<DIV>See responses<BR><BR><B><I>rook@homesonphones.com</I></B> wrote:
<BLOCKQUOTE class=replbq style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #1010ff 2px solid">
<P>I've been looking at mythtv for awhile and have decided to finally try to <BR>create my own. I'm new to linux as well, but feel as though I'm pretty <BR>familiar with system configuration and setup. I also have some friends <BR>familiar with linux that I can ask for help. My main issue is making sure that <BR>the hardware that I have or will buy is supported.<BR><BR>Here are my requirements:<BR>-Use my existing Dell Dimension 4100 as much as possible<BR>-1.0 Ghz<BR>-256MB RAM (I don't have a problem upgrading this)<BR>-40GB HDD<BR>-Digital sound<BR>-standard RCA is required (optical output desired as well)<BR>-Dolby Digital 5.1 at least (DTS preferred)<BR>-S-Video out<BR><BR>It seems like the Hauppauge PVR-350 is the preferred tuner card. However, I <BR>have some questions:<BR>-Does this card have DVI? </P>
<P>No. But if you have a HDTV that you want to connect (as I do), you might want to put in a video card which has has a digital connector that matches your TV. I use an old nVidia card with a VGA output which connects to my TV.</P>
<P><BR>-I've heard that this card uses hardware compression. This is appealing due <BR>to the low processor speed that I'm working with. Is this true of the PVR-<BR>350? Will I have problems with the processor and a hardware compression based <BR>card?</P>
<P> </P>
<P>The onboard encoding/decoding of the 350 made it attractive to me as it frees up cpu cycles.</P>
<P><BR>-Can I use the PVR-350 for video out in addition to the tuner features? I've <BR>heard that it has a s-video tv-out, is this true? </P>
<P>Yes</P>
<P>Does it have standard RCA <BR>out as well? </P>
<P>Not sure</P>
<P>Can I record while watching the tv with this card alone, or would <BR>I need a tuner and a graphic card combination?</P>
<P>To record one show and watch another show (live tv), you need 2 video capture cards. But with one card, you can record one show while watching a pre-recorded show (or watching the same show you're recording).<BR><BR>I've heard that the M-audio revolution is a pretty good card that might satisfy <BR>my requirements.<BR>-what outputs does this card have? RCA? Optical? Component?<BR>-How good are the linux drivers for this card?<BR>-What audio software can it handle (5.1? DTS?)<BR></P>
<P>I have no experience with M-audio<BR><BR>What would be a good amount of RAM to upgrade to? Over 512MB?</P>
<P>I've heard 512 is plenty. I personally have 1.5GB and have no problems.</P>
<P><BR><BR>I have wireless ethernet (802.11G) are there any cards that are well supported <BR>in linux? I'm not too eager to run cat-5 around my house.<BR></P>
<P>No experience here either as I have a single frontend/backend machine with a wireless bridge (Linksys WET11)...no streaming audio/video for me.</P>
<P><BR>I have a CD-R, but I'm thinking about upgrading to a DVD-R/CD-R. I would like <BR>to be able to rip DVDs (a feature of mythtv), but would also like to convert <BR>programs and burn them on DVD-Rs so free up space. Are there any devices that <BR>are well supported by linux and run fairly well?<BR></P>
<P>I have an LG DVD-R which works well but not sure I've really used it for alot of ripping.</P>
<P><BR>I think my old computer has an external port for an ATA drive. I would like to <BR>get an external HDD to increase my capacity. How do I find out if my ATA card <BR>is supported in linux so I can use this port? Is adding an external HDD fairly <BR>difficult?<BR></P>
<P>No experience here either....all my drives are internal.</P>
<P><BR>Thanks for your help,<BR><BR>b<BR><BR>_______________________________________________<BR>mythtv-users mailing list<BR>mythtv-users@mythtv.org<BR>http://mythtv.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-users</P></BLOCKQUOTE></DIV><p><hr SIZE=1>
Do you Yahoo!?<br>
Yahoo! Finance: <a href="http://us.rd.yahoo.com/evt=22055/*http://taxes.yahoo.com/filing.html">Get your refund fast by filing online</a>