KODI vs PLEX

DrJohnZoidberg said:
Here are my stats for the past year, my main platform is the Roku (Chrome is used basically only for music - so transcode there is generally FLAC -> MP3):
Click to expand...
Is that something you've installed?
 
dualmeister said:
I'm determined to convert him

I was also a die hard "Kodi is the only thing I need" person then one day I thought let's see what the fuss is about and and I proptly changed my entire setup as it just works so much better!

e.g. by default Kodi marks an item as watched pretty far from the end of the clip. Really irritating if you get distrubed near the end and have come back to fast forward through the whole show to watch the last few minutes. Sure this can be hacked in the advanced settings file, but Plex is much more forgiving by default.

Another example is the database updates. Unlike Roux's magic Kodi that picks up deleted items automatically I had to manually run the clean database option every now and again to get rid of deleted stuff. Plex though monitors folder activity and updates immediately.

This and many other little things put Plex ahead.

Maybe we should add Emby to the debate :D
Click to expand...
So let me get this right. Plex requires a server or a host, and then the actual Plex app to stream content over the network?

Whereas Kodi, i can just connect my drives to whatever device im using Kodi on, and im good to go? Also, im using Kodi, and using Plexus within Kodi, which also works great for Plex.

I dont understand either why the love for Plex, because Kodi can also be setup in a similar way to Plex. Artwork and movie/music info also scraped etc. Im guessing that most of the love is due to be able to use Plex across multiple devices, but requires that there be an active Server or else you wont be able to pull in the content.

I might have got a few things wrong, but i tried plex, but didnt like the fact i needed a server to access my content either via a pc/laptop or standalone server machine.
 
Icemanbrfc said:
So let me get this right. Plex requires a server or a host, and then the actual Plex app to stream content over the network?

Whereas Kodi, i can just connect my drives to whatever device im using Kodi on, and im good to go? Also, im using Kodi, and using Plexus within Kodi, which also works great for Plex.

I dont understand either why the love for Plex, because Kodi can also be setup in a similar way to Plex. Artwork and movie/music info also scraped etc. Im guessing that most of the love is due to be able to use Plex across multiple devices, but requires that there be an active Server or else you wont be able to pull in the content.

I might have got a few things wrong, but i tried plex, but didnt like the fact i needed a server to access my content either via a pc/laptop or standalone server machine.
Click to expand...

As I mentioned earlier in the thread, Plex and Kodi aren't really directly comparable because they provide different functionality. Kodi makes a nice standalone player but doesn't work nearly as well when you have multiple users using different devices and you want to give access to the same content.

Having a separate server is definintely not something everybody wants and there are solutions that make this less of an issue (i.e. NAS devices which run Plex as well as the Nvidia Shield TV that can be both server and client). More progress is being made there however to make this less of an issue going forward.
 
Icemanbrfc said:
So let me get this right. Plex requires a server or a host, and then the actual Plex app to stream content over the network?

Whereas Kodi, i can just connect my drives to whatever device im using Kodi on, and im good to go? Also, im using Kodi, and using Plexus within Kodi, which also works great for Plex.

I dont understand either why the love for Plex, because Kodi can also be setup in a similar way to Plex. Artwork and movie/music info also scraped etc. Im guessing that most of the love is due to be able to use Plex across multiple devices, but requires that there be an active Server or else you wont be able to pull in the content.

I might have got a few things wrong, but i tried plex, but didnt like the fact i needed a server to access my content either via a pc/laptop or standalone server machine.
Click to expand...

Yes. Multiple devices + profiles for different users

PS3 - plex - kids
Roku - plex - adults
Macbook - plex - Teen 1
iPad - plex - Teen 2

and mix and match as you please - just login on your profile
 
DrJohnZoidberg said:
As I mentioned earlier in the thread, Plex and Kodi aren't really directly comparable because they provide different functionality. Kodi makes a nice standalone player but doesn't work nearly as well when you have multiple users using different devices and you want to give access to the same content.

Having a separate server is definintely not something everybody wants and there are solutions that make this less of an issue (i.e. NAS devices which run Plex as well as the Nvidia Shield TV that can be both server and client). More progress is being made there however to make this less of an issue going forward.
Click to expand...
But what is stopping me from using a media player to act as a server, and then share the content from there to other devices? As i use a media player as my primary device, i dont see the need for Plex where i need an alternative host ie pc or NAS to play my content.

I tried using my laptop, but it just hit my battery hard.
 
Icemanbrfc said:
So let me get this right. Plex requires a server or a host, and then the actual Plex app to stream content over the network?

Whereas Kodi, i can just connect my drives to whatever device im using Kodi on, and im good to go? Also, im using Kodi, and using Plexus within Kodi, which also works great for Plex.

I dont understand either why the love for Plex, because Kodi can also be setup in a similar way to Plex. Artwork and movie/music info also scraped etc. Im guessing that most of the love is due to be able to use Plex across multiple devices, but requires that there be an active Server or else you wont be able to pull in the content.

I might have got a few things wrong, but i tried plex, but didnt like the fact i needed a server to access my content either via a pc/laptop or standalone server machine.
Click to expand...

