[mythtv-users] playing mpeg4 nuv without a backend

[Steve Briggs]

Hi -
(I know this has been asked before, but the answers
don't seem accurate/useful)

Is there any easy way to watch NUV files without
a backend?  I want to grab some NUV files and put
them on my laptop and watch them on the road.
Note that these are MPEG-4s, straight from a
Hauppauge MPEG-4 tuner card.

What's been suggested (and what I've tried):
xine:  Everyone agrees xine won't play them.
       I agree.
mplayer: Plays them, after a fashion.  BUT,
       you can't seek.  Any attempt to seek
       terminates the player.  That really sucks.
       (I note that mplayer used to work....
        but later versions don't....)
mythtv <filename>:  Works fine, as long as it
       can see the backend.  But it won't do
       anything without the backend (it just
       complains on startup that it can't see
       the backend), which makes it useless for
       on-the-road viewing.

Do I really need to set up my laptop as a
master backend (i.e. running mysql and running
mythsetup on it) just to watch the video?  
Sure would be nice if mythtv would just 
PLAY THE #*CX* FILE....

TIA,
Steve