Second Generation Homebrew PVR Devices 233
An anonymous reader writes "It looks like the second generation of homebrew PVRs is on its way. Asus recently released their Digimatrix barebones PC which combines a lot of features in a very slim and stylish box. DVD/CD-R, WiFi, HDTV tuner, FM Tuner, memory card reader etc. All for ~$400. The reviews look good, except that the software that comes with it doesn't look all that great... of course this may not be a problem because there has already been significant effort in getting linux to run on it and most features are working. Combine MythTV with this device and you have an almost perfect PVR? I wonder what other hardware companies have in store for the homebrew PVR market?"
I wonder how much power it draws (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:I wonder how much power it draws (Score:5, Insightful)
This Could Be A Job For.. Pentium M! Using today's latest and greatest SpeedStep Technology, Pentium M offers extreme flexibility and speed, at the low power of an Embedded/Laptop processor. This would be the perfect application for Low Voltage models too.
Re:I wonder how much power it draws (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:I wonder how much power it draws (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:I wonder how much power it draws (Score:5, Informative)
Re:I wonder how much power it draws (Score:5, Interesting)
Here we pay $0.06 US/KwH. Lets say I had a regular barebones athlon system:
Motherboard
Athlon 2400+
geforce4mx video card
1 hard drive 7200rpm
1 cd-rom or dvd-rom
1 512MB ddr chip
This is going to pull about 200W max and more likely 150W continuous
An IMac takes 130W continuous:
http://www.talktothemac.com.au/Apple
200W * 24 * 30 = 144kwh = $8.64 US
130 * 24 * 30 = 93.6kwh = $5.52 US
A savings of $3.02 US/month.
And yeah, I have built the above little cheapie box and actually measured the continuous power.
Either your numbers or off or you are bullshitting...
Re:I wonder how much power it draws (Score:5, Insightful)
My computer - Athlon XP 2600+, GeForce Ti 4200, 1 7200RPM drive, 1 CD burner, and an LCD monitor NEC 1760BK use a total of 186W of power, idle but display on, according to my UPS. A 17" CRT (Sony) takes about 78W alone (just tested it).
So more likely, your computer will idle close to ~160W, and then you can add ~20W (LCD) or ~75W (CRT). 180W and 235W respectively.
We pay 8 cents per kWh here (4 cents if you're under a certain rediculously low maximum). 180W, $10.40/mo, 230W $13.53. Assuming you just leave it on and don't do anything with it, like surf slashdot or play a game...
The iMac should cost about $7.48/month to run. It's not quite $10, but it's still a significant drop (almost half if you start with a CRT). Even more of a drop if you use a high wattage chip such as a late model P4.
Re:I wonder how much power it draws (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:I wonder how much power it draws (Score:2)
Re:I wonder how much power it draws (Score:2)
That means the processor is pegged, the hard drive is grinding, and you are burning a DVD over the network and downloading an ISO over the modem while blasting brit-pop over the builtin speakers. Oh, and running a 3D benchmarking application.
An unlikely scenario.
Re:I wonder how much power it draws (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:I wonder how much power it draws (Score:3, Insightful)
For that reason alone, I'd pay more for this box than the TiVo+lifetime subscription.
Re:I wonder how much power it draws (Score:4, Insightful)
That's just me, of course; YMMV. TiVo probably won't appeal as much to people who lack good taste.
By the way, TiVo's data feed was reverse engineered a long time ago, but the hackers who figured it out aren't releasing the format as a courtesy to TiVo (the company). If TiVo ever goes under, you can bet your box won't become an "overpriced doorstop."
yours
Re:I wonder how much power it draws (Score:2)
Re:I wonder how much power it draws (Score:3, Interesting)
What I want is a cheap, quiet, hackable box that records and replays high-quality audio and video, with all the normal expansion slots (because I'd also like it to replace my "home server" which does a bunch of other stuff).
It's a challenge to do, because the only suitable encoder/decoder is the Hauppauge PVR 350 pci card, which is almost $200 by itself.
Not an HDTV tuner (Score:2, Informative)
On that note -- I seem to remember WinTV having a WinTV-D product out a while ago. Does anyone know what happened to it ? It could to Digital TV (not quite HDTV but better than ATSC)
Re:I wonder how much power it draws (Score:2)
Anyhow, yeah, a P4 m
I like this whole idea (Score:5, Interesting)
But for now at least we still have to put up with either a rather large Media PC, one that doesn't quite fit in with the other components of your home theater I mean, or whatever PoS companies like Sony want to jam down our throats this model year.
