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 such, ancient, underpowered laptops might not be suitable. 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. Plex also supports remote controls and iPhone apps like RowMote.Another 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. 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. This means that I can save frequently used sections or locations as my favorites for quick and easy access.The look and feel is a mixture between Apple’s FrontRow and XBMC Media Center, but it has a few advantages over them. Streaming over the home network worked well on the first try.Favorites 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. 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.Support for different media file formats is very good and it should play with ease most files you have on your computer.
Pictures section also handles iPhoto and Aperture libraries automatically. Here are the highlights why this media center software made particularly good first impression.The library functionality seems to integrate very well with my existing iTunes library making podcasts and music instantly available.
I recently discovered Plex Media Center which looks extreme potential to take the prime slot on my Mac Mini’s desktop.
0 kommentar(er)
