[mythtv-users] What hardware do I need to be able to dual record using Comcast cable?

[jedi]

On Thu, Oct 16, 2008 at 10:12:22AM -0400, Michael T. Dean wrote:
> On 10/16/2008 09:44 AM, jedi wrote:
> > On Wed, Oct 15, 2008 at 09:54:13PM -0400, Josh wrote:
> >   
> >> If you're recording all digital, then you will most likely not be re- 
> >>     
> >     That depends.
> >
> >     If you are recording MPEG2 then there is likely plenty of wiggle room
> > to be had by transcoding. HD transcodes can take a long time but they can
> > be well worth it. This is especially true for HD channels broadcasting SD
> > at a rediculously high bitrate (and mediocre quality).
> >
> >     Since you have to lock the HD-PVR to one resolution in order to prevent
> > it from crashing, I am tempted to transcode even with it. It would be nice
> > to compress the stuff that isn't really HD.
> 
> Why, IMHO, transcodes aren't worthwhile:
> 
> Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 750GB SATA/300 7200RPM 16MB HDD (Recertified) 
> - $72.99

     The fact that you might percieve a resource as cheap is still not
a good reason to waste it needlessly. HD recordings "up the ante" something
considerable. There's a good reason that DirecTV chooses to use something
other than MPEG2 to compress their signal. No matter how much storage and
bandwidth you think you need, there's always bound to be some way that you
can benefit from more.

> http://www.geeks.com/details.asp?invtid=ST3750640AS-R&cat=HDD
> Recertified: Western Digital Caviar GP WD10EACS 1TB SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard 
> Drive - $109.99
> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136293
> SAMSUNG Spinpoint F1 HD103UJ 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM 
> - $119.99
> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152102
> Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 ST31500341AS 1.5TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard 
> Drive (bare drive) - OEM - $189.99
> http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148337
> 
> Oh, and these prices are without coupons/sales.  If you buy at the right 
> time, you can get cheaper.
> 
> And plenty more examples out there on the 'net.  I wouldn't be surprised 
> if those who are transcoding HDTV are spending more money on increased 
> power usage from the additional effort of transcoding than they would 
> spend just buying some new big HDD's.  I'm pretty certain that those who 

      Transcoding gives you access to more effective storage space then
you would otherwise have without more interesting hardware setups. Even
a relatively normal system that can accomodate a lot of harddrives is
fairly unusual.

      If you're going to absurd levels of accounting you also have to
accomodate for the power and cooling of the extra storage. My 6 drives
throw off a fair amount of heat. 

      Good if you live in Minnesota I suppose...

> record/transcode/delete do.  Those who record/transcode/archive (where 
> legal to keep recordings long term, of course) may also.
> 
> Mike
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