Tag Archive | "SetUp"

Our Pad Lets You Setup Multiple User Accounts On Your iPad


class="align-right" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/screenshot1428.jpg" alt="multiple user accounts on ipad" />I share my precious iPad with three other members of my family, and with occasional guests who drop by from time to time. Each user has his or her own e-mail and Facebook accounts, which typically means they have to log out of my accounts to access theirs. This is not a huge problem, but since Apple has already established a multiple sign-in accounts feature for Macs, it only makes sense to have something similar for iOS devices.

Perhaps Apple hasn’t added this feature because secretly it would like to have each member of the family own their own iPad. Well, until that happens, the developers at Ghori Networks have created a workable solution, called href="http://www.ourpadapp.com/">Our Pad. The name might not be exciting, but the features this application offers may very be useful to those of us who share their iPad with other people.

How It Works

With Our Pad, you and other members of your family or group can set up separate accounts for signing into e-mail and social networking sites, including Facebook, Gmail, Hotmail, Yahoo Mail, and Twitter.

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As Ghori Networks states :

Passwords for your accounts are not transferred anywhere and are strictly managed within the device using the Apple Keychain lockbox.

This setup simply saves users the trouble of having to sign out of and into similar accounts.

You sign out of a user account by pressing the Home button or by tapping your name. If you forget to sign out, Our Pad will automatically sign you out when your iPad is idle or when it goes to sleep.

Adding Accounts

Adding accounts in Our Pad is pretty easy. When you launch the application, it asks you for the name of a user. You could also simply add an alternate account for say work related sites.

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In the next screen you draw what is called a long pattern to unlock the account. You should make that pattern as easy or as difficult as it needs to be depending upon the user and the level of security needed. This lock pattern feature is what many iPad users would probably like to see used for logging into the iPad itself.

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If you forget your lock pattern, you will need to delete the user account in question and set it up again.

After clicking the next button, you simply add the accounts that you want to log into. The username and password for each account will be saved so that you do not have to type them in again.

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Once you’re set up, you can easily switch between your established email and social networking accounts. In my test of the application, I find Our Pad to be amazingly fast and intuitive.

Fortunately, you can also change the name of and/or reset the log-in pattern for existing accounts, as well delete them altogether.

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I’m not a big fan of the app’s design, but I’m very hopeful about the future potential of this iPad-only application.

Wish List

Ghori Networks has already said that future updates of this application will include other sites. The developers invite you to let them know about different web-based services you would like to see added.

It would be great if Apple added the ability to access multiple user accounts on iPad so that each user has their own set of applications and user settings. No doubt this will occur in future versions of the iPad, but for now Ghori Networks provides a practical solution that many of us iPad owners will want to use.

Let us know what you think of Our Pad, which is free for a limited time.



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The HP TouchPad Setup Guide Part 2: Overclocking Your Tablet [WebOS]


class="align-right" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/intro10.jpg" alt="hp touchpad overclock" />Last time I showed you href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/hp-touchpad-setup-guide-part-1-speed-tablet-preware-homebrew-patches-webos/">how to speed up your newly acquired firesale HP TouchPad with a number of patches and tweaks. There’s no denying that the performance increase is noticeable (especially compared to stock 3.0 firmware) but the device still seems to lag and stutter at points.

If you’re still disappointed with performance and are looking to turbo-charge your TouchPad, then a 1.5GHz speed bump might just do the trick. Be warned that this might just void your warranty should things go wrong, but with software like WebOS Doctor on your side the process is fairly safe and above all easy. It is also possible to remove your modified kernel and restore to Palm defaults with just a few taps.

Warranty, Preware & Patches

Before we begin, make sure you have installed Preware, enabled Developer Mode and installed the patches I mentioned in href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/hp-touchpad-setup-guide-part-1-speed-tablet-preware-homebrew-patches-webos">my last article. You’ll be needing Preware in order to download and install the new kernel and governor application, Developer Mode, to alter the TouchPad’s existing kernel and the patches go a long way in the pursuit of a speedy tablet.

It must be said that HP is unlikely to bat an eyelid should you return a TouchPad that has been “bricked” due to an unclean reboot caused by messing with the kernel. Similarly, they won’t repair a unit damaged directly as a result of an overclock.

