[mythtv-users] Opinions on my hardware choices for a new PVR

[Torsten Schenkel]

Am Sonntag, den 02.01.2005, 19:57 -0600 schrieb Snoop Baron:

> Other than the cube case were some of these others that your wife liked 
> even better for a standard size ATX motherboard?

Coolermaster ATC

> > 
> >>Hauppauge PVR 350 -- for encoding and decoding 
> >> 
> >>On my optional list I have: 
> >> 
> >>Hauppauge PVR-250 -- for dual recording 
> >>    
> >If you are planning on going out to the onboard video card anyway why spend the 
> >extra cash on the 350? As far as I know the only way to make use of the onboard 
> >mpg2 decode is to send the video output through it. I went this route to work around 
> >the low end cpu on my via, but if I were building a full sized/powered system I would 
> >spend the money on multiple 250s. 
> >  
> Will the TV output quality be as good as the 350 if I use the on board 
> integrated graphics?

I don't think so. Except a very high-end graphics card maybe. 

> >>Wireless keyboard and mouse -- For non-PVR uses, games, browsing the  
> >>web, etc? (Any recommendations?) 
> >> 
> >>I considered going with a VIA M1000 but it seems like the software  
> >>support is not as good and/or trickier to setup. Plus there is less room  
> >>for expansion and performance might not be that good if I go outside the  
> >>PVR space (maybe add in some games for my little bro :) ). 
> >>   
> >I wouldn't go with this line unless you have a compeling reason, size, space, cost, 
> >curiosity, etc. I really love the small form factor of my Eden but I am about ready to 
> >switch to something more powerful and easier to work with. I recently had a drive 
> >crash and it took my about 3 or 4 days to get the thing back together because of all 
> >the compiling on a slow box. 

The most important thing to use an Eden/pvr350 combo is noise. There's
no pro in getting rid of 60W surplus using a desktop cpu.

Re Compile time: You can always use your beefy workstation to
cross-compile for the eden. Just make sure you optimise for i586 not
ppro. 

> Thanks again, this is the sort of thing I needed to know. I'm going to 
> stick with the ATX :).

I it won't be a dedicated box that might be the best choice. But above
you mentioned the WAF. Noise is a big one for that. If it's really
silent in the living room, like when we are going to bed, or are reading
something late at night, even the low wisper of the super silent PSU on
my box can get annoying.

Torsten