[mythtv-users] prebuilt high definition frontend vendors

Brian Wood beww at beww.org
Sat Feb 17 01:41:53 UTC 2007


On Feb 15, 2007, at 4:12 PM, David Mythtv wrote:

> Has anyone bought the Hannibal prebuilt Mythtv system from http:// 
> www.tvease.net?  I'm thinking of buying one to use as a high  
> definition front end.  The url to the model that I am thinking of  
> getting is:
> http://store02.prostores.com/servlet/tvease/Search?category=media 
> +centers%3Ahannibal
>
> The machine's specs look pretty good for $499 and it can play high  
> definition via vga, component video, or dvi.  I plan to build the  
> backend myself since it will be in a different room and can be  
> noisy.  The case used in the Hannibal was rated as the quietest in  
> a test by arstechnica [or another tech site].  Are there any other  
> vendors selling prebuilt Mythtv systems that I should be looking at  
> that are silent or near silent around the same price?  If I go with  
> the Hannibal, I'll pull the hard drive out and netboot the system  
> over the LAN.
>
> Thanks in advance for any suggestions.
> ]Interesting. For HD that CPU might be a little marginal,  
> especially with only 256KB cache (assuming it's a 346 chip). That's  
> only a $40 CPU.

The 512MB RAM might be marginal as well, especially with no local HDD  
for cache or OS.

The case looks very interesting though. That's what really makes the  
difference between a good and a great deal on that thing.

I'd look into buying the case and MOBO alone. For $20 to $30 more you  
could get a CPU with twice the cache and another .5Ghz of speed, and  
I'd think about more RAM, but you'd also have to look at the PSU  
rating as to whether it could handle more CPU cycles and more RAM.

I'd also think about losing the card reader and the DVD drive, they  
are just pulling watts for no real benefit if your video is stored  
elsewhere. Also I'd think about a 5200 video card, less power and it  
has chroma-key.

Just some thoughts.

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