So to make a long story short I would like to see a Computer that looks, and feels, like a super slim DVD player, and Runs Linux. Not too much to ask I think, and then I would be able to do as I please with it.
Disclaimer: If something like this actually exists please let me know about it. I have, after all, been living in the middle of nowhere northern BC for about 19 years.
Whoops... (Score:2, Interesting)
Like I said... Middle of nowhere...
Re:I like this whole idea (Score:5, Informative)
You know I am pretty sure creating such a beast shouldn't be a problem. Watch.
Step 1: Get yourself a small form factor PC, like the ThinkGeek Cappucino [thinkgeek.com] or The Open Brick [mandrakestore.com] or build your own cool looking mini PC. [thinkgeek.com]
Step 2: Get yourself a USB DVD drive (brownie points for DVD burners)
Step 3: Get a USB TV Card [buy.com] that runs under Linux [thefeed.no] (Note: I did a quick google, but I'd bet money you could find one that worked much better. And that page was talking about spotty TV signals in 2002. I bet it's gotten better)
Step 4: Download a copy of MythTV [mythtv.org]
Bingo! You've now got a PVR which will either look nice in your stereo cabinet (like that ThinkGeek case), or which you can keep hidden, save for the external DVD drive (and since every DVD player has a DVD drive in it, you're not going to find anything with a much smaller footprint). And, it shouldn't be too hard to hide the OpenBrick. And all for under $1500.
Re:I like this whole idea (Score:5, Informative)
Bingo = between two days and a week of effort.
From what I can tell, all the people who've gotten mythtv to work successfully have used a hauppage pvr-250 or pvr-350. Other brands work, but need considerable tinkering.
I think I'm going to document my entire "journey" to help other people get going faster...
Re:I like this whole idea (Score:4, Interesting)
I made no claims about the time involved -- only the parts and the money. Yes, you would probably need to know what you were doing, and know your way around the Linux command line. However, I wanted to point out that it was possible if you wanted to.
If you're going to shell out $1000 to $1500 to build a PVR when you can buy a Tivo for a couple hundred, it's for the fun / geekiness of it, not because you want a PVR. (And, of course, you could just buy the one featured in this slashdot article to hack if you really want MythTV).
Re:I like this whole idea (Score:5, Interesting)
Then, I did some investigation into do-it-yourself PVR's, and stumbled onto MythTV and Freevo. I tried Freevo first, and didn't really like it (even before using it to watch TV), but the clincher was that, at that time, it didn't support PVR functionality (rewinding through the live TV stream).
I had (still have to some extent) a bunch of older hardware kicking around, so I decided to give MythTV a shot. The hardware was somewhat under-powered, but if I scaled down the capture resolution (to 320x480, for instance), I was able to get it to work. That was enough for me to start spec'ing out some new hardware and make purchases over a period of time.
It was definitely a learning experience in putting together a MythTV machine, helping find bugs, submitting a small code patch or two. I'd do it again, but that's because I'm usually up for a good challenge. If you want something that just works, seriously, buy a TiVo, that's what they do is make devices that work.
-- Joe
Re:I like this whole idea (Score:4, Interesting)
The author has not released anything for it since August because he's coming out with a new and improved version sometime real soon.
Despite that, there's an active community writing/tweaking modules for it, and I've got it to do what I want so far (show the TV listings and weather) since I've not got a Hauppauge card yet.
I decided to go with myHTPC because for me the learning curve was not quite as steep re: $distro vs. W2K pro.
I've got a wireless nic in it for the TV/weather updating, use TightVNC to admin it, use it with my StreamZAP remote to control Winamp, etc.
I almost went with a Linux solution, but just getting this box set up (in an Antec Overture case, btw) has tickled my hardware/fiddling bone enough and I'm able to use it now. YMMV
Re:I like this whole idea (Score:3, Interesting)
I investigated myHTPC, read the forums, checked out the available software, and didn't really find what I was looking for. I would imagine that the situation has since changed.
