[mythtv-users] For Sale - Highend MythTV box/DVR/PVR installed and ready to go...

Tue Oct 3 19:11:17 UTC 2006

Yes, this is off topic, and yes, I know this isn't Ebay. However, I 
thought there might be some people out there interested in a h/w 
solution with the latest MythTV already installed and working... or 
perhaps some existing users looking to save a bit on some hardware. That 
said, I'm selling my brand new MythTV box and thought I'd offer here 
before posting it up on Ebay.

Hardware-wise, here's the list:

SilverStone case (LC17S)
http://www.silverstonetek.com/products-lc17C.htm

SilverStone USB/FW/Card Reader (replaces the stock one that comes with 
the case - FP34S)
http://www.silverstonetek.com/products-fp34.htm

SilverStone 600W Modular Power Supply (the modular power supplies really 
rock as far cutting down on cable clutter - ST60F)
http://www.silverstonetek.com/products-60f.htm

SilverStone Power Supply Acoustic Cover (cuts about 12dB of sound - PP02)
http://www.silverstonetek.com/products-pp02.htm

FoxConn Motherboard (955X7AA-8EKRS2)
http://www.foxconnchannel.com/Product/motherboard_detail.aspx?ID=en-us0000003

Intel P4 3.0Ghz LGA775 2Mb cache (BX80547PG3000F)
http://processorfinder.intel.com/details.aspx?sSpec=SL7Z9

2 x Corsair XMS2X Twin2X 1Gb PC5400 DDR2 RAM (CM2X1024-5400C4)
http://www.corsairmemory.com/corsair/xms2.html

3 x WD 250Gb SATAII HD w/ 3 year warranty (WD2500JS)
http://www.wdc.com/en/products/products.asp?DriveID=135

Plextor SATA DVD burner 16x DVD+/-R/W (PX-755SA/SW-BL)
http://www.plextor.com/ENGLISH/products/Store/Store.htm

Leadtek WinFast 128Mb DDR 16xPCI-E VGA/DVI/HDTV
http://www.leadtek.com.tw/eng/3d_graphic/overview.asp?lineid=1&pronameid=214

Hauppauge WinTV PVR500 MCE Kit (card + remote + receiver)
http://hauppauge.com/pages/products/data_pvr500mcekit.html

All parts above are assembled and installed. There is no non-working h/w 
(ie: nothing that lacks linux support, etc). All original packaging, 
extra cables, etc are available and included. I spent well over $1800 on 
the above.

Links to images of the system are below.

Other h/w details/notes:
I have all the extra mounting screws, cables, and the original USB/card 
reader that came with the case
Since the power supply is modular, I'm only using three of the supplied 
cables. All other cables are available
The p/w acoustic cover makes an already very quiet system almost 
completely silent
CPU, case fans, and power supply fans all exhaust out the side - perfect 
for installation with other a/v equipment
All extra parts, screws, and cables that came with the motherboard are 
available - same for the SATA DVD drive
The Leadtek video card includes the dongle that provides both s-video 
and component out
The Hauppauge video card bundle includes the remote, the USB receiver, 
and an IR blaster
The motherboard supports full analog and digital outputs via SPDIF as 
well as 7.1 surround sound out via the onboard ports

Software-wise, here's the details:

The system was installed with Fedora Core 5 following the guide at 
http://wilsonet.com and using MythTv .20. Everything updated and 
installed cleanly. There were no dependency errors or issues during 
installation. MythTV .20 is installed. All h/w works (tuner cards, video 
out, remote, etc). The OS/MythTV was installed onto a RAID5 of the 250Gb 
drives. After formatting and overhead of the OS itself, there's 
approximately 480Gb available disk space. Internally there are only 
three hard drives installed. Room exists for three more in the other 
drive bay, plus there two other "hidden" (ie: not front accessible) 
3.5'' drive bays. This box could easily have 3x500Gb drives added in a 
RAID0 or RAID5 for an additional 1.0 to 1.5Tb of storage. To ship, all 
is needed is to change the root and mythtv passwords, and upon receipt 
just wire it up and setup your channels/tuner inputs/DataDirect feed. 
FWIW: I have successfully had this outputting to a standard 27'' TV, a 
JVC 61'' widescreen plasma, and a 17'' LCD monitor. For whoever buys 
this, I'll provide 30 days of email technical support (I know linux 
extremely well and MythTV very well).

