[mythtv-users] does my system make the cut?

[Vikas Sharma]

Hello, friendly MythTV community.

I'm a total noob, so please bear with me. Before I ditch my Cablevision DVR
and my TV, I want to make sure I have a system that's going to work.

I want to install the MythTV backend on my old Dell Dimension XPS T700r.
It's a P3, 700 MHz with 640 MB RAM and a 80 GB, with an additional external
80 GB hard drive.

Questions:

1. Will this be sufficient to run the backend? I'd like to be able to watch
live TV, and record something and watch something else simultaneously.

2. Assuming that my computer is sufficient, what video capture card should I
get? The Hauppauge PVR-250? I'd like to spend as little money as possible.

3. Can I watch my stored programs on my newer PC (a Dell Dimension E510), on
which I'm running Windows XP Media Center? I don't want to install Linux on
my newer machine, but I see there are Windows frontend programs like
WinMyth, MythStreamTV... I'd like to be able to skip commercials.

If that doesn't work, I guess I could always install the MythTV frontend on
my older machine and just hook both my desktops up to the same monitor (I
only have one) using some kind of monitor switch. Would that be better?

4. Can I watch stored programs on my Mac Powerbook G4 laptop?

5. Can I use my Iomega 80GB external hard drive to supplement my 80GB
internal?

Thanks in advance!

Vikas
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