MythTV in the beginning for me was quite challenging, and I've been using UNIX in some form or another for 10+ years (in fact, I learned UNIX before I learned Windows, turned out to be a fluke in high school computer lab scheduling). There was always documentation for MythTV that evolved, bu
Re:I like this whole idea (Score:3, Informative)
Not even remotely true. I have an AverMedia TV Stereo, about the most generic software-driven cap card you can find, and Knoppmyth was pretty much a breeze to install. Only glitch was a formatting issue with XMLTV, which really wasn't Myth's fault. The latest KnoppMyth is supposed to have resolved this, or what I did was read the Knopp
Re:I like this whole idea (Score:5, Informative)
Although the picture quality of the PVR-x50 cards are better, I would argue that MythTV actually runs better on the BT8x8 cards, only because the ivtv driver is a bit unstable still.
The two main reasons why everybody raves about the PVR-250 cards (and thus tends to go with them) under MythTV are:
1. The graphics quality is SO much better. Even when you crank up the resolution on the BT8x8 cards to 720x480, there's still a noticable difference in picture quality (although, this could be due to the software codecs).
2. While giving this amazing picture quality, the bulk of the work is done on the PVR-x50 card. Thus, the main CPU remains free for other things.
I can speak from first hand experience, trying to do a dual-tuner system using BT8x8 cards really chews up CPU power. If you have the settings set up too high, and you end up recording two things at once (watching Live TV counts as a recording), then you'll end up dropping frames in the second recording (stuttering). The PVR-x50 eliminates all of these worries (assuming you have a motherboard that can handle the DMA traffic).
-- Joe
Re:I like this whole idea (Score:2)
Also can the PVR 350's hardware decoder handle input from a DVD drive, and does IVTV support that? It may seem like a small detail, but for me it drives the cpu requirement for the whole box.
Re:I like this whole idea (Score:4, Informative)
I build MythTV from the RPMs that are done by Axel Thimm, which are linked to in Jarod's MythTV website. From what I have read on the MythTV mailing list, there are some issues with X/MythTV on the PVR-350 TV-Out. From Jarod's own website (which might be a bit dated):
General notes and observations from my first few days of using the PVR-350's TV-Out:
* mplayer WILL play back movies through the 350's tv-out, but the processor has to do all the decoding and the sound has to go through your sound card. However, even on an Athlon XP 2400 system, video playback isn't entirely smooth (for high-quality divx rips). Better support for the 350 as an output device is slated for a future mplayer release.
* Trying to use MythGallery locked up the frontend, MythDVD suffers from the same problems as mplayer (until you use a patched mplayer, which I haven't yet tried). I haven't yet tried MythGame or MythMusic.
* On many TVs, the picture is heavily overscanned. I haven't yet tried tweaking the XF86Config mode to see if I can reduce it, though I've seen indications on the mythtv-users mailing list that this may not be something one should attempt. For reference, I'm currently having to manually specify a MythTV window size of something like 632x472, 40 pixel X offset, 8 pixel Y offset, to fit it to the screen. This will vary heavily from TV to TV.
* Thus far, I'm not seeing a monstrous difference between the 350's output and a GF4MX's output (both via SVid), but I would say the picture is a bit sharper in scenes with high motion (I see a soft edge to things w/the GF4MX that are very sharp w/the 350).
* I think the 350's picture is a touch sharper than when I'm feeding my HDTV a progressive-scan signal via my VGA->Component video adapter, but not by a huge amount. The adapter wins hands-down for me though, because of my large divx collection (both because of 350 playback issues and resolution), the far superior readability (yes, I occasionally web browse on it, occasionally use the shell on it, etc., and a progressive-scan signal is WORLDS better for that), and stability
* So far as stability, I hadn't had a single crash of my MythTV system in ages until introducing the 350. Generally, it works great, but I've froze up the frontend a number of times in a few days, caused two or three crashes of the backend (which is on an entirely different machine), and completely hard-locked the system twice (I've been hammering on it pretty good though). At the moment, I'm back to using the output on my GeForce 4 MX, because I'll take stability over a slight picture quality improvement any day. The 350 was slaughtering the high WAF (Wife Approval Factor) MythTV had been enjoying for some time.
Myself, I use the IVTV driver with very few problems, using both the PVR-250 and PVR-350 as hardware encoders (but use a GeForce 4MX for TV-Out). My MythTV machine stays on 24/7, and I don't really run into too many problems. The most annoying problem right now (and I'm not sure if it's IVTV, MythTV or lirc) is that if I was recording something on card 1, and watching TV on card 2, when I change channels on card 2 (after card 1 is finished recording), then I get all sorts of stuttering problems. But, if I exit TV, and restart it, then all is fine.
