[mythtv] Walmart PVR

[Cedar McKay]

Michael Stearne wrote:

>I have just recently come across MythTV.  The interface looks amazing,
>it's so polished.  My goal is to make the cheapest PVR possible (isn't
>that everyone's).  This machine would be used only for MythTV and would
>be headless, only using the TV for display.  Now, does anyone have ideas
>on how inexpensive a usable (recording and playback) could be built
>for?  I am looking at the Walmart PCs as a start:
>
>http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.gsp?product_id=1957333&cat=3951&type=19&dept=3944&path=0%3A3944%3A3951
>
>On top of that, I would get a bigger hard drive and a capture card. 
>Could a USB card be used?  I do also have a WinTV card at that I could
>use.  
>
>Any thoughts are appreciated.
>  
>

that won't cut it for you. Those walmart PCs use via chips which don't 
seem to do the job. You probably want something based on celeron, PIII, 
P4, duron or athlon. If you are interested in building your own this is 
a good resource:
http://arstechnica.com/guide/system/budget.html

take that as a starting point and cut out the fat, lose the graphics 
card (built-in one is fine for mythtv) no monitor, no modem (unless you 
don't have broadband), no cdrw, no speakers, no mouse/keyboard and maybe 
use a cooler/cheaper less powerful cpu. You should be able to do the 
whole thing pretty cheaply.

And one last hint, if you do use that board, make sure you a) use lilo 
and not grub and b) get the drivers from nvidia's website for the nic, 
graphics, sound and usb.

>  
>