On online video side, social media center Boxee is a clear competitor, but for some reason I found Plex's user interface a lot more calmer and fitted better to my living room. iTunes music files are all supported which has been my issue with other media centers expect FrontRow. This has been downside with FrontRow as I have not been able to access widely to online video. Another benefit is the support to online media such as Youtube, Hulu, Netflix and many more. So here is the scenario: I have a Plex server on an OSX virtual machine. Unfortunately, this does not reconnect the network drives if the server itself goes offline and then comes back online. Plex also supports remote controls and iPhone apps like RowMote.Īnother useful functionality is that the podcast only shows video files in the Videos section, so I do not need to separate music and other audio programs from the music. There is indeed a method to connect network drives when OS X boots up (the instructions are below for this). Unfortunately, navigating with mouse was not so comfortable at first, but after modifying mouse scroll sensitivity and custom buttons, MX Air mouse felt good to use. Compared to FrontRow, Plex supports mouse which is important as I use Logitech MX Air mouse to control my media center. The look and feel is a mixture between Apple's FrontRow and XBMC Media Center, but it has a few advantages over them.
This means that I can save frequently used sections or locations as my favorites for quick and easy access. Streaming over the home network worked well on the first try.įavorites section is another useful functionality that I have not discovered in other media center software. Adding network hard drive was also easier than in other media centers. Support for different media file formats is very good and it should play with ease most files you have on your computer.
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However, I discovered that my movies and TV shows in iTunes library where not automatically available, but I needed to browse the folders separately to make them available. Download the latest version of Plex Media Server for Mac for free. Pictures section also handles iPhoto and Aperture libraries automatically. The library functionality seems to integrate very well with my existing iTunes library making podcasts and music instantly available.
Here are the highlights why this media center software made particularly good first impression. I recently discovered Plex Media Center which looks extreme potential to take the prime slot on my Mac Mini's desktop.