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Looking for recommendations for a new media server / streaming box.
I currently have a WDTV which has been great but iplayer support has been discontinued. Also got an Amazon fire stick which I find to be very flakey indeed.
I've got an older NAS box with about 200 films which I want to be able to watch on our (dumb) telly. The NAS is a twonky server but its probably about 10 years old. It doesn't support Plex. I tend to access it directly via the file system rather than the DLNA interface.
Also want to watch iplayer and netflix. Not bothered about 4k or top end AV quality but I do want something thats really easy to use. The WDTV was brilliant in that regard as there were so few options to choose from and the grid interface was simple.
Any recommendations for a single device that will do both those things? Apple TV?
Get a Raspberry Pi and shove something like OSMC on it.
Have you checked to see if there's an update for the NAS?
Probably of no use to you, but I use the Xbox for all those things. Plex running on a "server," basically an old PC, Xbox as the media header to the TV. Supports Plex (which is superb), Netflix, iPlayer et al, and allegedly Chromecase-a-like though I've never used it for that as I have a real one. Xbox One / PS4 might be worth considering if you've any interest at all in a console (Red Dead Redemption 2 FTW).
Also, thread hijack:
A friend at work is looking for a NAS or similar to host music he's ripping from CDs. Does such a thing exist with a built-in CD drive that he can rip with as a one-box solution, any recommendations here that won't cost a second mortgage?
I just run a cheap Windows minicomputer behind the TV running a Plex server.
https://www.amazon.com/Intel-NUC5PGYH-Complete-Preinstalled-BOXNUC5PGYH0AJR/dp/B0150OL7D4/
We use have NowTV for exactly that.
Works perfectly for iPlayer and Netflix and cheap as chips normally.
We don’t bother with any of the subscriptions from NowTV.
Not sure from what you wrote whether you NAS doesn't do DLNA or you just don't want to use it? AppleTV is great but i don't think any app would access a NAS filesystem directly - think you would need to run DLNA (I could be very wrong though).
Default answer for TV box is usually the Roku.
Biggest app support, fast and competitively priced. NowTV boxes are built by them.
AppleTV is great but i don’t think any app would access a NAS filesystem directly
There are a couple these days - Infuse is very highly regarded, MrMC also seems quite popular. I couldn't get either of them to work to my liking, particularly infuse with TV shows.
I have an apple TV, with plex media server loaded onto my Synology NAS. Works a treat. Apple TV has iPlayer/netflix/Prime video app etc.... the only things that are missing are 4OD and Spotify - but these are apparently in the works.
I had to upgrade the NAS as my previous one was 8 yrs old and so didn't have enough chooch to run Plex Media server, and I didn't want to have my laptop open any running any time Batfink Jnr wants to watch peppa pig/Cinderella.
I looked into buying a mini PC to run PMS, but ended up spending the money on a new NAS - which seemed like a better investment.
Really happy with the setup - although getting iTunes purchased content to play on plex is a bit of a faff!
I got a Roku Express recently that does all that nicely. Good Plex client, iplayer, youtube, netflix, amazon, redbull etc. The box itself is tiny (even comes with a sticky strip because it can be stuck to the edge of the TV), costs under £30, super happy with it. Remote is decent but it uses plain IR if you wanted to use a 3rd party one like a Harmony.
Thanks all. I'll have a look at Roku in more detail.
Ended up buying an Nvidia Shield on black friday weekend. Excellent piece of kit. I really like the built in plex server.