[mythtv-users] first time HTPCer - double check me

[Daniel Walton]

Any feedback anyone, Bueller? :)

thx
Daniel

On Thu, 18 Mar 2004, Daniel Walton wrote:

> I own two ReplayTVs but I'm tired of waiting for HD capabilities so my wife and
> I decided to build a MythTV box!  We are completely hooked on automatic
> commercial advance so that is one of the big reason we are going with myth vs a
> HD Direct Tivo or something like that.
>
> I'd like to give you guys a rundown of what hardware we are buying, let me know
> what you think.  Our goals are:
>
> - record OTA HD and be able to watch a previously recorded HD show at the same
> time
> - play MP3s that are stored on a networked windows XP machine
> - view pictures in HD, these are stored on the same XP machine
> - if the picture quality will be better then record cable with myth instead of
> replayTV
> - play DVDs and archive recorded shows to DVD
>
> Hardware
> --------
> - 65 inch Mitsubishi HDTV with component input (no DVI)
> - Athlon Barton XP 2800
> - ABIT AI7 motherboard
> - 512M of memory
> - MX440 nVIDIA GF4 VT8X 128MB video card
> - HD-2000 tuner card
> - Sony DRU-500a DVD burner
> - 250G harddrive connected via USB 2.0.  There will be a smaller harddrive in
> the box where I install the OS/MythTV.
> - If the quality will be better than replayTV, then we'll buy a PVR-250 card.
>
> Questions
> ---------
> - I own a nice MX-500 remote, what do I need for the HTPC so I can control myth?
> - Any problems having a hardrive connected via USB 2.0?
> - What is the recommended VGA->component cable?  Is this the optimal way for me
> to get component video out of my HTPC?
>
> - Has myth considered implementing any show sharing features like ReplayTV has?
> MPAA/RIAA was all over this at first, they shutdown planetreplay.com and
> SonicBlue had to pull the feature from new units (there is a hack to turn it on
> though).  Ever since then though things have been ~peaceful, there is a new
> website for sharing shows (www.poopli.com) and shows are being shared all the
> time.  Just curious as this is one feature of replay that I would really miss :)
>
> - I've read that it is possible for a HTPC to play DVDs at higher quality than a
> standalone DVD player.  Is this true and if so what is the trick to unlocking
> this potential?
>
> - If I record a show off a HD channel but the show really isn't in HD, will the
> program still take up 9G an hour or will it take up as much as a regular digital
> recording?
>
> - Can I get better cablevision quality by recording with myth vs my ReplayTV?
>
> - I'm planning on using KnoppMyth R4V2, will that work ok with all this
> hardware?
>
> - Any hardware that I'm missing or any of it that you would not recommend?
>
> Thanks
> Daniel
>
>