[mythtv-users] EPIA SP8000E questions

[R. Geoffrey Newbury]

On Fri, 30 Sep 2005 16:58:07 -0400, Gordon Morehouse wrote:

>30% load on an SP13000, correct?  I hope that would translate to the 
>SP8000E being able to handle it without dropping frames.
>
>>I use my Epia SP13000 for videos, mp3s, podcast/icecast/realplayer
>>streaming (even NASA TV!!!), DVDs, CDs. In fact all the plugins that
>>Mythtv has plus a couple of 'unofficial' ones - MythStream and MythFM.
>>
>Thanks (you and the prior poster) for pointing out the PVR150.  That's 
>going to save me a lot of money, and it looks like the quality is even 
>slightly better than the 250.


I have the SP13000 board. For the small difference in cost, go to the
SP13000. Go up to 512M memory. You only have one DIMM slot so make you
decision now.

For the same reasons, go for the PVR500. It is 2 PVR150's on one board,
with an FM tuner. That way you can record 2 shows at once, or record one
and watch another. The 500 is now supported well by the combination of the
2.6.12 kernel and ivtv3.7 or higher.

The hardware acceleration provided by the motherboard is the key here, but
there are some things which the motherboard must do by brute force. It can
play back HDTV because those are just mpeg streams, but transcoding and
other stuff takes memory and cycles. Don't shortchange yourself for $100
at the beginning of the project, since there is no way to upgrade without
junking the underpowered stuff.

Geoff


R. Geoffrey Newbury                          newbury at mandamus.org
Barrister and Solicitor                         Telephone: 905-271-9600                 
Mississauga,Ontario, Canada              Facsimile:   905-271-1638