[mythtv-users] prebuilt high definition frontend vendors

Sat Feb 17 05:47:51 UTC 2007

Hi,
      Thanks for the initial feedback.  I guess I should give more
background about myself and my Mythtv plans.  I've been following Mythtv for
a few years but never made the leap.  I was considering getting a prebuilt
system because of the "polished" look and feel that it provides.  Plus it
provides immediate high WAF vs buying all the parts and building myself.
     I've got a strong Linux and Unix background.  I've been using Linux and
building my own machines since 1994 so I have no fear of building my own.
Like I said in my original post, I want as close to a silent system as I can
get.  I plan to have two frontends and one backend.  One frontend will go in
my home theater and the other will go in the bedroom; hence the desire for
near silent operation.   Both televisions do 1080i HD.  One has a DVI
interface while the other only has component video [the following year's
model had DVI :( ].  I'm thinking of going with a fanless Nvidia card as
some of them can do both DVI and component video.  What should I be looking
for in terms of CPU?  Someone mentioned that the 3 GHz Celeron in the
aforementioned Hannibal would be taxed in a frontend.   I plan to netboot
the frontends from the backend or another Linux box on my network to
eliminate the need for hard drives and produce less noise.  The frontends
will be hardwired to the LAN instead of going wireless.
     For acquiring my content, I have Dish Network satellite.  I have a pair
of Hauppauge PVR-250s and a single HD3000 that I bought when I first started
looking at Myth.  I'll use one of the PVR-250s with my satellite receiver.
I watch a lot of network television shows so I want at least three OTA HD
tuners.  One thought is to add two HD5500s but I just saw the HDHomerun.  It
looks like a much better deal at $170 though.  What are the pros and cons of
the PCHDTV cards vs the HDHomerun?  Are there any other suggestions for my
frontends based on what I have written?
     For my backend, I'm thinking of getting a bunch of 500 gig SATA drives
and creating a big hardware RAID 5 to store my content.  This system can be
noisy.  I'll export this volume to my frontends via NFS.  What methods are
you guys using to create big volumes to store your high def content?  What
type of storage enclosures and controllers work well for Mythtv?  Are there
any other suggestions for my backend?
     Does it sound like I'm on the right track?  Are there any questions
about how I am approaching this?  I'd like to finalize my components in the
next week or two and then start buying stuff.  I can't wait to get the whole
thing built and in use.  I feel like a little kid waiting for a new toy.  My
wife is also getting excited about us getting a Tivo-like system.  She just
ordered me Jarod Wilson's "Hacking Mythtv" book from Amazon.

Thanks for any and all suggestions.

David

On 2/15/07, Mitchell Gore < mitchell2345 at msn.com> wrote:
>
>  I wonder why you want to buy a pre-built system?  If you are going to
> build your own backend it must not be the technical aspect.  You could build
> a system much cheaper..
>
> Plus.   3 ghz Celeron would be a little be taxed i believe.  You couldn
> enable XvMC  if you had a Nvdia video card but the web site says nothing
> about what card it uses.  I assume its a Nvdia with the component out...
>
> my 2 cents
>
> Mitchell
>
> ------------------------------
> Date: Thu, 15 Feb 2007 18:12:20 -0500
> From: mythtvdc at gmail.com
> To: mythtv-users at mythtv.org
> Subject: [mythtv-users] prebuilt high definition frontend vendors
>
> 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
>
> <http://store02.prostores.com/servlet/tvease/Search?category=media+centers:hannibal>
>
> 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.
>
> David
>
>
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