[mythtv-users] Raspberry Pi now ships with 512MB RAM

[Matt Emmott]

On Tue, Oct 16, 2012 at 1:46 PM, Michael T. Dean <mtdean at thirdcontact.com>wrote:

> IME, the support for using extremely underpowered systems generally comes
> about the time it's no longer needed--such as when the available systems
> are no longer underpowered...  For example, by the time the PVR-350 decoder
> was usable on GNU/Linux, modern processors could handle SDTV MPEG-2
> decoding without breaking a sweat.  VDPAU itself came out at a time when
> processors didn't need it (I said "processors", not "toys"--where you've
> been able to do a Core 2 Duo system that runs about the same power draw as
> an Atom, but then had some headroom available for when you need it, since
> Atom was first released, so there was never a need for Atom).  Similarly, I
> expect we'll have good support for MythTV on systems like the RPi about the
> time there's a better option available (whether that option is better
> ARM-powered devices or something else that provides low-power, low-cost
> systems).
>
> Note, also, that many people thought the Beagle Board would be "the
> perfect frontend," but we're not all using Beagle frontends, yet...
>
> Mike (perhaps a bit jaded) Dean
>
> I disagree on a couple fronts. First, it's not so much the low power this
time as it is price. Other than a $6 case, $10 AD adapter and ~$20 SDcard,
the Pi clocks in at $35. That's pretty dang cheap for a front end. Add in
the fact that there are no moving parts and the footprint is the size of a
deck of cards, and the device becomes greater than the sum of its parts.

Second, A C2D will play back 1080p but it won't do it as well as a
GPU-offloading solution. You'll get tearing, jitter, and overall a somewhat
crappy experience. It will "work", but it won't make the wife happy.

Just my two cents.
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