[mythtv-users] Post your hardware configuration

[Ray Olszewski]

At 02:22 PM 8/10/2003 +1000, David Meddows-Taylor wrote:
>Actually, rather than posting your current hardware configuration, I would
>like to see what people think would be an ideal setup.  I know that there
>are some factors to be considered (i.e. cost, etc), but you can state those
>considerations up front.
>
>I have just heard about MythTV and, over the last few days, have been
>reading as much as I can about it.  Being on this list I have seen lots of
>problems that people are having with various setups and would like to know
>what system you would put together (from scratch) that would minimise the
>problems while maximizing the benefits.
>
>Maybe the best way to think about it is, if you were going to go put
>together 100 units to sell, what components would you use?


Since you say you "just heard about MythTV", I want to mention that the 
requests in this thread -- that people post their actual configurations and 
their "ideal" configurations -- get made regularly on this list ... I'd 
estimate about once every month. That's why most people who aren't 
newcomers have been ignoring this thread ... been there, done that.

The database someone already mentioned here was set up to deal with 
recurring requests for actual configurations. If, after looking at it (you 
have looked at it, right?), you find it inadequate, a suggestion for its 
improvement will probably be received graciously by its maintainer (past 
suggestions have been).

If you look through the list archives (that is part of "reading as much as 
I can about it", right?), you will find that many people who are not 
responding here have, in the past, already posted configuration information 
of the sort you are requesting ... either actual or "ideal" configuration. 
You'll find mine that way, for example,  as well as a first draft of a 
"Beginner's FAQ" I posted a couple of months ago, that might include 
information you find helpful.

The problem with "ideal" configurations is, as you might imagine, lack of 
consensus about what "ideal" means ... based on differing price/performance 
tradeoffs; different prices and availabilites of equipment in different 
countries; multiple paths to optimization (e.g. fast, expensive CPU and 
cheap, dumb tuner card versus slower, cheaper CPU and pricey, 
hardware-encoding tuner card); user-specific issues (e.g., video source); 
and non-Myth issues (e.g., CAT5 versus WiFi).