If I understand things correctly, the "stable" branch of IVTV is being maintained by other developers while the main developer(s) go on with the 0.2 branch, which should fix most of the issues.
For now, my recommendation is go for it, but unless you feel like putting in patches, then use it as a PVR-350, and just wait.
I can't answer the question about DVD playback, because I haven't configured my PVR-350 for DVD playback.
-- Joe
Re:I like this whole idea (Score:3, Informative)
A Hauppage PVR-350 works great for a MythTV box, and has a built in TV-Ou
Re:I like this whole idea (Score:2)
Re:I like this whole idea (Score:4, Informative)
1. Even though the PVR-350 has TV-Out on it, AFAIK, you'll still need a regular video card in your PC (I don't think that motherboard BIOS' will recognize the PVR-350 as a video card, though I may be wrong on that).
2. PVR-350 TV-Out at the moment isn't that great. Last I heard, it's just a framebuffer, so unless you're running specific apps that will use the acceleration, like mplayer, MythTV (for watching MPEG-2 recordings only, I think), and maybe Xine, it's extremely slow. And for applications that require some sort of GL support, well, forget it (people have had numerous troubles with the MythGame module/XMAME)..
3. Apparently there's some issues regarding using the PVR-350 to record, and using the TV-Out at the same time.
However, your advice is still sound. I bought a PVR-350, and at the moment, I'm using it as a PVR-250, using my GeForce 4MX for TV-Out. Once the ivtv driver stabilizes, I'll switch to the PVR-350. There's been a lot of traffic on the ivtv mailing list lately with patches for testing and the like.
-- Joe
Re:I like this whole idea (Score:2)
Sure, if you go with MicroATX. Most ATX motherboard do NOT come with onboard video (at least not according to looking at the 18 or so motherboards displayed at Fry's).
I'm sorry, but that's crap. It's not 'extremely slow'. Have you tried recent versions of the ivtv driver with the proper patches? I don't think so.
While it may be true that recent patches fix things, I have a stable MythTV machine using the IVTV RPM from Axel's site (ivtv-0.
Re:I like this whole idea (Score:4, Informative)
Re:I like this whole idea (Score:2)
Re:I like this whole idea (Score:2, Insightful)
Sorry this is just an AC rant.
But USB for high bandwidth devices like DVD drives is a travesty of tech. Such devices should use Firewire! For the love of SHIT put more firewire on PCs for FUCK SAKE.
Re:I like this whole idea (Score:2)
Your idea does not work. out so easily (Score:4, Insightful)
Second, Using MythTV with USB TV Card is a pain in the ass.
Third, Do you really want to stack many USB boxes on top of your box? Is it a CLEAN solution? Besides, these USB DVD/TV may require their own external power supply.
Don't always assume DIY is the best. I think ASUS is quite impressive, building the whole thing around 400 USD>
Re:Your idea does not work. out so easily (Score:2)
Re:I like this whole idea (Score:2, Informative)
There are distro's of linux tailored to run on this platform too...
*Shrug*
e.
Re:I like this whole idea (Score:3, Interesting)
I'm just about to pull the trigger on one of these, one more clinet to finish up and I just might be ready.
Re:I like this whole idea (Score:2)
Re:I like this whole idea (Score:2, Funny)
Dude. This computer is not going to take away your Tivo. Settle down.
Re:I like this whole idea (Score:2)
Re:I like this whole idea (Score:3, Interesting)
There's a third option: (Score:2)
Re:There's a third option: (Score:2)
No HDTV tuner, re-attach jaws (Score:5, Informative)
The rig in the article can only record regular TV.
Re:No HDTV tuner, re-attach jaws (Score:2)
if it is not almost identical to the PVR-250 then it is garbage.
I can record 4 different channels at the same time on a P-3 400 and not get above 6% system useage. using any of the conextant or bttv solutions is wasting time and making the whole PVR crap.
I looked at the asus machine, nice start, but no cigar. a coolermaster pvr case and a mini atx motherboard with a lower end Athalon (1.0ghz) is more horsepower than needed.. and many people are getting the tiny ITX boards wo
Centrino (Score:4, Insightful)
Which brings the question back of when Intel will bring the Pentium M back to the desktop. It is a little more AMD-ish look at processessing (Best parts of P3, with merged P4 technology), probably an overclockers dream, but it'd be a great embedded use chip.