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That said, the 1.5GHz bump is a fairly safe procedure which does not increase the processor’s voltage demands nor does it have a massive impact on battery life. It’s early days at the moment, and many are reporting around a 10% decrease in battery life, with the highest I’ve seen quoted at 20%. Similarly, href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/3-laptop-computer-temperature-monitor-apps-save-hard-drive/">operating temperatures aren’t that much higher either.

UberKernel & Experimental Alternatives

At present the only stable kernel that currently supports overclocking is called the UberKernel. There are plenty of others available, but these still reside in Preware’s testing feeds, unlike UberKernel which has been deemed fit for public consumption.

It is for this reason that we’re using UberKernel here. If you are interested in trying out some of the more experimental overclocks, with speeds of up to 1.9GHz available (though stability goes out of the window) then check out href="http://www.webos-internals.org/wiki/Application:PsychoKernel">PsychoKernel at WebOS-Internals. As stability increases with each alpha version, features are implemented into the public UberKernel release – so it’s probably worth sticking to the public release unless you’re ready to href="http://www.webos-internals.org/wiki/Testing_Feeds">play by the testing rules.

Install UberKernel & Govnah

Open up Preware and choose Available Packages followed by Kernels then All. At the time of writing only two are available – Palm Kernel (the default “recovery” kernel) and UberKernel.

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Choose UberKernel, read the disclaimer then hit Install. The process should take around 10 minutes maximum, and once installed you will be prompted to restart your device (which you should do).

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If all went well, your TouchPad started up as you’d normally expect it to (with an initial splash of information on boot from UberKernel). At present, your TouchPad is not overclocked – UberKernel simply allows for this. To increase href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/cpu-technology-explained/">your CPU frequency you’ll need a governor application, like Govnah.

Back to Preware and hit the magnifying glass (search) icon in the top right. Type “Govnah” (without quotes) and tap on the only result. Once you’ve read the app description, hit Install.

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Exit Preware and open your app launcher. Navigate to Downloads and choose Govnah. Read and heed the text before tapping through to the main interface. Govnah should currently look like this:

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To overclock, simply tap Profile then choose OnDemandTcl 1512. You will be returned to the Govnah home screen, where you can watch your CPU clock itself up to 1.5GHz. Congratulations, you’re overclocked – exit Govnah and try out your faster tablet.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/overclocked.jpg" alt="hp touchpad overclock" width="580" height="435" />

You can of course create your own profiles where you specify the clock speed, though beware it is possible that you’ll encounter issues. To uninstall, simply select UberKernel in Preware from your Installed Packages list and uninstall then reboot. Easy!

The Doctor Will See You Now

If something went wrong, then all might not be lost. WebOS Doctor is program designed to restore your WebOS device back to an original firmware image. There is a lengthy guide on WebOS-Internals about restoring a device and solutions to a number of problems you might encounter.

Download: href="http://ws.hpwebos.com/webosdoctor/sorry.htm">WebOS Doctor (Windows XP, Vista, 7 & Mac OS X 10.5+) /> Documentation: href="http://www.webos-internals.org/wiki/How_To_Recover">Restoring A Device (WebOS Internals), href="http://kb.hpwebos.com/wps/portal/kb2/common/article/44768_en.html">Palm WebOS Doctor FAQ (HP/Palm)

Conclusion

After spending a day or two overclocked, I can say the difference is noticeable. Loading times for apps such as email and photos are much improved, as is scrolling through emails or sliding panes around in Facebook. The browsing experience is perkier too – and I haven’t really noticed href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/5-ways-improve-battery-life-tablet/">an impact on battery life.

Let us know if you’ve noticed much of a speed boost from your TouchPad. Did you patch it up or go the whole hog and overclock? Do you like WebOS? Do you think HP will continue to provide updates or sell the OS? This is a hot topic right now, so leave your comment below.