Kodi doesn't work on a Roku or a Samsung Smart tv, Plex does.
 
Icemanbrfc said:
So let me get this right. Plex requires a server or a host, and then the actual Plex app to stream content over the network?

Whereas Kodi, i can just connect my drives to whatever device im using Kodi on, and im good to go? Also, im using Kodi, and using Plexus within Kodi, which also works great for Plex.

I dont understand either why the love for Plex, because Kodi can also be setup in a similar way to Plex. Artwork and movie/music info also scraped etc. Im guessing that most of the love is due to be able to use Plex across multiple devices, but requires that there be an active Server or else you wont be able to pull in the content.

I might have got a few things wrong, but i tried plex, but didnt like the fact i needed a server to access my content either via a pc/laptop or standalone server machine.
Click to expand...

If you have a device that can run Kodi, it can probably run Plex as well. Then you can run Plex Media Server on that device and the Player as well, so the whole thing works on one device. One difference between the two used to be (probably still is) that Plex transcodes the media to whatever the playing device can handle, whereas Kodi plays directly and the device has to do the work. So my little Roku stick, which is not very fast, can play full HD movies because the PC is doing the work for it, whereas a similar low power device will probably struggle a bit more with Kodi. I am not sure if this is still the case, and things like the Pi3 which is a lot more powerful probably makes this less of an issue. I started using Plex because that is all you can run on the Roku, and it works very well for me.
 
furpile said:
If you have a device that can run Kodi, it can probably run Plex as well. Then you can run Plex Media Server on that device and the Player as well, so the whole thing works on one device. One difference between the two used to be (probably still is) that Plex transcodes the media to whatever the playing device can handle, whereas Kodi plays directly and the device has to do the work. So my little Roku stick, which is not very fast, can play full HD movies because the PC is doing the work for it, whereas a similar low power device will probably struggle a bit more with Kodi. I am not sure if this is still the case, and things like the Pi3 which is a lot more powerful probably makes this less of an issue. I started using Plex because that is all you can run on the Roku, and it works very well for me.
Click to expand...
Can we run the Plex server on an Android Media player? I was under the impression you couldnt.
 
Icemanbrfc said:
But what is stopping me from using a media player to act as a server, and then share the content from there to other devices? As i use a media player as my primary device, i dont see the need for Plex where i need an alternative host ie pc or NAS to play my content.

I tried using my laptop, but it just hit my battery hard.
Click to expand...

Share it how though?
 
DrJohnZoidberg said:
Share it how though?
Click to expand...
Basically want it reversed. Have the plex server on the media player, and then using the plex app on the pc and all other devices. I dont want my Pc on all day, to be able to access the files to use plex. If that makes sense
 
Icemanbrfc said:
So let me get this right. Plex requires a server or a host, and then the actual Plex app to stream content over the network?

Whereas Kodi, i can just connect my drives to whatever device im using Kodi on, and im good to go? Also, im using Kodi, and using Plexus within Kodi, which also works great for Plex.

I dont understand either why the love for Plex, because Kodi can also be setup in a similar way to Plex. Artwork and movie/music info also scraped etc. Im guessing that most of the love is due to be able to use Plex across multiple devices, but requires that there be an active Server or else you wont be able to pull in the content.

I might have got a few things wrong, but i tried plex, but didnt like the fact i needed a server to access my content either via a pc/laptop or standalone server machine.
Click to expand...

I used to run Kodi on my pi, then plex on my PS3, then Kodi on a media PC, and now I'm back to plex on my PS4.

What I dislike about plex:
You need to run a server app.
You need an internet connection. It seems to read your server info from your profile online.
I have had to uninstall and reinstall plex once or twice to get it working again.
The DB gets HUGE, and defaults to your C drive. I've had to move it.

What I like about plex:
The layout of the UI.
Never have to clean library, or wait for it to rescan everything to update my library when I added something. It just works.
The Recently Released section and the other recommendations
Different devices for the same library. In this case PS4 support is a huge plus.
Plex feels like it gives me fewer issues overall.

In fact, I preferred plex over Kodi so much, that I paid a monthly sub of $5 to use plex on my PS3 when it was still in beta.
 
Icemanbrfc said:
Basically want it reversed. Have the plex server on the media player, and then using the plex app on the pc and all other devices. I dont want my Pc on all day, to be able to access the files to use plex. If that makes sense
Click to expand...

Ah yes, you can do that if you want a setup like that. You can use a living room friendly mini PC (like an Intel NUC) and install both server and client apps on there, you can then use it as a player and server. Same goes for the recent release of Nvidia Shield I've been talking about, it's a media player that allows you to run Plex Media Server on it.
 
DrJohnZoidberg said:
Ah yes, you can do that if you want a setup like that. You can use a living room friendly mini PC (like an Intel NUC) and install both server and client apps on there, you can then use it as a player and server. Same goes for the recent release of Nvidia Shield I've been talking about, it's a media player that allows you to run Plex Media Server on it.
Click to expand...
Thats good to know. But as i have an Android Media player, im assuming the server app is not able to run or be installed on there?
 
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