[mythtv-users] two and one

[Dennis Lou]

From: Adam Hirsch <mythtv at quakerporn.com>
>1) I'm curious as to what brings people to try out
>MythTV.  Is it the geeky
>pleasure of building something oneself?  Is it
wanting >to be independent
>from TiVo's feature control or fate?  Is it cost?  Is
>it the extra features
>that one can't get from the commercial PVRs out
there?

All of the above.

>Spec'ing out a Athlon/shuttle/WinTV-PVR/IR box, I
>can't quite seem to make
>it cost less than a TiVo + a year's service, so I'm
>trying to figure out
>why it's still really alluring to me to try building
>one.  Figured asking
>why it's alluring to other people might help
>illustrate it.  

Here's what I paid:

Duron 1.3Ghz, case, power supply, motherboard - $79
CPU heatsink/fan - $10
256MB DDR RAM - free after rebate
60GB HDD - $49 after rebate
Geforce2 MX400 TV out - $30
BT8x8 TV card - $30 (estimated FMV, had it a while)
soundcard - free (integrated into motherboard)
NIC - free (integrated into motherboard)
IR receiver - $5 (built it myself)

That puts me just over $200, which is about what
the Tivo hardware alone would've cost me.  Yes,
the case is ugly, but I have an extension cable
for the IR and a spot to hide it near the TV.
Yes, the fans were noisy but I solved that by
slowing them down with a few resistors.  Yes,
I didn't include keyboard, mouse and optical
drive but those things were only used during
the install and weren't required once I moved
the box to the living room.  And yes, the
rebates came through with no problems :)

If you really want the Shuttle:
SK41G - $165 after rebate
http://www.essencompu.com/nupplysingar.asp?ID=2862
Athlon XP1700 - $43
http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproduct.asp?DEPA=&submit=Go&description=AXDA1700
256MB RAM - $18
http://techbargains.pricegrabber.com/user_sales_getprod.php/masterid=563028/lot_id=104265/ut=cde5320a71b9a4e6
BT8x8 card - $33
http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproduct.asp?DEPA=&submit=Go&description=KW%2DTV878RF
30GB HDD - $50
http://www.basoncomputer.com/st330610a_o/item.aspx

This puts you at ~$310 not including tax and/or
shipping, which is about what Tivo/ReplayTV
lifetime service alone will cost.  And the 
Tivo/Replay won't play divx/wmv, won't play mame,
doesn't offer ssh logins, etc.

(*note, I'm picking these prices at random and
am not endorsing any particular vendor in any way)

>2) What have people's experience been with the amount
>of time it takes to
>go from "Machine assembled and hard drive blank" to
>"Machine running mythtv
>reliably, recording, scheduling, playing back"? 
>Anyone had a very short or
>very long breaking-in period, i.e. fixing minor
>audio/video glitches,
>getting channel-changes happening reliably, etc? 
>Anyone on the list have a
>non-technical family member who's taken to mythtv
>easily?

The first time I did it, it took about 4-6hrs spread
out over several days (worked on it perhaps ~1hr/day).
The second time (swapped around hardware) it took
about 1hr, the third time (hardware upgrade) it took
about 2hrs (hardware incompatibilities).

The only thing preventing my wife from using mythtv
without my supervision is that I consolidated all
the living room electronics onto a cheapo
multi-function universal remote.  Switching modes
on the remote is rather confusing.  I'll bet if I get
a second remote dedicated to Myth, she might use
it.  Or maybe not since we have a hard enough time
trying not to lose our existing remote to the couch
cushions.  I'll probably try training her on the
remote first.

-Dennis

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