Not to mention a centrino board has pretty much everything this would have, minus the tuner, which could be done via PCI.
Re:Centrino (Score:2)
Re:Centrino (Score:3, Interesting)
Looks pretty good (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Looks pretty good (Score:4, Informative)
NewEgg (Score:2)
Re:Looks pretty good (Score:3, Informative)
Hence the barebones . You add the components of your choice. I'm sure if you did a Google search you could also find a company that offers ready-to-use systems sans-OS as well. So stop complaining & search already.
My thoughts on this... (Score:4, Insightful)
Advertisers will want to find ways to get their messages in the programs. Right now, the method is to insert the messages in breaks of ever-increasing time which occur at greater and greater frequency. People use PVR's to fight this trend.
The next logical step, then, is to insert the advertising directly into the contents of the programming. This is already happening now to a small extent, but I believe in the future it will get worse.
Here is an example of what I envision: One character, Bob, pulls out his cell phone. A second character, George, sees it.
George: Hey, that's a cool cellphone you got there.
Bob: Yeah. It's a Noksung. I got it with my T-Cingle PCS. It was free! Look, I can take full-motion video with it and uselessly hog screeds of bandwidth with aimless nonsense.
George: Wow! Can I have a look?
Bob: Sure. T-Cingle PCS is running a special right now. 3,000,000 anytime minutes for nine cents a month.
George: Great. I'm going to sign up for that right after we solve this murder. Wait! is that a Taco's Jr. over there. Pull in, they've got a new sushi-cajun burrito on their value menu for 34 cents!.....
etc, etc, etc.
Surprisingly enough, people will probably actually watch this crap.
Re:My thoughts on this... (Score:2)
For a good laugh, go rent "Mac and Me" if you can find it. Some of the best product placement of all time.
W
PVRs... for cars? (Score:4, Interesting)
Since I travel a lot I have recently been thinking about putting together a PVR-type device for my automobile. With ever-shrinking form factors, hiding the device would be no problem. A simple remote control would be fairly easy to integrate. Several fast-booting distro's come to mind to use as starting points. But before I jump in headfirst, I thought I would ask... has this been done before?
(I remember an article a few days abo about a totally "wired" automobile, but that's not my goal. Just a simple mass-storage device with access controlls, integrated with a car stereo. )
-B
Re:PVRs... for cars? (Score:3, Interesting)
It wouldn't be too hard to do what you are saying, hell, I say do it. But it might be a lot healthier on your car to use an old laptop, and find a drive box to put your ultra-
Re:PVRs... for cars? (Score:2)
Re:PVRs... for cars? (Score:2)
Re:PVRs... for cars? (Score:2)
And now, my semi-serious gripe... (Score:2, Offtopic)
Re:And now, my semi-serious gripe... (Score:2)
Get a company to build a motherboard with nothing but firewire ports.
Firewire hard drives, firewire keyboards/mice, firewire display (maybe not, let's keep VGA/DVI for a while), firewire DVD drive, firewire EVERYTHING.
Of course, even with that you'd have problems. Your speakers don't have firewire inputs, your satellite/cable doesn't come over firewire, and your TV doesn't take
Where's the $400 coming from? (Score:3, Informative)
Froogling it shows a good number of them at 450, but that's pure bare bones, no proc, no drives (not even the dvd/cdr you mentioned)
Where's the "barebones" coming from? (Score:2)
Apparently, I've been out while the definition of barebones was changed.
Re:Where's the $400 coming from? (Score:4, Informative)
includes combo drive.
thanks, pricewatch!
Almost perfect? (Score:5, Informative)
I have a fair bit of experience with MythTV. I've been using it for around 6 months now with both a Bt878 card and a PVR-350. And I wouldn't say "almost perfect". Pretty nice/cool, yes, but far from perfect. A friend has a TiVo that we use a lot.
Here are some thoughts:
MythTV/PVR can be somewhat cheaper (and big/ugly) or it can be quite a bit more expensive than a TiVo when using a nice case like in this article.
TiVo subscription fees suck.
MythTV and/or the PVR drivers crash or flake out. Some times I get interference bars across the recordings, a reboot fixes it. Not all the time, but sometimes. TiVo don't crash.
MythTV can run multiple tuners. Although not really that great a bonus. I used to run several tuners but I never watched all the crap it recorded anyway. I'm using one tuner now and that's more than enough.
