[mythtv-users] Sony Vaio, perhaps?

[Travis Tabbal]

On Thu, Apr 2, 2009 at 9:30 AM, Daniel Dunning <dan3501 at yahoo.com> wrote:

>
> The cost of the setup at Costco is $799.
>


You can buy one of the new Mac Minis for less than that. And it can do
VDPAU. Add a firewire HD for storage and a tuner if you want it to be a
backend as well. I'd recommend the HDHR, a little more expensive, but dual
tuner and network connected so it will work with any foreseeable future
computers. If there is ever an AppleTV using a VDPAU chipset, those would
make a great frontend machine. The Mac Mini also includes a supported IR
receiver. The HDHR also has an IR receiver.

Another option that doesn't look bad with the entertainment gear is a self
build. Here's the parts list I used for my frontend only machine. You could
add a hard drive and tuner to make it a combo box. I boot from the USB
stick, you could probably run the database from it. You could also add a
small cheap HDD for the OS and database if you like. I have found it to make
a big difference on my machine to separate the database from the recordings
drive. It didn't matter at first, but as the system got more use, it did.
And I have run the optimize scripts. The motherboard used has HDMI out, but
I don't know if sound is working over it as I don't use digital sound on
that box. I am using it for video output though. It also has an optical
SPDIF port, so there are options. Not as small as a laptop or mac mini, but
cheaper and works just as well.

https://secure.newegg.com/WishList/MySavedWishDetail.aspx?ID=12283828

The egg lists the CPU as out of stock. Just pick an AM2 chip. It doesn't
need a lot. I use a dual core, but with VDPAU I doubt it's necessary. I am
using an X2 3800+ in the frontend only machine. With VDPAU enabled, it uses
about 5% of CPU most of the time. That's while playing HD MPEG2 and h264.
All the media for that box comes in over the network.
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