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Currently I have my media on an external HD hooked to a old mac mini (v3.1, built 10/2009) via FW. The mini then sends video directly to my TV, and sound to my AV amplifier. Everything is in iTunes and I'm running it through Plex on the Mini.
The mini is starting to act up and I want a solution ready to go if it dies.
Easiest, but costliest is another mini. I'm just wondering if I can recreate my setup with a Roku or ATV3. From what I'm reading - I would still need a computer running iTunes to act as the server for the ATV. So I don't gain anything with the ATV as I ould have to buy a mini to to be there server. I haven't found a straight forward answer to the Roku.
So what is my best option?
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Yeah, you still need a local server for either the Apple TV 3 or any of the Roku models.
I like the Roku a lot, but it isn't perfect by any means. To be fair, I got a lot more mileage out of any of the Roku models I own (5 total, four still being used and the fifth might have a new home soon) than either the Apple TV 1 or 2, both of which I also owned for a few years. Plex is pretty slick for most of my uses and I find increasingly that I loathe iTunes.
Edit: I recommend Plex for the Roku. Since you have some experience with Plex as a front end, a transition to Plex Media Server on the back end and Plex on the Roku as a front end shouldn't be too hard. I actually prefer the RARflix private app to the official Plex Roku app. RARflix allows for more options with customizing how your media is shown on the Roku. Example: No, I don't need to necessarily see all dozen or so sorting categories when I want to view one of my libraries. "All", "Recently watched" and maybe one more category is fine.
Another tidbit, the official Plex app is no longer free for the Roku, think it is something like $5. I'm grandfathered in with the free app so I did not consider cost when comparing Plex versus RARflix. I truly prefer the latter and would be happy to pay $5 for it, not that I think $5 for the official channel is awful either. Both are pretty good. It just boils down to personal preference really.
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Do you have another Mac or similar non Mac PC to use as a server if your current Mac goes belly up? Some models of Roku allow direct connection of storage to a USB port, so that is another consideration if you desire a stand alone media center. The included app for local storage is rather rudimentary, but you could probably hack something decent together by moving your media into the appropriate folder structure. The Roku app can read HFS Extended formatted drives.
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Without a computer serving content, you'll need a media player that can directly take a hard disk connection, or pick up the content from a NAS.
I'm a little curious why you used Plex if everything was in iTunes and the Mac is connected to the TV. Can you just play it from iTunes and remove one layer of complexity?
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I have a Roku and a Mac mini hooked up to my tv and I find myself using the Mac with wireless kb about 95% of the time. It is just faster to search and navigate, then switch to iTunes and let it run the a screen saver full of random family pictures. It is great seeing family memories up in a screen instead of buried in hard drives.
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I use iTunes home sharing to serve my video collection to any apple device - ATV, iOS or Mac.
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I just googled ATV3 Plex and apparently you can run Plex on a stock ATV3 (jail breaking not required).
With the ATV3, you could also use it with iTunes to view your media. In this case, you would connect your FW drive to a computer running iTunes.
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I think you want something like the
WD TV Live Media Player.
It has a USB port where you connect your external hard drive.
It has HDMI and composite outputs to connect to new or old TVs.
No computer is required.
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So far the WD Media Player mentioned by TheTominator seems to be the best option. Reads USB 2 for the external drive - has HDMI for video and optical for audio. No Plex, but that is minor.
I'll have to look at interface and remote (IR of RF)
