<br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Wed, Feb 9, 2011 at 11:51 AM, Reynolds, Brian <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:Brian.Reynolds@fiserv.com">Brian.Reynolds@fiserv.com</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex;">
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<p class="MsoNormal">OK,</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">So I’ve found this cool tuner card that has four
tuners that use a single CableCARD to receive everything the cable company has
to offer, except VOD. It’s the Ceton InfiniTV (<a href="http://www.cetoncorp.com" target="_blank">www.cetoncorp.com</a>). It’s
$399.99 and available now (with a 3 month backlog on orders).</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Of course, copy protected content is only supported in
Windows MCE, with a supported HDCP compliant video card. I don’t
know if the card has drivers for Linux, but if I can’t watch copy
protected content on Linux, why would I want to do that?</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Also, with an X-Box or a D-Link or Linksys media center
extender (found on e-bay for $100), I can watch live or recorded TV, Blu-Ray
movies, DVD’s, and just about anything else that Windows can decode on as
many frontends as my MCE server can handle, which depends on how many tuners I
install, how much I/O the machine can handle, and CPU power.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">So... I’ve put together a list of hardware that would be
required to handle four extenders and also to be able to play 3D content on the
MCE server. The components I’ve selected will enable me to
configure the hard drives in a Raid-0 so that I can maximize I/O throughput and
will even include two Blu-Ray drives that can be shared with any of the
extenders.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">It’s a pretty beefy machine using high end parts that should
be very reliable, quiet and stable. The parts will cost me around
$1500.00. This includes 2TB of storage, a BluRay reader, a BluRay writer,
four tuners with cableCARD and two more tuners that will receive
ATSC/NTSC/Clear QAM. I can get my hands on Windows 7 with MCE for around
$100.00 through a program my employer has with M$.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Now to my question... what’s the advantage of MythTV
over Win MCE? Why would I want to go this route instead of MCE when I can
get copy protected content in MCE?</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Please understand that I mean no disrespect. I
understand the benefits of open source software and the fun that goes into a
project like that. I just don’t understand why I would choose
MythTV over MCE. Please help me out.</p></div></div></blockquote><div><br></div><div>The only word is customizability (is that even a word? :) ). With Myth you have the optoins to change themes, change menus, make changes in the software to allow for it to behave more the way you want to use it (commercial skip being a notable example). With MCE, you're locked into whatever MS provides and you likely won't get any updates/changes until the next version of Windows and then you get what they choose to give you. There are some plugins that add additional functionality (Media Browser being a great example). You also are required to use and are limited by the feature set of the extender as your "other room" options. Not all plugins work across extenders. </div>
<div><br></div><div>I, myself, am considering a move to MCE from Myth after having recently purchased my first Xbox360 and HDHomeRun. It is a very good DVR system and does alot of what I want. I'm not sure I'm in love with the interface choices which I either have to live with or I won't make the change.</div>
<div><br></div><div>Myth will likely never be the cheapest and it will not likely provide the best copy-protected content path because of the resistance to Linux in the copyright world. Other than that, it offers a very good alternative with a very flexible solution.</div>
<div><br></div><div>Kevin</div></div>