The Mac Mini has been in use now for more than a week. It is time to provide some details on what media center applications I am using the most. There are only two options in my opinion that are worth looking at. It comes down to Boxee and Plex. I am not going to give a full review of each app because it has been done thousands of time already on the web. If you want to learn more about Plex and Boxee just check them out on the web. What I am going to focus on is what specifically I like about each.
Let’s start with Boxee. I have been using Boxee for a few months on my MacBook Pro. This was really just experimentation until I purchased a Mac Mini. The cool thing about Boxee is the social aspect. For example my buddy Jason is also a Boxee user so I can see what movies he has been watching. We can also recommend media to each other. The social aspect of Boxee is a great feature that is unique with the current media centers. Plex doesn’t have this ability so Boxee gets the upper hand on the social media features.
Plex and Boxee are spin offs of the old XBMC (Xbox Media Center). I had XBMC on my old modded xbox and loved it. XBMC is still available and has been ported to the Mac but it is dated in my opinion. Plex and Boxee continue the XBMC legacy and they both do XBMC proud. Both Plex and Boxee support most all of the media sites on the web. Some of these include CNN, YouTube, HULU, ABC, and CBS. The list keeps growing and growing. But HULU is becoming difficult to keep current since recent issues with HULU being pulled from Boxee.
With so much media available you really do not need to go out to the web for much of anything when using either Boxee or Plex. Just fire up Plex or Boxee and all your photos, videos, news, and movies are all in one place. They are about even on the the media features but Boxee has a slight edge in my book since Plex doesn’t support Flickr. And I need flickr support! Plex also doesn’t have a NetFlix plugin. But I do that on the Xbox 360 or my Mac Book Pro.
Movie codec support is a tie but I have read that Plex is better on the HD viewing. I can’t notice any difference with what I have been watching. Both apps have played everything I have thrown at them without issue.
Visually they both look great. But for me Plex is hands down better. The main reason for his is the use of media stills as you navigate your movie library. Check out these series of screen shots of Plex from my Movie library. Notice notice how the background changes with each movie.
Plex is just too sexy and wins hands down in the look department.
Let’s talk plugins. Plugins are how you get all of the media website content assessable from the media center application. This is a carry over from XBMC and not much has changed. Plex has what they call the App Store. You install the app to support the media you want. If you want to see the daily CNN videos then you install the CNN plugin. You do this in Plex right inside Plex itself so it is really convenient and easy. The auto plugin upgrade feature in Plex works great as well. Here is a video from Vimeo of the Plex App Store.
I like the way Plex installs plugins and updates them over what Boxee offers. Plex win the plugin feature.
Both Plex and Boxee are fully controllable from the Apple remote or a mouse and keyboard if you wish. They both search your computer for your media and are pretty easy to get everything setup and running in a matter of minutes. You can’t really go wrong with either application. But for me Plex is what I am using the most now that the Mac Mini is up and running. Plex just looks too good. The use of the movie and TV stills that Plex have integrated into the interface really make the overall experience fun to navigate. Plex also plays TV show sound bites when you are browser your TV shows. If Plex would only release a flickr plugin I would be 100% satisfied.
I will keep both Plex and Boxee on my Mac Mini but Plex will get the most use for now.
Twitter It!Tags: Boxee, Home Theater, Movies, Plex, XBMC