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Use Your WiFi Connection Setup On All PCs With WiFi Network Backup Manager [Windows]


class="align-right" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/cdbackup.png" alt="" />According to a class="vt-p" href="http://www.marketingcharts.com/direct/computers-remain-popular-with-mobile-users-18195/prosper-internet-usage-by-device-owners-jul11gif/">Prosper Mobile Insights Survey in 2011, over half of mobile smartphone users – 56 percent to be exact – still sat down and logged into the Internet with a computer. Not only do these mobile users usually prefer toting around a laptop for real hard-core heavy-bandwidth computer use while they’re on the go, they also find themselves accessing the Internet from multiple mobile Internet hotspots throughout the day. A typical, active person may have four to six commonly used Wi-Fi points, like home, work, an Internet cafe on the way to work, and the local library on the weekends.

Having multiple access points isn’t so much of a hassle, because you can just configure all of them in your wireless network setup and then click to connect to whichever one you want. Here at MUO, we’ve offered some good tips on setting up wi-fi networks, like Tina’s class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/wifi-for-dummies-9-common-mistakes-setting-up-a-wireless-network/">Wi-Fi for Dummies, and Tim’s tips on setting up a class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/how-to-set-up-and-secure-your-own-wi-fi-hotspot/">secure wi-fi hotspot. The hassle comes in when you switch to a new computer or if you switch computers often. You have to set up all of those Wi-Fi points again, and hopefully you can remember all of the previous settings you were using.

Luckily, there’s an app called the class="vt-p" href="http://blogs.microsoft.co.il/blogs/shair/archive/2011/06/11/wifi-network-backup-manager-utility.aspx">WiFi Network Backup Manager that can capture all of the details for your Wi-Fi connections and save them in a very portable and easy to manage XML file.

Using The WiFi Network Backup Manager

The WiFi Network Backup Manager is a useful tool that you probably never would have imagined needing until you use it. Then you can’t live without it.

Basically, when you first run the program, it will extract your current Wi-Fi network settings and lay them all out in an XML format.

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style="text-align: left;">You can explore the settings by scrolling down. If things seem a little hectic, just click on the red minus sign to collapse a configuration category. This lets you explore your current Wi-Fi network settings without a whole lot of clutter. Keep in mind that you can’t change the settings from within this app – it’s primarily a view and backup utility.

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style="text-align: left;">If you want to make changes, make them in the Windows network setup, and then relaunch the WiFi Network Backup Utility for a fresh update. Once you’re satisfied that all of the settings for all of your commonly used Wi-Fi networks are good, go ahead and click on the “Save All” button at the bottom of the main window.

style="text-align: left;">This will open up a dialog window where you can tell the utility where to save the backup file. It saves it as a .WifiBackup format, which is supposed to be readable only by the software, but in reality it’s just an XML file. At this point you can save the file – which is your complete Wi-Fi profile – anywhere you like.

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style="text-align: left;">Save the file to a USB drive (along with a copy of the install for the Wi-Fi Backup Utility), and you’ll have all of your Wi-Fi settings available everywhere you go. Borrowing a friend’s laptop? Just pop in the USB stick and all your Wi-Fi settings are right there. Getting a refreshed laptop at work? Now you don’t have to worry about wasting time re-configuring everything.

style="text-align: left;">When you’re on the new computer and you want to reload all of the Wi-Fi network settings into the Windows Network setup, just launch the Wi-Fi backup utility and click on the “Load” button. Browse to the .WifiBackup file that you saved, and the software will import the XML file with all of your previous Wi-Fi settings. A dialog box will pop up asking you if you want to load those Wi-Fi networks into your current control panel.

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style="text-align: left;">Click Yes, and then go into the Wi-Fi network configuration area of the Windows control panel. You’ll see the networks loaded up, with all of the settings that you had defined on your other computer. That’s it – it doesn’t get much easier than that.

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style="text-align: left;">One final note for those of you that feel you want the ability to tweak the settings even after you’ve exported the XML file to your USB drive or your DropBox account. Just open up the XML file in Notepad or WordPress, and you can edit it just like you normally would any other text file. You’ll need to sift through the code, but it’s easy enough to find the settings. You can manually change those settings, and then just make sure to save the file with the .WifiBackup extension.

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style="text-align: left;">If you do a lot of traveling, and you tend to switch between several laptops – like a work and a home one – using this utility can save you a lot of time. Once you have a good setup working with all of your Wi-Fi connections, just back up the file and you’ll never have to set them up on another PC again.

style="text-align: left;">Give the Wi-Fi Backup Manager a try and let us know what you think. Will it save you some time while you’re mobile? Can you think of other useful reasons someone may want to keep a backup file of Wi-Fi settings? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.

