[mythtv-users] PVR-350 vs PVR-250 + GeForce4MX

[Stephen Tait]

>
>Micah wrote:
>>Hi,
>>I'm rolling around the idea of putting together a dedicated Myth box, and 
>>I'm trying to nail down my choice of hardware.
>>My current problem is deciding between a PVR-350 or a PVR-250 + 
>>GeForce4MX with TV-out.
>>My issues and priorities are in this order:
>>1. Stability <-- Highest priority
>>2. Ease of setup
>>3. Image quality
>>I was leaning heavily toward the PVR-350 because it simply seems better 
>>suited to a dedicated Myth box.  However, after reading Jarod's guide, it 
>>seems that stability and ease of setup are issues with the PVR-350.
>>Cost wise, a quick check on newegg showed that the price difference was 
>>about $10 (with the PVR-350 being cheaper).  That is close enough to be 
>>negigible in my book.
>>Some other related notes:
>>-------------------------
>>* I will be using composite TV-out.  I don't have S-video on my 
>>TV.  Future TVs will probably have S-video or better.
>>* I want to be able to use the console emulators.  I don't know if they 
>>can leverage the 3D capabilities of a video card (like the GeForce).  Can they?
>>* My Linux knowledge is spotty at best.  I have compiled kernels and 
>>such, but not much more.  I still don't understand things like KDE vs 
>>Gnome, X-Windows, etc.  I am an experienced Linux user, not admin.
>>* The addition of the GeForce would take up the AGP slot, so I'm not 
>>losing any PCI slots by putting it in.
>>So, any advice would be quite helpful.
>>Thanks,
>>Micah
>>_______________________________________________
>>mythtv-users mailing list
>>mythtv-users at mythtv.org
>>http://mythtv.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-users

Well, personally I'm very happy with my own setup- namely a PVR-250 and a 
cheap AGP card.

The card in question is a cheap (Abit?) GeForceFX MX400 or something. Since 
I'm using the evil nVidia drivers, the MPEG2 decoding functions of the card 
come into play with the result that watching TV, pausing TV and all the 
rest of it use sod-all CPU (only the OSD and MythMusic run the CPU at 
anything more than 5% on a 4200 Athlon), and so far it's been far more 
stable than I'd imagined.

I've not used the TV-Out yet (it's plugged into a 19" Iiyama) so I can't 
vouch for the quality.