[mythtv-users] Very Low Cost Frontend

[Tim Draper]

 ---- On Thu, 26 Dec 2019 21:57:23 +0000 Ken Mandelberg <km at mathcs.emory.edu> wrote ----
 > My 10 year old Macmini/HDHR running Ubuntu Myth front/backend is having 
 > issues. I'm looking for a very low cost replacement. I build the trunk 
 > frequently, and want the standard frontend not Kodi. The Mac has an old 
 > Nvida GPU which worked well for years, and I really want something with 
 > a GPU that Myth supports.
 > 
 >  From what I read there is no GPU support on the PI4, which other than 
 > would be a nice price point.
 > 
 > I know a NUC would work, but they start getting pricey once configured, 
 > and its not clear to me what the cheapest one without media format 
 > limitations is. I know there are other boxes in similar form factor, but 
 > don't know if there is a better value than a NUC.
 > 
 > Storage is not an issue, I already use a large USB disk for both root 
 > and the media on the mini.
 > 
 > It seems like even cheap phone/tablet SOCs have better GPUs than the old 
 > Nvidia.

i've recently gone from a 2014 celeron nuc to a shield tv pro. reason for upgrade appears to be failing hardware (rather than it struggling to play newer content which is what i originally thought) . IOW even the 2014 celeron could still cope with UK Broadcast material without any issues (1080i content via DVB-S2). had no issues with 1080p local content either.
based on this, I'd have no issues recommending the current celeron nuc, but appears the most current model was based on 18H1 hardware so as good as 2years old already which is the main reason i went with the shield in the end.
no regrets with the shield pro either. plenty capable device. shame my AVR& TV is limited to 1080p i cant find the limits.
the shield non-pro seems to be software locked to 32bit (https://www.reddit.com/r/ShieldAndroidTV/ has some threads on it) so while it appears to have the HW spec, the app support/longevity might become a problem over the pro.