[mythtv-users] A few starting-out questions.

Matt Morgan matt at jiffycomp.com
Tue Jun 1 17:16:05 EDT 2004


I'm starting to buy a system to set up mythtv on. I've been reading docs and 
shopping all day, and some things still confuse me. 

1) Today, the cable box is a tuner, and must be set to the right channel for 
the TV to display the show I want to see. Someday, the video signal will go 
from cable box to mythtv box to TV; even so I'd expect the cable box still 
needs to be set to the right channel; that is, it's the tuning on the cable 
box that matters, not the tuning on the mythtv box. If I change the channel 
on the tuner card, does it magically change the channel on the cable box, 
too? What if I'm not there--does the cable box have to be set to the right 
channel ahead of time? That's what I have to do now, with a VCR for example. 
I don't understand how mythtv can change that. Can it? 

2) I'm very confused about the tuner cards. Obviously I'd like to buy a 
cheap one, for example the Hauppauge WinTV-GO ($50 at compusa). But maybe 
the Hauppauge WinTV-PVR-250 (at eBay for roughly $100) is important. What do 
I lose with the WinTV-GO, is it that it tunes, but doesn't encode? In which 
case I'd need a faster computer (but I can get a lot of processor-speed for 
the extra $50). 

3) In shopping for a computer, of course I'd like a small one in a form 
factor something like what AV-type equipment uses. Or a shuttle would be 
nice, but they're expensive compared to old Dell GX110's, Compaq Deskpros in 
the SFF, Evos, etc. The problem is that all these small ones have limited 
PCI/AGP slots. Generally these small computers have up to 2 slots; either 
one agp plus one pci, or two pcis. Into those slots I have to fit sound, 
video-in, and video-out. Hopefully I can use the built-in sound; and if 
necessary I can use a Hauppauge pvr-350, which gives me video-in and 
video-out in one card. Is there anything I'm forgetting? 

Thanks,
Matt 




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