MythTV can be daunting to install and configure. It takes a lot of time. There is KnoppMyth which is pretty easy and preconfigured, but it doesn't always work and still requires some configuration.
MythTV makes it "easy" (if you ignore configuration pain) to use remote frontends so you can watch TV on any computer on the network.
MythTV makes it easy to burn DVD's of your recorded shows or save the video for archival purposes.
Re:Almost perfect? (Score:2)
Maybe so, but screenscraping zap2it is NOT a viable option.
Unless MythTV gets support for Guide+, you'll end up having to pay a subscription when zap2it shuts down mythtv scrapers like tvguide did.
Re:Almost perfect? (Score:4, Interesting)
Yahoo! offers free TV listings, they wouldn't notice a huge increase in traffic if MythTV users switched over, and creating a scraper for their site is not really hard. And, for all I know, there are another dozen portals out there that MythTV users could head to if they got shut down.
As a matter of fact, scrapers are pretty easy to create (well, if you're a programmer and you know Perl), and easy to create in such a way that it's not too likely you'll be caught. (Caveat coder! Possible TOS violations lurk, so think through whatever you want to do before you do it.)
Re:Almost perfect? (Score:2)
Well that's kinda what I meant when I said screen scraping isn't a viable option. I didn't mean it's impossible (it's what xmltv currently does).
I mean that TiVo replacements won't be viable until there's a better way of getting your TV listings, one that cooperates with the tv listing provider rather than exploiting them.
Cost savings? (or "It is the energy, stupid.") (Score:2)
Lifetime subscription fees are fairly reasonable compared to the cost of new hardware for a HTPC.
There are also hacks to create program guides for the PVR to read. This is useful to overseas users. I frown on this for those in the states--you should obey the TOS and the PVR manufacturers make money on the subscriptions & their pro
client/server solution (Score:2, Insightful)
You can have a noisy ugly backend server with lots of TV tuners and storage space stuffed away in your closet, and then have small, noiseless/quiet frontends in every room of the house.
The advantage is obvious - people can watch live TV (different channels, only limited by the number of TV tuners) or recordings in every room of the house, and the overall noise level and pow
Re:Almost perfect? (Score:2)
MythTV + Hauppauge PVR disappointing (Score:5, Interesting)
The IVTV driver would lock up after 12 or 15 hours. That was with Kernel 2.6; probably should have stuck with kernel 2.4.
Plus it was just torturously harder to use. I have switched to Windows 2000 + SageTV for my Hauppauge PVR-250, with the Hauppauge MVP for watching the movies on TV. It is much better than a Tivo or ReplayTV or Myth. It rocks.
Re:MythTV + Hauppauge PVR disappointing (Score:2, Funny)
Re:MythTV + Hauppauge PVR disappointing (Score:4, Interesting)
I didn't like MythTV at all. Skipping forward (or backwards) was very sluggish, the interface was cumbersome and complex, the conflict resolution was really complex, and didn't seem to work right anyhow. It needed plugins to do the most basic tasks that any old file-manager can do, etc. So eventually I've settled with the following setup:
WebVCR+. It gives you an HTML interface to TV listings where you can schedule recordings, and you can set it up to record using any program you like. It uses XMLTV to get the listings. You can use any web browser you like.
Then you just need a filemanager and a video player. I happen to like emelFM and MPlayer, so I just changed a few key-bindings (to match my remote), and it works quite well.
I've also got a handful of scripts that do basic things, like convert MPEG-2 streams into MPEG-4. I re-mapped some keyboard shortcuts in AVIdemux2 so I can edit videos entirely with a remote. I made scripts to automate recording of data/audio/video CD. Etc, etc.
Re:MythTV + Hauppauge PVR disappointing (Score:2)
All things being roughly equal, I would have preferred Linux instead of Windows, even though I have a leftover (valid, legal) Win2000 pro license from an MSDN I held legally at my former employer [Microsoft!]. So ethically I'm okay. But that's just luck.
But things aren't remotely equal. The SageTV experience is just light-years beyond Myth, as good as Myth is. The deal breaker was the driver lockups. I expect that's my error.
For operating a PC via
Volume (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Volume (Score:5, Informative)
My microATX [directron.com] system runs with a 120mm fan in its ATX power supply [directron.com]. When idle it spins at about 1,000 RPM's. It's maximum rating is 2,000 RPM's. It self adjusts depending on load. That is less than 20db once the case is closed up.
