[mythtv-users] Re:Need hardware advice

Tom Howard tom at sagoons.com
Sat Jul 26 12:52:00 EDT 2003


Instead of the PVR 250 (~$150), you can use the Hauppauge Freestyle (~$90)
as it has almost the same specs (including hardware encode of course).  It
does NOT include a remote, but it's not hard to find a really good remote
for under $60 to make up the difference.  Here is a breakdown of a basic
system:

Hauppauge Freestyle                        :    ~$90 
CHAINTECH 7NIF2-SUMMIT (sound, nic, TV-out):    ~$90
AMD Athlon XP 1700+                        :    ~$45
128MB Kingston PC2700 DDR RAM              :    ~$45
Seagate Barracuda 80GB                     :    ~$75
LiteOn CDRW/DVD (not dvdrw)                :    ~$60
Generic Case w/ powersupply                :    ~$40
Learning Remote - Radioshack               :    ~$15
IR receiver (homemade, or off web)         :    ~$10
TOTAL----------------------------------------- ~$470

Or, for a very small quite system

VIA EPIA-M10000 NEHEMIAH                   :   ~$180
Hauppauge Freestyle                        :    ~$90 
128MB Kingston PC2700 DDR RAM              :    ~$45
Seagate Barracuda 80GB                     :    ~$75
LiteOn CDRW/DVD (not dvdrw)                :    ~$60
Learning Remote - Radioshack               :    ~$15
IR receiver (homemade, or off web)         :    ~$10
Mini-ITX case                              :    ~$65
Total----------------------------------------- ~$540

These are just examples, there is much better hardware, different prices,
etc... but this just shows that you can have what you want for ~$500.

--Tom

>I am wondering if it is at all possible to build a very strong, 
>excellant quality DVR for under $500. I know the TV Card (I'm thinking 
>of the Win TV PVR250) is alone $150. Since the PVR250 comes with 
>self-encoding capabilities, then I don't need the latest and greatest 
>processor, right? Will an AMD Athlon XP 1.5Ghz be enough or should I go 
>above that? 






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