[mythtv-users] Mythtv on PS3

[Michael T. Dean]

On 06/06/2008 06:56 PM, Brian Wood wrote:
> On Friday 06 June 2008 13:36:18 Johnny Russ wrote:
>   
>>>> I just saw this today on dual-booting a PS3 with Ubuntu:
>>>> http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/how_to/4263321.html
>>>>
>>>> I might now have a wife-acceptable reason to acquire a PS3 if it can
>>>> be used as a frontend.
>>>>         
>>> nice.  and it will do blu-ray as well (maybe not via myth).  that's
>>> not a bad deal for a blu-ray player...
>>>       
>> Now you just need to figure out how to explain to your wife why you need a
>> petabyte RAID array to backup all of you blu-ray movies. ;)
> You might also have to explain the "Thank You" notes you will begin to receive 
> from your local power utility, although if you live in a cold climate this 
> might be offset a bit by reduced heating fuel costs.
>
> My PS3 draws over 200 watts at idle, more if you ask it to do something. Bit 
> much for a F/E IMHO.

Really.  Why not just use 4 refrigerators for a frontend and save some 
power... ;)

http://www.intology.com/computers-internet/playstation-3-consumes-more-power-than-a-medium-sized-fridge/

Though I do have a problem with the presentation of the info in that 
article.  How many people actually leave their PS3's powered on all the 
time?  ("Sony Playstation 3 will cost $250 a year even if it is not in 
use and only turned on.")  Sure, you may want to leave a MythTV frontend 
on all the time (so PS3 would /not/ be a good choice for it--using about 
twice as much electricity as a PC), but the article wasn't considering 
such usage.

I don't have a PS3, but I do have an XBox 360 and when plugged in and 
turned off, my Kill-A-Watt shows it drawing 1W.  I actually unplug it 
when I'm not actually using it, but--obviously--not for the purpose of 
saving electricity.  And, according to 
http://www.choice.com.au/viewArticle.aspx?id=106346&catId=100245&tid=100008&p=5&title=Computers'+energy+costs 
, the XBox 360 uses 0.4kWh/week when off and the PS3 only uses 
0.3kWh/week, so the whole "Gaming Consoles Are Bad For the Environment" 
argument falls flat on its face if one concedes that most people don't 
leave them turned on all the time.  (At least with the XBox 360, I'm 
pretty sure no one does, as I don't think the 360 is stable enough to 
run more than a few hours without a reboot.  ;)

Mike