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Take A Look At James’ Home Setup [Show & Tell]


class="align-right" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/shutterstock-home-network.jpg" alt="" />Taking a break from our regular awesome software reviews and tutorials, I thought it’d be interesting if myself and some of the other staff writers here at MakeUseOf show you our own home setups – whether that be in the form of fantastic custom desks, complicated home media-streaming networks, or just the apps and services we make use of on a regular basis and our favourite software tools. It’s also a good chance to clean my desk up a bit.

Main Computer

My main work machine is a 27” iMac. Bored of sitting all the time and for health reasons, I switched the desk legs for some extendable ones at IKEA and I now have a fantastic simple standing desk that’s actually really solid. If you already have a suitable desktop, you can pick up just the legs for about $100. I do need to do something about the cables though.

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/stadning-desk-ikea.jpg" alt="" width="580" height="433" />

I have a second monitor beside it which runs Windows 7 inside a virtual Parallels machine, mostly used for testing purposes and because it’s much easier to take screenshots with a virtual machine.

Network

With a total of about 10 clients, everything in my house is networked together – including the TV. Where possible, I run a wired ethernet connection. No matter how good your wireless router is, a wired connection is always going to be faster, especially important when shuffling around large files and streaming HD movies. The main router is a stock firmware device given to me by my cable company – it’s good enough, and acts as both a 4 port switch and a wireless router. To extend the network upstairs, I then have a separate network switch connected via a simple crossover ethernet cable.

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/home-network.jpg" alt="" width="580" height="379" />

The number of devices is perhaps a bit excessive, but most are old laptops that wouldn’t sell anyway, and like most geeks I can’t bear to throw hardware away.

If you’d like to learn more about setting up a home network of your own, be sure to read our href="http://www.makeuseof.com/pages/easy-guide-computer-networks ">Easy Guide to Computer Networks for a great primer on the topic.

Home Server

Sitting in the cupboard is my home media, backup, and file server. Right now it’s running href="http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/winfamily/windowshomeserver/default.mspx">Windows Home Server 2011 – I know we’ve covered a lot of free alternatives before (such as href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/set-home-server-amahi/">Amahi and href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/media-server/">all these), but ultimately I prefer the stability of a Windows server and the fact that apart from being a rock solid server, it can also run Windows apps at the same time. With 2 x 1TB drives, it’s able to href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/backup">backup all the Windows machines on the network automatically, as well provides a remote time machine based backup for any Macs (though I don’t use that). Apart from the usual Windows file-sharing, I also run href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/setup-perfect-media-center-plex-mac-windows/">Plex Media Server which I showed you a few weeks ago. That’s then able to serve movies and TV shows around the house with full metadata information and covers automatically downloaded.

Of course, with all that space it also runs href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/utorrent/">uTorrent. Rather than use the built-in href="http://www.makeuseof.com/dir/utorrent-remote-control-utorrent-downloads">uTorrent remote access, I prefer to have Windows Remote Desktop activated so I can use the entire desktop remotely. You can set this up on any Windows 7 machine easily using new features introduced in the href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/3-cool-windows-7-cloud/">Windows Live Mesh app. For security, any traffic to the outside world is secured across an anonymous href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/vpn/">VPN – I use href="http://vpntunnel.se">VPN Tunnel (a paid, unlimited access service perfect for torrents).

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/iphone-yawcam.jpg" alt="" width="580" height="387" />

Situated in a small room with a window upstairs, it’s also ideal as a motion-sensing security system using a webcam and a suite of tools I showed you before. When activated, the system can send href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/set-multiplatform-notification-system-growl/">Growl alerts to my mobile and around the network. Learn how to set up your own href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/motion-detection-surveillance-system-iphone-notification/">free home security system here.

Media Center

Though the TV is able to read some files straight off the network, I prefer to use my media centre PC and just output to the TV. This avoids any format issues, and allows me to have wonderful metadata and covers from Plex as I said, streaming from the server – this is done through XBMC and the PleXBMC plugin. Last week, I hacked the Xbox360 Kinect camera into this Windows PC to let me href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/control-windows-pc-kinect/">control XBMC by frantically waving my arms around, but plugging the camera back into the Xbox got tiring quickly so I’m making do with a long-corded USB mouse until I get a chance to test out some remote control apps. Android owners have a free official app from XBMC, and here’s a href="{http://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/boxee-plex-xbmc-remote/id403716879?mt=8">free app for iOS that handles Plex, XBMC and Boxee – I just haven’t got around to trying them yet!

