[mythtv-users] Hardware Wishlist: kitchen frontend

[Mark J. Small]

Hi everybody,  

For several years now I've been wanting to get a frontend for my kitchen.  I'd 
really like to be able to fill the following requirements.

(1) Watch recordings and live tv without special transcoding or fiddling.

(2) Listen to music stored on my backend

(3) No counterspace consumed, I'd prefer it to fold away under the counter

(4) No remote, I'd rather hardware buttons on the device or touchscreen

(5) I'd prefer a 9-12 inch screen

(6) Must handle SD (PVR-150 type) recordings, no HD needed right now.  
(Future??)

(7) Low power and S3 suspend

Given the need for untranscoded material and live tv, a full fledged frontend 
would seem to fit the bill better than a upnp device.  

An ARM based tablet might work nicely if I could put a real version of Linux 
on it (Debian is my fave) and have hardware video accel (yeah right).

I had looked at the alwaysinnovating touch book, but they took months to get, 
and now have production on hold until they announce something exciting and new 
sometime this summer (maybe November if their usual timetables apply).  

I also looked at a beagleboard + screen combo where I would attach the 
beagleboard in a case to the bottom of my cupboards out of sight.

So does anyone else have a bright idea how to build/get a frontend that will 
fit the bill.  Are there any nifty new devices out there that might do the 
job?

Mark