[mythtv-users] USB Harddrives

[Peter VanDerWal]

>> It's more cost-effective to buy a big new hard drive and replace
>> what's there than to run another machine. Newegg had a 500GB drive for
>> $69 this morning.
>>
>> <http://mythtv.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-users>
>>
>
> Except for this sentence that wrote  last post
> "I do have one other 120gb drive i would like to
>> put in my Mythbox but there is no room in the backend box."
>
> I dont want to have a tower machine in my theater.  I have a mATX Home
> Theater case that can only hold 3 drives. If i remove the myBook that has
> 2x250 drives and if i add the 120gb thats a total on 6 disks....
>
> If i use a old machine how long would it take to cost me ~130 in Power?
> Considering its a AMD 1800+.

Hard to answer that without knowing for sure how much power your proposed
NAS draws and what electricity costs you.
But a (reallY) rough estimate, your drives are going to draw about 10
watts each x 6 = 60 watts.  The rest of the computer (NAS) probably draws
at least 50-60 watts.
Say 120 watts total - 10 watts for the new drive.  Assume electricity is
$0.10 per kWh, that means you'll break even in about 16 months.  If you
sell the old drives/computer you'll break even a lot sooner.