Then I modded that same case for a 120mm fan in the front of it (from the normal 80mm fan) and I run it at 1,200 RPM's (I use a rheostat to adjust its voltage/RPM). Then I use a 92->80mm fan adapter [frozencpu.com] on the cpu heatsink with a large Alpha 8045 (80x80x45mm) heatsink with copper inlay. This fan runs at about 1,000 RPM's, but it has a heat sensor on a wire that I can place anywhere. I chose to tape it to the side of the heatsink and that keeps the fan at about 1,800 RPM's under load and 1,000 RPM's idle. If you tape the thermal sensor for this fan to another area, it will run at a slower or faster rate, depending on how hot that surface gets.
Then I modded the back of the case [directron.com] (click on the "back view" to see it) to allow a 92mm fan in there rather than 80mm. I run it at 1,000 RPM's.
Now, every fan in a normal default factory case runs at about 2,500-4,000 RPM's by default and are only 60-80mm wide. A 120mm fan at 1,000 RPM's pushes the same amount of air (provided there is little restriction in the airflow pathway, and the shape of the finns, but on average...) as an 80mm fan running at 3,000 RPM's.
Also, using the built in fan grill in your case (the ones they just punch out small holes in a pattern the shape of 60 or 80mm fan) is the worst thing you can do, even if you are going to use default sizes. You should always dremel out the built in grill and use a standard wire grill [directron.com] rather than those fancy air restricting/turbulence creating grills.
Then use a 5400RPM Hard drive. If you want to blow money you can even get a heatpipe cooler for your hard drive that screws into a 5.25in bay with rubber washers, and isolates the HDD from the case. Then the heatpipes keep the drive cool. This works up to even with 10krpm drives. But I use 7200RPM's on my desktop systems.
That is the basics. On top of all this you can do even more: Rubber washers between each fan and the case to prevent oscilations. If you use 2 identical fans, don't allow them to both run at the same voltage, as they will give you a beating effect because they will never spin at EXACTLY the same rate (unless you buy expensive computer controlled fan regulators which are only available in servers). Put a rubber washer between the power supply and the back of the case before screwing it in. Then put thin padding on all the joints of the case (like where the side pannel touches the rest of the case). This will dampen the oscillations throughout the case, and regulate all oscillations to be contained in a single pannel, rather than the entire case.
There is much more you can do, but this post is getting long. You handy people should get modding. You don't have to be fancy and rice out your case with glowing lights to be a case modder. I don't, and my mods are what draws the attention when my friends compare computer systems with eachother. They just don't see how I can pack the fastest video card, the fastest CPU, and the best everything in such a small case, overclocked, and still keep it quieter than a Mac G5.
XBOX ... (Score:5, Interesting)
Furthermore, by purchasing an XBOX without actually buying games you make MS lose money :) (they're losing money anyway with xbox, but this way they're losing even more)
These days it doesn't even take a screwdriver to hack the XBOX ... The (albeit kludgy) software solution works well.
Re:XBOX ... (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:XBOX ... (Score:3, Informative)
http://www.hauppauge.com/html/usb_data.htm
Just get the drivers...
What next? (Score:2, Funny)
Can't people just STOP trying to run Linux on everything?
Re:What next? (Score:2)
Replay and DVD player just plain work, now. (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:Replay and DVD player just plain work, now. (Score:2)
How good are your ReplayTVs at editing out commercials? How good are they at playing T2 Extreme Edition? How good are they at recording/playing back HDTV?
If you don't want to use a computer, that's fine. Just because a computer isn't for you, doesn't mean you need t complain on slashdot that this is "unnecessary".
Ahanix (Score:4, Interesting)
Personally, the integrated Music Player, TV recorder/viewer, web interface(and this is the killer app for me) for scheduling recordings make the hassles worth it. Even bought myself a JP1 remote that I reprogrammed so it controls everything seemlessly so my girlfriend faction has increased greatly in the past month or so.
Getting back to the Ahanix cases, they have several different models with different sizes most with a LCD display(HD44870) that can be used by mythtv if you have lcdproc installed. If you are looking for a HTPC, check them out.
set-top PCs on deck.. (Score:2, Interesting)
Basically what the Phantom plans to be (which is why I dont doubt the Phantom will exist). I predict tons of dvd-form-factor PCs marketed as PC/Console/PVR/etc...