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To be honest, there’s quite a few Media Center apps you could use, and it’s really down to personal preference which you choose in the long run. Some of the writers here prefer href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/boxee-beta-an-app-that-will-change-how-you-think-about-television/">Boxee, which I’ve yet to try myself but apparently has great social features, while others go for a straight up href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/xbmc-10-dharma-mature-featurerich-crossplatform-media-centre/">XBMC install, with all the hacks and tweaks that involves.

Web Services

I must admit I’m quite minimalist when it comes to web services. href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/gmail/">GMail and href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/google-reader/">Reader have permanent tabs in my Chrome browser, and I have the obligatory Facebook account. Other than that, I don’t tweet, and virtually all my web browsing originates through various feeds in Google Reader. Sorry to disappoint, but I’m much more of a hardware and networking kind of guy.

That’s it from me, but I hope you’ll get to see what works for other writers in the coming weeks, so stay tuned and we can both look forward to reading those. As ever, feel free to comment or ask questions and I’ll do my best to reply. For general questions, you might want to ask in the href="http://www.makeuseof.com/answers">Q&A part of the site, where our regular contributors and eagle-eyed editors jump at the chance to share their computing knowledge.

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    Setup A Perfect Media Center With Plex [Mac & Windows]


    class="align-right" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/plex-icon.jpg" alt="windows media center"/> href="http://www.plexapp.com/">Plex is widely regarded by many as being the best media player, manager and streaming application around – available for both Windows, Mac and even mobiles (though the mobile apps are not free). If you’re looking for a single solution as both a media center and server, then read on – this *is* the Media Center app you’ve been looking for your whole life.

    If you read through and decide you’d rather check out some of the alternatives, have a look at href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/awesome-free-video-converter-streaming-apps-mac-users/">Bakari’s round of streaming and converter apps for OsX, href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/5-great-linux-media-cente-distributions-transform-tv/">Tim’s collection of linux-based media center distros, or href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/6-tvready-media-center-programs-check/">Justin’s list of TV-ready media centre apps last month.

    Is it a player? Is it server?

    Plex produces a media server and client app for Mac OsX, however there is only a server app for Windows currently available. To view your media on the Windows side of things, you can use a Plex plugin. Since Plex is essentially a fork of the XBMC app, there is very little difference in the client/player side of things.

    Both Mac and Windows Plex Media Servers can send data to the mobile clients (obviously, there is no media server for mobile devices).

    I’ve made a little diagram to help explain this:

    class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/plex-serverplayer.jpg" alt="" width="580" height="525" />

    class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/plex-overview.jpg" alt="windows media center" width="580" height="488" />

    Installation

    Download and install the appropriate version from href="http://www.plexapp.com/">PlexApp.com . During the install, point the app at your directories for movies and TV.

    class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/add-folder.jpg" alt="media center" width="400" height="114" />

    Naming Conventions and Fixing MetaData

    One thing that always annoyed me about media center systems in the past has been how utterly incapable they seem to be of identifying my eclectic collection and gathering the appropriate covers / metadata. The secret is to name the files correctly – this href="http://wiki.plexapp.com/index.php/PlexNine_PMS_NamingGuide">helpful page details the process, and though it may be tiresome, it does result in a beautifully unified media collection rather than a mess of folders. For those of you who can’t be bothered to read, name your movies “name of movie (date of release)” like “Steal This Movie (2010)”. I suggest you go through your collection and do a little renaming before you install Plex to give it the best chance of correct identification. If you have odd formats such as .img or .iso, then no worries – just name them and Plex will handle it all!

