Getting Netflix like experience with local media. What options do I have ?

raksrules

raksrules

Northstar
I have Netflix at home and I usually never watch anything on it but wife does. I wanted to see if I could move everything to local media rather than netflix. It is not much about saving money (since Netflix isn't really expensive at $10.xx with tax per month). This is more about whether I can do this or not.
I understand Kodi is an option and I do have Kodi but for wife, it is a hassle where the link may not work and she wants subtitles so many a times it isn't there.
So what options do I have if I have a HDD full of local media and want to have a nice interface which can organize that media, remember what I watched last and continue from there when I come there next time, automatically download subtitles etc.

I understand that one answer I am expecting is PLEX. I honestly don't understand Plex much. The only thing I know is that it will require me to have something to host a server (which means keep a computer or something On) and a client which can be my Roku or Firestick. If I go for Plex route, is it possible to somehow have a connected HDD (assume I have firetv as the device or xiaomi Mi Box) and I can locally play stuff from the HDD using Plex . I believe that in this case, there is no server so it won't really work. Not sure.
Any other way ? I know I can download VLC etc but those are just meant to play the files and nothing else.

The hardware I have as of now is a Roku 3 and Amazon Fire Stick. If Plex (or some other software) can actually play media from a connected (to that device, not a computer) HDD with a good looking interface, remember where I left a show, download subs etc, I can invest in either a FireTV or a Xiaomi Mi Box.

PS: I don't see any point in having a setup which involves keeping a PC on all the time. Another option with a single device is the Nvidia Shield which now has ability to become a Plex server. So that can be used as server and client both simultaneously I think. Correct me if I am wrong.
 
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raksrules said:
I understand Kodi is an option and I do have Kodi but for wife, it is a hassle where the link may not work and she wants subtitles so many a times it isn't there.
So what options do I have if I have a HDD full of local media and want to have a nice interface which can organize that media, remember what I watched last and continue from there when I come there next time, automatically download subtitles etc.
Click to expand...
Kodi does what you want properly. It ticks the files that have been played and also can resume from where you had left off. It has options and addons to organise the media how you want and even has option to rename files and folders. I mostly like to keep the files and folders as is. You may need to read up on it. There are addons to download subtitles. They don't download automatically though. I had to choose to download the subs first after searching from a long list.

raksrules said:
I understand that one answer I am expecting is PLEX. I honestly don't understand Plex much. The only thing I know is that it will require me to have something to host a server (which means keep a computer or something On) and a client which can be my Roku or Firestick. If I go for Plex route, is it possible to somehow have a connected HDD (assume I have firetv as the device or xiaomi Mi Box) and I can locally play stuff from the HDD using Plex . I believe that in this case, there is no server so it won't really work. Not sure.
Any other way ? I know I can download VLC etc but those are just meant to play the files and nothing else.
Click to expand...
VLC does the same like Kodi too. It can browse network shares and download subtitles and resume playback from where you left. VLC has come a long way on android now. IMO bot VLC and Kodi are really good at playing media files off shared drives. The only drawback of VLC is it has a bad interface which requires a lot of clicking and it is unfriendly wrt TV interface.

raksrules said:
The hardware I have as of now is a Roku 3 and Amazon Fire Stick. If Plex (or some other software) can actually play media from a connected (to that device, not a computer) HDD with a good looking interface, remember where I left a show, download subs etc, I can invest in either a FireTV or a Xiaomi Mi Box.

PS: I don't see any point in having a setup which involves keeping a PC on all the time. Another option with a single device is the Nvidia Shield which now has ability to become a Plex server. So that can be used as server and client both simultaneously I think. Correct me if I am wrong.
Click to expand...

No need to keep the computer on at all times. Get a raspberry pi or pogo plug (needs some hacking to install debian on it) and you are good to go with your fire tv.

I'll tell you how my setup is.
I have a pogo plug 7-8 year old version on which I had installed debian. It has 4 usb ports for adding external hdd's to it. I run debian off a usb drive and have a portable external 1TB hdd attached to the plug. The folders on the drive are shared through samba. I have an android box with kodi and vlc installed on it. I usually use kodi to browse the drive attached to the plug via a wired network. Kodi plays upto 4k HEVC files though this setup. It does stutter a bit due to improperly encoded files but that is not a big problem.
I have heard great reviews of the nvidia shield but it seems too costly for that price. I mean in that amount you can buy a new upgraded android or windows box every year and not feel the pain of upgrading.
Plex days are over. Most android phones can play files off a shared network drive as is with little to no buffering now. I tried playing some files off the plug on my 2 year old phone using VLC and MXPlayer and both just played the files quite smoothly. Why waste precious cpu resources on transcoding and having an app always connected to the internet just to get a file off the local network.
 
I used Archos video player. It's not that good with subtitles. If there are subs on top and bottom, it just shows every thing at bottom in its own font and not the font used in the subtitles.
 
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