Roku setup

[subevenis]

Recently cut the cord and have been stumbling around my new Roku 2 on my HDTV with basically just netflix. I "purchased" the Plex app, aka the free 30 day trial and when I tried to go into it to find channels, it doesn't seem to have anything to offer. Please help? What am I doing wrong and is this an irritatingly easy question?

[DBDukes]

@subevenis 

You do not need a Plex subscription (Plex Pass) to use Plex. There are some additional things a subscription gets you, but unless you need those things. [link]

I primarily use Plex to stream my local media. I've ripped my DVDs and other content I purchased to a local computer running Plex server. As a result, I can watch my purchased content from the single app.

Plex has recently (last several months) added free live streaming content, similar to what you'll find on Pluto TV, Roku Channel, Xumo, and others apps.

Others have connected a TV tuner and antenna and use it as a DVR/TV source, similar to Tablo or Air TV. (I haven't, as I use Tablo for that.)

There should be a menu on the left with various Libraries, including but not limited to Live TV, Movies & Shows, as well as any local content you add to a Plex server.

Oh, and you called your Roku 2 "new." The last Roku 2 was built in 2016. That's not really new anymore. Did you have a typo? What's the model number of your device? Settings > System > About

[atc98092]

As @DBDukes mentioned, Plex was originally developed for playing your own local media. No subscription or purchase is necessary for that use, but you do have to tell Plex where your media is located. This could be on the same computer, a different computer on the same network, or some other sort of network storage device.

And as mentioned, Plex has started making other content available from online sources. I have those online sources disabled on my Plex server, but they're there. Since mine are disabled, I can't say what's exactly available from them. 

If you've never considered ripping your DVDs or Blu Ray discs to a media computer, it's really quite simple with a program called MakeMKV. The program takes care of removing the encryption on the disc, and you can save as many or as few of the audio and caption tracks as you'd like. Your media are stored in MKV files, which can be played by almost any player or TV. Plex will take care of any unsupported codecs used on the discs (that's called transcoding), so your Roku will play them just fine. The hardest thing you need to do is name the files in the correct format, so servers like Plex can identify them accurately and retrieve the correct information from Internet databases. As an example, this is the correct naming format: "Animal House (1978).mkv".