[mythtv-users] Netbook as low-power combined back-end / front-end?

[rsh1k]

On Mon, Aug 27, 2012 at 4:53 PM, Tyler T <tylernt at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> My headless BE is a SheevaPlug, a fanless 1.2Ghz 512MB ARM device with
> an external 2.5" 500GB USB HD. Power consumption, including the hard
> drive, is something like 6-9 watts.
>
> Note, while Myth 0.23 and 0.24 run on ARM, I haven't tried 0.25 yet.
> You may also encounter some anti-ARM sentiment on this list.

<10 watts!  That's impressive!

Do you have any stats on the loads the SheevaPlug runs at?   Is that
6-9 watts under load?   Is it running high CPU loads all the time
because it is underpowered?

The idle power consumption is the big area I wanted to focus on for my
next build, as we really only record 3-5 shows per day at most.   My
current system (Athlon XP) idles at 97 watts and peaks around 160.
:-/      I know I could drop this by 20-30 watts easily by changing
processors within the family, but at that point an Atom would
outperform it for a fraction of the power...

The SheevaPlug sounds cool, and being ARM wouldn't bother me (I'm a
Gentoo user - I'm used to recompiling everything), but I would have to
figure out a better front-end if I went that route and used a split
front/back system.  If I used my current system as a front-end, even
for just a few hours a day, it would negate a lot of the power
savings.


> I believe VGA is technically "High-Definition", even though it's
> analog. Just keep your cable lengths short, and don't cheap out on a
> skinny unshielded cable.

Oh yeah, analog is definitely good for "HD" and beyond.   CRT
projectors were capable of resolutions substantially higher than "Full
HD" a long time before DVI was available or became common.


- rsh1k