[mythtv-users] Hardware Question

[Grant Edwards]

> I'm planning on building a PVR set using MythTV, problem is the only
> hardware I currently have available is a 700mHZ processor, 512MB ram and
> an all-in-one video + sound card with the motherboard... I've read
> various websites saying what you can and cannot do with the hardware,
> but its not always that clear :|

With a hardware encoder it will work great (e.g. PVR-250 or
PVR-350 -- 250's aren't all that expensive these days).  I run
a PVR-350 with a 1GHz Via C3 processor (probably about
equivalent to a 700MHz Pentium or Athlon).  I can record and
playback at the same time with about 30% CPU usage. 

> With the system above, would I be able to buy a cheapo wintv
> card and just run the mythtv as a backend with no frontend and
> purely control it over the web interface recording various
> shows? That way I can hide the ugly thing in a secluded closet
> and not have to worry about it until I come across some better
> hardware... OR would I be able to run it as a nice looking
> frontend as well, being able to watch tv, record tv, watch
> recorded tv/movies and music and such?

Based on what I've read, you'd be pushing the limits if you
tried to do SW encoding. 

-- 
Grant Edwards
grante at visi.com