Easier than what? I have a Pi connected to my TV. I don’t use the official app, because I couldn’t figure out how to build it. From memory browser playback sucked or didn’t work at all. I settled on the Kodi plex plug-in which works pretty well - sometimes at the end of an episode it ‘double skips’ to next+1. The one thing that does work well with a Pi is CEC but that’s a double edged sword - I woke up to the plex turning my TV on a few nights ago, no idea why.
For plex, I would recommend looking into an Apple TV, a new Android TV (the one where you can use a remote, older ones only support casting) or a nvidia shield - I can’t fully recommend them but i suspect they suck less than my experience. Failing that, a decent (i5+) nuc may work but ymmv.
I've been using kodi but recently my hdmi cable started going bad. CEC worked with that one but for some reason that I don't understand I can't get another cable that it works with. I've tried old and new cables, microhdmi-hdmi, hdmi-hdmi with a microhdmi adapter, combinations of the above, but no matter what I can't find another cable that CEC works with. Would you happen to have any idea why this would be happening?
Also when I switch back to the cable that's failing CEC works again. I can't explain it. And yes, I have CEC enabled on the TV.
It’s possible only a subset of TV ports work with CEC. Kodi uses pulse8 drivers which I dare say are hacky. I’m no expert but CEC has been around for a long portion of the HDMI standard, so I imagine most cables support it.
I’d first try different ports on your TV, failing that try reformatting the system.
I'll give that a shot but I don't think it has anything to do with the ports or system because if I keep everything the same and just change the cable my old one will work but whatever alternative I try won't, and then the old one will work when I plug that back in lol.
Googling a bit suggests it was introduced in hdmi 1.2 and updated in 1.3 - thinking about this it’s possible cable or TV version has impact on your functionality - E.g Kodi sending a newer CEC command because your cable says it’s fine but the tv cannot process (this is purely a guess btw, but I’ve seen dumber things). You might be able to find some cli tools that help troubleshoot, but yeah, not an expert here.
can't comment on using a pi. i use an old intel i5 laptop with Linux Mint 20 and a Logitech K400 keyboard/touchpad remote ($25). I wouldn't bother with CEC because I dont need an integrated remote control when I have a keyboard/mouse.
For plex, I would recommend looking into an Apple TV, a new Android TV (the one where you can use a remote, older ones only support casting) or a nvidia shield - I can’t fully recommend them but i suspect they suck less than my experience. Failing that, a decent (i5+) nuc may work but ymmv.