[mythtv] Suitable Laptops?

[Pierre-Olivier Bouchard]

Michael Pedersen wrote:
> I know, the subject line looks more than a little unusual for the list,
> but it actually has a valid idea in it. Something I've just started
> pondering, in fact.

> I'm asking this because the one thing my setup truly lacks is a pretty
> way of integrating with the tv/entertainment system. I'd like to make
> the mythtv box into a standalone machine capable of being hidden in an
> entertainment center very easily.

A laptop powerful enough to run MythTV with ease would cose much more 
than a mini-system (a Shuttle, or a Pundit) with an equivalent CPU. 
Plus, those laptops have high-speed, small, whiney fans that just won't 
shut up, so it'd be worse.

The system I'd build for myself would be one of the Athlon-based 
Shuttles, modded with a slower fan, plus the usual myth stuff, with an 
IR dongle, and all that would be put completely behind the TV, with only 
the IR receiver peeking out. Or use a Pundit with a P4 instead of the 
Athlon+Shuttle, would be pretty much the same result, but even smaller. 
That would be cheaper, more silent, and maybe even smaller (the most 
powerful laptops come with gigantic screens now, AFAIK) - wouldn't be as 
thin, but could fit behind the TV just as well.


Pete