Having spent over $1800 on all the parts, plus time installing the h/w 
(I'm very anal-retentive about hardware, so all cables are lined up for 
good airflow, nothing is scratched, etc) and s/w, I'm looking to get 
about $1500 for everything, though I'll consider any reasonable offer. 
Please feel free to email me at andrew_at_nccomp_dot_com with any 
reasonable offer. If the offer is right, I'll cover the shipping costs 
with the 50 United States via a carrier that provides tracking (FedEx or 
UPS). I'm open to PayPal, cashiers check or money order, or a 
personal/business check (though for this it must be from a national 
bank... ie: Wells Fargo, BofA, Washington Mutual, etc and I'll wait for 
the check to clear before shipping). I know there's always some 
hesitation in buying online these days. People want the protection of 
Ebay and Paypal, etc... though there are also lots of scammers on Ebay 
as well as Ebay's fees. That said, I just sold my OQO 01+ via 
OQOTalk.com, with a PayPal payment and the new owner is quite happy. You 
can see his post here: 
http://www.oqotalk.com/index.php/topic,265.0.html. You can also contact 
the buyer at wtleaver_at_gmail_dot_com and he'll confirm the transaction 
and my email address (think of this as non-Ebay feedback).

Finally, this system has a 600W power supply due to its capabilities 
(total of 8 x 3.5'' and 2 x 5.25'' drives possible). However, in its 
present state, it could get away with a power supply as small as 350W. 
That said, I also have a modular Antec 430 HE (that high efficiency) 
power supply that works just fine with this system. If you want to leave 
the h/w as is and not add anything further, you could install the Antec 
power supply in place of the SilverStone p/s and save on electrical 
costs and reduce the noise by about 3dB. If the offer is right 
(somewhere near what I'm asking), I'll throw in this extra p/s at no charge.

Links to pics (note in the first two images it looks like a scratch or 
blemish on the case. Its not... that's a shadow/reflection and you can 
see it moves depending on the angle):
http://nccomp.com/mythpix/IMG_0581.jpg
http://nccomp.com/mythpix/IMG_0582.jpg
http://nccomp.com/mythpix/IMG_0583.jpg
http://nccomp.com/mythpix/IMG_0584.jpg
http://nccomp.com/mythpix/IMG_0585.jpg
http://nccomp.com/mythpix/IMG_0586.jpg
http://nccomp.com/mythpix/IMG_0587.jpg
http://nccomp.com/mythpix/IMG_0588.jpg
http://nccomp.com/mythpix/IMG_0589.jpg
http://nccomp.com/mythpix/IMG_0590.jpg
http://nccomp.com/mythpix/IMG_0591.jpg
http://nccomp.com/mythpix/IMG_0592.jpg
http://nccomp.com/mythpix/IMG_0593.jpg
http://nccomp.com/mythpix/IMG_0594.jpg
http://nccomp.com/mythpix/IMG_0595.jpg
http://nccomp.com/mythpix/IMG_0596.jpg
http://nccomp.com/mythpix/IMG_0597.jpg
http://nccomp.com/mythpix/IMG_0598.jpg
http://nccomp.com/mythpix/IMG_0599.jpg
http://nccomp.com/mythpix/IMG_0600.jpg
http://nccomp.com/mythpix/IMG_0601.jpg
http://nccomp.com/mythpix/IMG_0602.jpg
http://nccomp.com/mythpix/IMG_0603.jpg
http://nccomp.com/mythpix/IMG_0604.jpg
http://nccomp.com/mythpix/IMG_0605.jpg
http://nccomp.com/mythpix/IMG_0606.jpg
http://nccomp.com/mythpix/IMG_0607.jpg
http://nccomp.com/mythpix/IMG_0608.jpg
http://nccomp.com/mythpix/IMG_0609.jpg
http://nccomp.com/mythpix/IMG_0610.jpg
http://nccomp.com/mythpix/IMG_0611.jpg
http://nccomp.com/mythpix/IMG_0612.jpg

As you might notice in some of the pics, I have a decent sized movie 
collection copied to this system. All are 16:9 DVD's ripped to 1Gb xvid 
.avi files. If requested, I might forget to remove them before shipping. :)

Oh, and the final item... why am I selling this? Well, its not cause 
there's anything wrong with it. It all works fine. I'm selling it 
because I like gadgets and geeky projects. This was both for me, but I 
want to recoup some of the costs so I can go on to my next project. :)