[mythtv-users] Verdict on EPIA M 10000

[Nick Rout]

I have an M9000 which I am in the process of perfecting. Comments
interspersed below.

On Wed, 2005-07-06 at 14:41 +1000, Peter Schachte wrote:
> Hi,
> 
> I've seen much discussion of getting MythTV running on an Epia M 10000
> machine, so I know lots of myth users have one.  What I haven't seen
> is how they feel about it.  I'm choosing a hardware setup to run myth
> right now, and would appreciate comments on the Epia M.  In
> particular:
> 
> The machine, as I conceive it now, would be an Epia M 10000 with 2 PCI
> DVI-T cards on an active PCI riser,

You'll need to pick your case to fit two cards in. I have a sereniti
2000 which has a one pci riser (which houses a hauppauge pvr-150)

>  250 GB Seagate HDD, DVD burner,
> 512 MB RAM.  I'll use the on-board S-video and S/P DIF outputs.  Not
> sure about the case yet; I like the Silverstone LC-11M, with 2 line
> display and IR remote, but I'm not sure it'll fit.
> 
>     1.	How is the S-video out quality?  I plan to plug into a decent
> 	standard def wide-screen TV (Loewe Xelos); how much quality
> 	will I lose relative to using the TV's component input?

I use the s-xideo out, but convert it to composite (no s-video inputs on
my crap tv's, can't use the composite out as it is set to spdif ). The
tv output is ok at best, but I don't think I have everything set right
yet.

> 
>     2.	How good is the S/P DIF sound when run into a reasonably good
> 	stereo system (Yamaha reciever, Klipsch speakers)?
> 

no problem at all, dvd's etc with ac3 sound sound excellent. I have THX
certified Logitech 5500 speakers.


>     3.  I understand the Epia is underpowered for transcoding and
> 	commercial flagging.  I'd like to do both of these.  How many
> 	minutes of TV could I transcode and commercial flag per hour?
> 	I don't mind letting the machine do this overnight, if I can
> 	handle 3 or 4 hours of recording per day.
> 

I recorded Live 8 and it was commercial flagged by default (since
switched off). It finished 4 hours recording at 6.00 am and finished
commercial tagging sometime between 10.00 and 11.30 am. I haven't
transcoded it. Hope that helps. 

> Is there any other reasonably low cost, low noise option that people
> would recommend in lieu of the Epia?
> 

I think from what i am reading something with a gruntier CPU and an
nvidia card with hardware mpeg decoding.



> Thanks for any advice you can give.
> 
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-- 
Nick Rout <nick at rout.co.nz>