    To launch the media manager and see what it’s found, click the taskbar icon (or right click in windows) and select Media Manager. You can then choose between TV and Movies, as well as Music if you chose to import that.

    class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/media-manager.jpg" alt="media center" width="580" height="205" />

    You may find a few odd matches – in that case you can easily right-click on the item in question, and select Fix Incorrect Match. this will bring up a list of possibilities. In general, I found that if the files were actually named correctly a match would generally be found – it was only when I had files that didn’t follow the guidelines that mismatches occured.

    class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/fix-incorrect-match.jpg" alt="media center" width="365" height="218" />

    The only complaint I do have is that the poster picture can’t be changed by dragging and dropping – it takes a bit of effort to navigate through the options for that – but then again you shouldn’t need to most times if it’s been correctly identified.

    The Plex Player App (Mac only)

    When your data is sorted, go ahead and launch the main player app (from Applications or the Start menu, not the icon already running in your taskbar). Bear in mind that you can’t use the mouse, as it’s designed for full-screen – so stick to the keyboard or remote. Hit Apple-F to switch to fullscreen, and start browsing through the options.

    The movies and TV menus options don’t need an awful lot of explaining really, except for that you can change the view style to cover flow or grid view (my personal favorite) by selecting “right” on your keyboard or remote to bring up the view options:

    class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/change-view-options.jpg" alt="media center" width="580" height="326" />

    class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/movie-grid.jpg" alt="media center pc" width="580" height="326" />

    Plex Online is the place to find plugins – such as the BBC iPlayer (UK only) – that enable Plex to interface with hundreds more free online video sources.

    class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/plex-online.jpg" alt="media center pc" width="580" height="326" />

    To access the online media content channels that you install, choose Video Plugins from the main menu. I especially recommend href="http://www.ted.com/">TED for some fantastic inspirational talks:

    class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/ted.jpg" alt="media center pc" width="580" height="326" />

    The app also makes a really good interface to YouTube and other social video sites. Just hit Search and type in your query – local media will appear first, as well as tons of internet videos that you can start streaming instantly. I actually found it easier than browsing the real YouTube site, since’s there’s absolutely no clutter and zero commentary from 14 year old idiots. Bonus!

    class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/youtube-search.jpg" alt="windows media center" width="580" height="326" />

    PleXBMC (Windows)

    To view your movies on Windows, you will need to install XBMC, then the add-on for Plex. Tim has covered href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/xbmc-10-dharma-mature-featurerich-crossplatform-media-centre/">the ins and outs of XMBC before with a thorough review, so I’ll only be showing you the actual connector add-on. To install it, make sure you use the XBMC interface rather than downloading and installing the zip file manually. Head to the System -> Add-Ons -> Video Add-Ons -> PleXBMC -> Install. If you have the server software running on a remote machine, you’ll also need to configure the IP of the remote server in the Configure option for the add-on. You should then be able to browse your Plex media server using the Add-Ons folder from the main Video menu, complete with covers and meta-data.

    Conclusion

    I have to admit, having all my movies in one central place with all the metadata correct is incredibly satisfying. If you have a large collection you’d love to browse by DVD covers then I strongly suggest Plex. I’ve tried other solutions in the past, but none have handled my movies particular well, and I find the media manager of Plex to be the best overall. It’s a shame there isn’t a native client for Windows yet, but the add-on for XBMC means I can basically have the same fantastic player interface while we wait for the official client. Plex is going to form the center of my living room now, and I’ve even splashed out on the iPad app which let’s me stream any of my collection without format worries.

    If you’re having any troubles setting it all up, then feel free to ask away in the comments or href="http://www.makeuseof.com/answers">Q&A section, and we’ll see if we can help.

    Oh and one last thing – Plex supports href="http://wiki.plexapp.com/index.php/Plex_Nine_RemoteAccess">streaming over the internet too!

     

    Read comments: href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/setup-perfect-media-center-plex-mac-windows/#disqus_thread">Loved it? Hated it? Join discussion here …

     

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    More articles about: href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/cross-platform/" title="cross platform" rel="tag">cross platform, href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/entertainment/" title="entertainment" rel="tag">entertainment, href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/media/" title="media" rel="tag">media, href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/media-center/" title="media center" rel="tag">media center, href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/media-player/" title="media player" rel="tag">media player, href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/media-server/" title="media server" rel="tag">media server, href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/streaming/" title="streaming" rel="tag">streaming, href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/tv-shows/" title="tv shows" rel="tag">tv shows, href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/video-player/" title="video player" rel="tag">video player />

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