Man of Honour
I use a FLIRC device, and I've wired the IR down cat 5 - so I can use my remote even though the server/media player is in the "IT corner" of the house (just a couple of shelves in an out of the way part of the house). I use a logitech harmony remote which has all the programmed macros i.e. you push "watch movies" and it turns on amp, tv and so on ready to watch. The HTPC also has HDMI over ethernet which seems to work well.
I was happy with Kodi, but Plex just offers the server experience and since I'm using plex server, plex media center made sense.
My plex server and HTPC (I've put both on the same PC) runs off an intel G3240 which copes with all the transcoding easily (though I use direct play at home).
Building a PC may be overkill, but works well. The media is stored on various NASes with a WHS box.
That said the small tv in the dining room has a chromecast on it and we use that when not using the big tv - work flawlessly.
I was happy with Kodi, but Plex just offers the server experience and since I'm using plex server, plex media center made sense.
My plex server and HTPC (I've put both on the same PC) runs off an intel G3240 which copes with all the transcoding easily (though I use direct play at home).
Building a PC may be overkill, but works well. The media is stored on various NASes with a WHS box.
That said the small tv in the dining room has a chromecast on it and we use that when not using the big tv - work flawlessly.