[mythtv-users] Fronted advice

[Damian]

On 27/03/2015 12:52, Larry Kennedy wrote:
>
>
> On Wed, Mar 25, 2015 at 6:59 PM, Damian <myth at surr.co.uk
> <mailto:myth at surr.co.uk>> wrote:
>
>     On 25/03/2015 22:39, Larry Kennedy wrote:
>
>
>
>         On Wed, Mar 25, 2015 at 3:50 PM, Eric Sharkey
>         <eric at lisaneric.org <mailto:eric at lisaneric.org>
>         <mailto:eric at lisaneric.org <mailto:eric at lisaneric.org>>> wrote:
>
>              On Wed, Mar 25, 2015 at 2:03 PM, Damian <myth at surr.co.uk
>         <mailto:myth at surr.co.uk>
>              <mailto:myth at surr.co.uk <mailto:myth at surr.co.uk>>> wrote:
>              > I need it to be capable of HD playback and it will be
>         connecting to a BenQ
>              > W1300 projector (if that's relevant).
>              >
>              > Pretty much the only other use for the frontend will be a
>         bit of browsing in
>              > firefox and 'catchup tv' via iPlayer and ITV player etc.
>              >
>              > Any recommendations? And what sort of price am I looking
>         at? Fingers crossed
>              > for something in the Rasbery Pi type of price bracket,
>         but not holding out
>              > much hope for that :-)
>
>              I don't have any personal experience with them, but you can
>         find many
>              people on this list using ECS Liva systems or similar as
>         frontends.
>              They're generally a little more than what you might pay for a
>              Raspberry Pi, but it might fit your budget and needs.
>
>              Eric
>
>
>         +1.  The ECS Liva works great, and it's on sale at Newegg for
>         $120.  For
>         less than $10 you can add a 4-port USB hub to fix the lack of
>         USB ports
>         (only 2).  I loaded Mythbuntu and it works very nicely. I have
>         not tried
>         using either wireless or BT so I can't comment on that.
>
>
>     Thanks for that Larry!
>
>     I have been looking into the Liva machine and getting excited by it.
>     It doesn't seem powerful enough for the machine for the kids from
>     what I read, so I was concerned that it would only be 'so so' as a
>     MythTV frontend. Your post has reassured me that it should be fine!
>
>
> The Liva is marketed as either an Ubuntu or Windows 8 desktop
> replacement, from what I've read.  As a desktop computer performing
> routine tasks, it responds very well. Screen navigation is pretty
> snappy.  There are surely limits to what this thing can do, though.  As
> an HTPC it works great so far.  Small.  Quiet.  Efficient.

Great :-)

>
>
>     I don't need it to do WiFi or BT, so don't even hare if they don't
>     work :-) I'll be switching them both off straight after install.
>
>     A couple of questions ...
>     What is the ECS? What does it stand for?
>
>
>
> Elitegroup Computer Systems (ECS) is a computer component manufacturer
> based in Taiwan.

Ah, right.

>
>     The Liva machines I'm finding here in the UK don't seem to mention
>     ECS. They look the same, but just want to make sure that I'm not
>     missing something.
>
>     The next question is does anyone know the best place to get one from
>     in the UK? The best price I've seen so far is about £130, which is
>     way more than $120!
>
>
> Can you order from newegg.com <http://newegg.com> from the UK?  Not sure
> what shipping would be.

Maybe. I'd have to find the right power adaptor then I assume. I'll look 
into it.

Thanks for the for getting back to me Larry.

Damian