Only supports interlaced HDTV formats? (Score:3, Interesting)
I've ever seen a 720i source or 525i for that matter.
I'd really like to see a device with DVI/Component INPUTS so you can use the tuner most cable companies provide with their HDTV service.
It's a cold day in hell when you can pick up a decent HDTV signal with just an antenna around here.
If I recall at CES this year there were at least 2 HDTV sets with built-in PVR capabilities, and they could record HDTV content.
Now that really tickles my fancy, unfortunately your options for getting the recorded content off your TV's PVR are limited
$999 for an HDTV-VHS recorder (i.e. JVC HM-DH30000 ) is a little high. Seems the PC hardware approach might not be a bad idea,
ATI has new HDTV tuner hardware on the horizon. If you couple that with a huge hard drive, I'm sure you could potentially beat the over-priced JVC product by a long shot.
I know I'd certainly jump at the opportunity to buy such a device.
Unfortunately, this device isn't quite there yet. But it looks like a step in the right direction (given a decent non-proprietary PVR software environment).
But how long do we really have before TiVo and Replay embrace HDTV recording? Replay already has S/PDIF and Component OUTPUTs (even though they only have analog inputs)...
Upgradability an issue. (Score:5, Informative)
I've already added a DVB-T (HDTV in the US) card, which you can't do with this box (i.e. you will never get digital TV with this box).
My box is a bit bigger, but looks like a stereo component (brushed steel). I'm also planning on adding an extra analogue capture card (bringing my capture sources up to three). This will fill the PCI slots on the Micro-ATX board, so I'm damn glad I didn't buy a smaller box!
I've got a DVD-ROM drive, DVD burner and currently one 160GB hard disk. Planning on adding another much bigger hard drive (waiting, waiting, I want 1TB)
If you are thinking of building a PVR (it's a fun project), you really should think about expandability and upgradability.
Also check Jarod's PVR Hardware Database [goldfish.org], and his excellent Install Guides [goldfish.org] page.
Also, don't forget MythTV is a very nice client/server architecture, so you can run your "backend" on some beefy ugly PC in a cupboard, and us anything (including an XBox [blkbk.com]) as a frontend.
--
"Puritanism - the haunting fear that someone, somewhere, may be happy."
-- Henry Mencken
My blog: http://yi.org/blog [yi.org], Latest entry : Muscle powered microrobot's
HDTV (Score:3, Informative)
http://www.pchdtv.com/
Linux HDTV cards for under $200. Sweet.
--Greg
Re:HDTV (Score:2)
Keep the tuner give me an IR Blaster (Score:2, Interesting)
A agood IR blaster would turn my PC into a programmable "universal remote".
When will ATI and NVIDIA get a clue?
GBPVR (Score:3, Informative)
$99 TiVO through DirecTV (Score:2, Redundant)
35 hours might not be as much as what most people get from shoving a big drive in their homebrew DVRs, but damn, $99. It'll take a LONG time before the subscription fees push it up to the cost of some of these homebrew ones, and by then, DVRs may be even better and I will want to move on to another device.
Or you could just get a Tivo for $99 (Score:2, Informative)
http://www.directv.com/DTVAPP/imagine/TIVO.dsp
And hey, you'll have something that "just works" from the word go, instead of having to fuck about for 3 weeks and still not be up to scratch. Face it, the tivo guys did a better job than you can.
Needs two things to be "perfect". (Score:2)
1. No fan or other noisemaking moving parts.
2. Noiseless disk drives.
It's humiliating to spend $450 on a piece of geek gear and then realize it's keeping you awake at night.
The worst offender is the ReplayTV 5040, which has a *stepper* motor in its fan, which is kept at a very low speed by the mobo to stop ordinary fan noise - white noise - but instead produces a fluttering rumble.
I had to disconnect the fan and leave the cover off the unit (or it shuts itse
Re:Sorry to burst your bubble.. (Score:2)
That's not the price for the box, that's the price for the loaded system with WinXP. Do a Google search & you can find the barebones system for under $450 & add the components you need & probably come in well under $1000 (A quick check at zipzoomfly.com [zipzoomfly.com] has a fairly basic system, 1.8G/512MB/160GB and a combo DVD player & cd burner (from NewEgg, they didn't have one at zzf) comes in at about $810). Cappuccinopc [cappuccinopc.com]