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<p class=MsoNormal>Hi all,<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>I’m working on putting together a (very) low-end
MythTV box, only for recording SD content. I’ve got a Celeron 700 with
512 MB RAM, a 40 GB 2.5” hard disk, and onboard video and sound. I’ve
been using KnoppMyth. In defense of this low-spec machine, the thing is almost
silent, and I’ve spent a total of $10 on this project so far. I’d
like to keep my expenses to a minimum, because if I spend much more than $100,
I may as well start looking at new low end machines.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>I was trying to use a Lifeview FlyVideo 3000 framegrabber that
has an SAA7134 chip, but the performance is unacceptable. Accordingly, I am in
the market for a new tuner card with hardware MPEG-2 encoding. A friend of mine
has recommended the widely-used Hauppage PVR-150, and the MythTV documentation
suggests that this will take a significant load off of my processor. I have also
been eyeing the PVR-500, as watching and recording at the same time might be
useful.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>A few questions:<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoListParagraph style='text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1'><![if !supportLists]><span
style='mso-list:Ignore'>1.<span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'>
</span></span><![endif]>Is there some way to configure MythTV to simply display
live TV without recording it (or to launch a tvtime-like application from within
the MythTV interface)? This way I could use the framegrabber I already have for
the sole purpose of viewing live TV, and use a PVR-150 for recording.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoListParagraph><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoListParagraph style='text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1'><![if !supportLists]><span
style='mso-list:Ignore'>2.<span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'>
</span></span><![endif]>If that won’t work, and I get a PVR-500 (which is
a little expensive for me), would my hardware be able to keep up with two
MPEG-2 streams?<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoListParagraph><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoListParagraph style='text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1'><![if !supportLists]><span
style='mso-list:Ignore'>3.<span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'>
</span></span><![endif]>Does anyone else have any experience with low-end boxes
like this? Is it a worthwhile endeavor, or is there a high likelihood I’ll
be disappointed with the picture quality, performance, etc. (480x480 or so
would be nice, maybe even a little higher).<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoListParagraph><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoListParagraph style='text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1'><![if !supportLists]><span
style='mso-list:Ignore'>4.<span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'>
</span></span><![endif]>I’m trying not to hoard a lot of old TV shows,
but if I find myself wanting to move MythTV recordings to another computer for
archival (one that is NOT running MythTV – I have a Windows machine with
two 500 GB drives), will I be able to easily?<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoListParagraph><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoListParagraph style='text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1'><![if !supportLists]><span
style='mso-list:Ignore'>5.<span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'>
</span></span><![endif]>I’ve heard rumors that new PVR-150s have a
different chip that will not work under Linux. Anyone know anything about this?<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoListParagraph><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>Thanks in advance,<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>Gabe<o:p></o:p></p>
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