I will explain why. When I first tried Plex (and other forks of XBMC which it evolved from), the scraping functionality (the part that accumulates the media information and graphics for your library) was, let’s say cumbersome and not very reliable. Not only has the scraping code been optimised and improved, but internet archives like IMDB (the Internet Movie Database) and TheTVDB (The TV Database) have improved too. The UI of Plex is simple and efficient (just like we love TiVo for) but from a graphical point of view, Plex simply blows our beloved TiVo out of the water!

Example of Plex content all synopsis data and artwork populated automatically

 

The synopsis for each episode is far superior to the basic information provided by OTA (Over the air) type systems (like Sky uses) and dare I say it, even though TiVo downloads proper guide and programme information into a database, the data provided by Tribune can at times be lacking and somewhat inaccurate!

Now some people reading this might be thinking “hang on a second, this all looks very nice, but isn’t Plex a Media Player, not a recording solution like TiVo?”.

That is correct, but please bear with me and I will reveal all. This is where SpearNZB steps in and complements Plex perfectly. SpearNZB is another application that effectively provides an equivalent to “Season Pass”.

You add the programmes you like to SpearNZB and it automatically downloads, unarchives and renames them to the correct format for Plex to recognise. Plex automatically scans for new content (which SpearNZB provides) and populates the system with all the synopsis information, ratings, cast and actor’s, the thumbnails and artwork associated with the particular program!

The DVR free’d us from being tied to TV schedules which is great, but the in essence, the DVR is still tied to TV schedules in order to be able to record the live broadcast from the station provider. In the UK, the majority of the time, we are still a long way behind the original air-date of a lot of imported shows, so using Plex and SpearNZB in the UK provides a huge advantage over a DVR!

Only the big productions like “Lost” or recently “FlashForward” air only several days after the USA. The majority of the time, we are still several months behind. Take the screen-shot above, at the time of writing this (February 9th 2010), SpearNZB has populated Plex with every episode of CSI New York up to episode fourteen “Sanguine Love” aired on the 3rd February 2010 in the USA. The next episode, “The Formula” airs tomorrow night in the USA (Tuesday 10th February)  and will be in

SpearNZB will email you its progress

 

available to Plex the following day (Wednesday 11th February), ready to watch, courtesy of SpearNZB. In the UK, we are only up to episode five, “Battle Scars” which would have been available to watch through this system last October, having aired on the 21st October in the USA!

At least with the CSI New York example, we are part way through the same season, all-be-it three months behind still. Another programme example, “The Mentalist”, I haven’t even seen any mention of season two in the UK, whilst in fact the second season started five months ago in the USA and at the time of writing, is up to episode thirteen!

So what is this Plex system and SpearNZB. Well basically it is a set of software that can be installed on a computer like a Mac-Mini to provide a powerful Media Center. The small foot print of the Mac-Mini makes it an excellent platform for a media center, especially as all Mac’s have built in Remote Control functionality, so its a lot less hassle than cobbling together a PC system and far less intrusive or untidy!

Apple Mac-Mini an ideal media center at just 6.5” square and 2” deep

 

Plex is the main Media Center and your User Interface to all your media. It hosts pretty much everything related to entertainment.

Example of features:

1. ★ Movie Library
   

2. ★ TV Shows
   

3. ★ iTunes Library
   

4. ★ Photo Library
   

5. ★ Spotify
   

6. ★ Weather Forecasts
   

7. ★ News Channels
   

8. ★ Netflix
   

9. ★ YouTube
   

10. ★ Hulu
    

11. ★ AV Forum
    

View AV Forum content direct from your TV

 

Popular streaming options like iPLayer, 4OD etc.

 

So what we have here is a cumulation of hardware and software that works as a team to provide a pretty viable alternative to a DVR. It goes further than that though, far further, its far more aesthetically pleasing than the commercial products on the market. Taking advantage of the best sources of information available on the internet, it often surpasses the commercial devices for quality of content when it comes to programme information. The transparent availability of your existing music library and photo’s is another plus too. There are negatives though, the biggest downside (especially for those that are conscious about origins of their material) is the TV content you are watching is effectively someone else's recording that they have uploaded to share. I guess you could compare it to systems like Napster which allowed people to share their MP3’s. Whilst this poses an ethical dilemma, “should you be watching an TV show that someone else had recorded for you”, you can’t help liking the fact that these shows are also free from commercials, as its standard practise to strip out the commercials and truncate the files to contain just the raw content.

There is a short video sequence below with a quick glimpse of the User Interface and functionality: