Plex Media Server facilitates a simple solution for uploading local media files and streaming it online, thus creating a media server that can be accessed by you and your friends to enjoy movies, TV shows, music, photos and home videos, regardless of your location worldwide. All of this can be achieved from a web interface.

Accessibility via the system tray

After a quick and uneventful setup procedure, Plex Media Server creates an icon in the taskbar notifications at startup, thus allowing you to rapidly bring up the web interface and manage media content, regardless of the workspace you're currently working in.

Not mentioned in the installer is that the tool automatically starts at Windows boot, and this option can be disabled from the tray icon's context menu.


Attractive web interface

It may take a while for the media manager to load in the web browser. As far as looks goes, Plex Media Server is sleek and sophisticated, thanks to a dark theme and intuitively displayed buttons.

So, you can add a new library by selecting its type between movies, TV shows, music, photos and home videos, along with library name and language. It is possible to include folders with the containing media files, as well as to customize advanced settings in regard to the scanner and agent. The content can be optionally included in the dashboard.

Manage library content easily

It is possible to sort items by various criteria, edit general information such as year, tagline, genre and collection, add posters, banners and backgrounds, play media within the browser, put together a playlist with multiple media files and randomize them, synchronize library content to the local files, use a search location to locate a particular file, as well as track all activity performed you and other users with access to the media library.

Evaluation and conclusion

No error dialogs were shown in our testing, and the program did not hang or crash. It has minimal impact on computer performance, thanks to the fact that it runs on low CPU and memory. However, it sometimes takes a long while to load media. Other than that, Plex Media Server features an impressive set of intuitive features for all users who want to easily stream their local media files to a media center.

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Plex Pass
Mobile apps and hardware aside, you can create a great Plex experience without spending a penny. But if you want access to a bit more functionality, early software releases, and the satisfaction of supporting the hardworking Plex team, you can sign up for a PlexPass.

Introduced in August 2012, PlexPass is a paid premium tier ($4.99 per month, $39.99 per year, or $149.99 lifetime) that gives members some pretty slick exclusive features, including a cloud-based automatic camera upload function for mobile devices, the ability to sync select media to cloud providers for faster remote streaming, a multi-user option, and, just added, integrated movie trailers and extras.

PlexPass definitely isn’t required, and I recommend that you give the software and service a thorough look before deciding. But if you love Plex, and want the most out of it, I’d recommend you consider a PlexPass to ensure the best experience.

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