[mythtv-users] most energy efficient myth frontend?

[Yan Seiner]

Raymond Wagner wrote:
> Yan Seiner wrote:
>> Energy consumption is a huge concern.  I'm looking for something that 
>> can play back HD on composite output and use < 2A @ 12VDC.  And of 
>> course cost is a big concern as well.
> How important is that limit?  Are you trying to run this off your 
> 12VDC lighting system?  That seems rather restrictive considering your 
> TV is probably a CRT, and almost certainly running off AC.  Getting 
> under 25W for the system is rather difficult, and will likely mean you 
> end up buying a laptop to do this.
It's pretty important but somewhat arbitrary.  The TV is a 9.4" LCD that 
draws 700ma @ 12VDC (at least that's what the specs tell me - seems a 
bit low but as it's an LCD only it is possible.)

I tend to go places where there are no hookups.  My last RV had dual 
T135 batteries, and the entertainment system was the single largest 
power user.  Given the 9 A @ 12VDC consumption, I had about 7 hours 
before the batteries died.  And once the batteries died, no heat, no 
fridge.  So the energy budget is critical.  This one has smaller 
batteries but a generator.  I don't like the noise the genset makes, so 
I'm trying to minimize the consumption.  I figure with new stuff, I can 
get to about half of my previous budget; I'd like to get to a third.

>
> If you can lighten your restrictions to say 50W AC, a lot more will 
> open up.  You can get an ION system and do hardware decoding for your 
> HD content, however none of them come with svideo outputs, and you 
> will have to buy a VGA->svideo converter.  Similarly any VDPAU capable 
> motherboard is going to have the same limitation.  You can get an 
> older 7-series motherboard, or a discrete video card that has svideo 
> output.
> The ION systems are probably going to run around 30W.  A relatively 
> basic system with a standard desktop processor is going to idle around 
> 50W.  If you undervolt and underclock, you can drop that considerably.
I've been looking at the fit-pc2, which is perfect in almost all 
respects - except for the lack of composite output.  Crap.  I'm not sure 
if an DVI-Composite adapter exists or how much it costs.

>
> Now about the hard drive... using an SSD is an outright mistake.  You 
> just can't buy them large enough to be worthwhile, and power 
> consumption during reading is no better than that of a laptop drive.  
> A laptop drive will pull ~2W, and can be had in respectable sizes.  If 
> you're worried about ruggedness while on the road, go to a fabric 
> store and buy some elastic to suspend the drive.  Don't use rubber as 
> that will dry up and crack in a warm computer case.  My suggestion is 
> to just buy one of the low power WD Greens, and a hotswap bay.  While 
> you're on the move, remove the drive and secure it somewhere padded.  
> If you want to continue using a computer for mapping/GPS, have a 
> separate suspended laptop drive as the system disk.
OK, good point on that.  My current system has an 80GB 2.5 drive that's 
been around quite a bit, and hasn't failed yet.  But the 40 and 60 GB 
drives it replaced died an early death, so I expect that it's a bit of 
luck to find a drive that works.



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