Instead of us expousing the benefits of Plex (as a server) to you, why don't you explain (since we're apparently all too dumb, according to you, to set up our servers correctly) why XBMC is the better option FOR A SERVER.
FWIW, I've run all sorts of media servers (Plex, WMS, XBMC, BeyondTV with BeyondMedia, etc) and I guarantee that I have probably forgotten more about servers than most people on this forum know. I run Plex. Why?
1. The idea of manually configuring scripts, ini/config files, etc. and hacking around doesn't appeal to me any longer. I do stuff like that for a living and I don't want to deal with it at home. I want something that won't take too long to configure and works well and Plex fits the bill nicely. My home network is bigger than many small/medium business networks at this stage and hacking around with media servers is very low on my priority list since we have good options available today. Back when I built my first media server in 2002 or 2003, those options weren't there and it involved lots of scripting, hacking, and tying different software pieces together.
2. We watch videos on LOTS of devices in my house -- Rokus, iPads, Android tablets -- it is a decent experience across all platforms. My media solution has to serve non-technical folks as well as myself so it needs to be clean, decent looking, and easy to use.
3. Simply sharing a folder and clicking through it on some sort of media box isn't a good solution IMO. It's ugly, doesn't provide useful information, and doesn't work across multiple platforms. And before someone chimes in with "Well you just need to load x, y, or z software," that's what Plex is for.
If I am not mistaken, Plex was originally just a different fork in the development of XBMC and eventually removed some features while adding others.
LifeIsOnTheWire said:
Furthermore, it doesn't even depend on XBMC as the client-side playback software. If i wanted to, i could navigate to the file and playback with VLC.
YOU could, but try explaining that to a wife, kids, in-laws, guests, etc.
Admittedly, I'm not a typical user because I have a massive network at home. Plex has had issues over the years but is much improved since the early versions and is a great server.