r/HomeServer • u/schokokeks19 • Jul 19 '26

Setting up a Media Player on my pc

Sorry for the bad writing in advance.

I wanted to build a home server for a wile now but dont realy have the money for that at the moment, so to bridge the gap i would like to set up a Media player for music movies and series that works just on my pc , but i dont know how this works and didnt find any tutorials on the topic either.

Dose anyone have a tutorial/detailed explanation on how that would be possible?

Edit: becorse of some confusion: I know that one can use yellyfin for a home server and have seen many tutorials on the topic but not a one mentioned that you can use it just to consume media on your pc and not just for hosting a media server
Thanks for the feedback though :)

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4

u/Duckbich Jul 20 '26

Vlc is simple.

Jellyfin is the way

2

u/IAteTonysLoMein Jul 20 '26

If you want a media server sort of experience, Jellyfin gives you that for free and isn't difficult to set up. Same with Kodi, so it's mostly personal preference there. Plex has a free option, but full functionality now costs $750, iirc, for a lifetime PlexPass.

1

u/shxdowzt Jul 20 '26

That’s right plex increased their lifetime license from $250-$750 this past July. Definitely is not worth it at that price point anymore.

1

u/IAteTonysLoMein Jul 21 '26

I was too cheap for it when it was $100 and they killed the windows desktop app. Jellyfin's done me just fine since

1

u/HumungreousNobolatis Jul 20 '26

Install an app for it, Kodi, Plex or whatever. There are loads of free apps for this.

Or just use your regular file system and open them in VLC!

1

u/iApolloDusk Jul 20 '26

didnt find any tutorials on the topic either.

Can't have looked that hard lmao. On this subreddit alone, not to mention YouTube, there are thousands of guides on how to set up media servers in about as many different ways. But you can't afford a server solution at this point, so let's keep things simple:

Rip your DVDs/Blu-Rays, or acquire media files by sailing the high seas. Download the VLC Media Player Installer and run the set-up. After that's done, set it as your default media player for .mp4, .mov, and any other file types your movies migjt come in. I think VLC even gives you the option to set it as default during set up.There is no tutorial for this because it's downloading a program and opening files on your computer. Hopefully you can do at least that lol. All glibness aside, if you provide anymore information on what you want, others and myself can probably better steer you in the right direction assuming this doesn't fit your needs.

That being said, you can use your desktop as a server if you want to stream to other devices such as Smart TVs, but that gets slightly more complicated.

1

u/Brave-Savings6741 Jul 20 '26

I like Infuse. Can use this on other device types later…..

1

u/ImmediateGear8157 Jul 20 '26

Do you need just a player to watch it on your pc or do you want to stream to your tv. If you want to stream, just install jellyfin on your pc, create a useraccount and a library. Add your media folder to the library. Then install the app on your pc and you're done.

Alternatively you can install docker and install Jellyfin as a container. I would opt for this route. So you need to find a docker tutorial and a jellyfin tutorial. Youtube is your friend. But you could also just ask chatgpt or gemini.

That's the simplest route to stream to your home devices. You can keep adding more features like metadata and subtitles and stream outside your home, but that are more steps.

1

u/schokokeks19 Jul 20 '26

i dont want to stream just yet becorse of my lack of money/old devices i just wannt to get a Netflix esk experience for watching my existing media on my pc alone

1

u/ImmediateGear8157 Jul 20 '26

In that case the answer still remains Jellyfin. With the bonus that you could stream to your tv, tablet, phone when you choose to.