuff, transcoding, encoding, streaming etc is all about.

  • Risser on 19/12/2015 - 13:17

    does plex work better then serviio?

    • pilchard on 19/12/2015 - 18:02

      I switched from Serviio a year ago. I like the interface in Plex more, but it does look like Serviio has improved theirs in recent times.

  • mmd on 19/12/2015 - 13:17

    Sorry, Ive been out of the game for too long.
    So can this replace the Chromecast for file streaming?
    I have a non smart tv and would like to stream movies from my PC.
    Chromecast works most of the times, but there are a few movies which dont.

    • QuickToThePointless on 19/12/2015 - 13:22

      If you have xbox /ps then yes, it will stream any media files stored on your PC / laptop

      • mmd on 19/12/2015 - 13:48

        cheers OP
        Exactly what I've been looking for

  • Diji1 on 19/12/2015 - 13:18

    Wasn't this always free (Plex Pass is the additional paid component)?

    • QuickToThePointless on 19/12/2015 - 13:21

      Server was free, console apps were part of subscription

      • nismo on 19/12/2015 - 13:32
        +2

        Yep.

        I saw this info in there December Newsletter mailout 2 days ago:

        Xbox One and PlayStation apps are now FREE for everyone!

        Xbox One and PlayStation users, have we got a great gift for you! Plex apps for your favorite game consoles—all of them—have graduated from their preview periods and are now free for everyone! Joining Xbox 360, as well as our other big screen apps, these newly free ones give users all the basic functionality at no cost. For those of you with a Plex Pass, our premium features, like Parental Controls, Vevo music videos, and Trailers & Extras, look awesome on the big screen.

  • T1OOO on 19/12/2015 - 13:30

    Sadly I can't fast forward on my Samsung tv so it's useless. Gone back to Wd live.

  • strangeloops66 on 19/12/2015 - 13:30

    Installed the app on our PS3 Thursday night. Bit clunky so I might try a wired connection. Also a bit hard to control with the SIXAXIS. With SBS OnDemand and iView, it was necessary to use the game controller to move the cursor to navigate to certain buttons. Anyone know if the Harmony hub-based remotes allow full navigation of these apps?

    • QuickToThePointless on 19/12/2015 - 13:33

      I thin you need a bluetooth adapter for harmony ans PS. Just grab a PS remote - they are like $20 or so

      • strangeloops66 on 19/12/2015 - 13:37

        I had a PS3 remote (version 1 and then 2) and PS3 adapter, and that combination did not allow me to tab to an essential button.

  • GameChanger on 19/12/2015 - 13:49
    +3

    Wish I could see the comments of furious george.

    • rgr on 19/12/2015 - 13:55
      +1

      LOL me too

    • QuickToThePointless on 19/12/2015 - 14:32
      +2

      Each post of his had one word - knob - fyi

  • kirt on 19/12/2015 - 13:50

    Plex on the 360 was actually made available back in August:

    https://forums.plex.tv/discussion/comment/998329/#Comment_99…

    …and for those wanting to use their Harmony with the PS3, check your local Dick Smith for the Futuretronics PS3 IR Remote, which are going for $5 (I have one and it works great):

    http://www.futuretronics.com.au/products/mini-remote

  • boredofficeworker on 19/12/2015 - 14:06

    Been waiting for XBone.

    • QuickToThePointless on 19/12/2015 - 14:17
      +1

      Then Wait no longer…. that is unless you are waiting for xbone to be delivered/drop in price/release a slim model etc….your post is a little ambiguous

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