[mythtv-users] Cheapest SD FE

Jeff Holicky myth.myth_user at myth.sent.com
Sat Nov 8 21:30:05 UTC 2008


On Wed, 5 Nov 2008 15:14:29 -0500, "Phill Wiggin" <alamar at gmail.com>
said:
> On Wed, Nov 5, 2008 at 12:26 PM, belcampo <belcampo at zonnet.nl> wrote:
> 
> > Jeremy Sullivan wrote:
> > > I am considering the purchase of three SD frontends.  Building them
> > > myself is fine, but purchasing a complete solution would be better.
> > > What is popular these days that is inexpensive, relatively small, and
> > > not too loud?
> > http://www.asus.de/search.aspx?searchitem=1&searchkey=b202
> > Dead silent 249.00 EUROS incl. 19% VAT. I think they are 299.00 US $
> > >
> > >
> >
> 
> MediaMVP 2nd'd. They're about $90 for a wired one, or ~$115 for a
> wireless G
> model. Quite possibly the best part is that when Myth ticks up a version,
> you only have to update the MVP firmware once, and each MVP loads it the
> same way. (e.g. no compiling on each system, just download-and-go)
> 
> That said, they can't (natively) play non-Myth, non-MPEG1/2 files. If you
> have videos (.avi ,etc) that you want to play, you'll have to set up a
> VLC
> server.
> 
> Fantastic for the price/size/quiet.
> 
> Also, AppleTVs can be Myth-ized (either a complete conversion to linux,
> or
> Myth run as an app in the Apple software). It's small, quiet, and a full
> myth frontend. I blew out the Apple software and did a complete Gentoo
> install. However, they compile slowly (if you're using gentoo or other
> "from
> source" myth install).
> 
> I've got some notes on my installs (I have MVPs and an ATV) over at
> http://www.zoomthingie.com/wordpress/
> I use Gentoo, which is great for performance/anti-bloat..but it's not for
> the faint of heart.
> 
> --Phill W


Seeing that you can completely change the bios of the MediaMVP to behave
mostly like a regular PC front end for Myth - it is a great option. 
Today I don't have the cash to get a BE going - so it will just run off
a windows box - but later I can move it to Myth.  

The only downside I see instantly is the lack of real Divx support
(detailed below).  Though it plays Divx, they say in the manual that
only ONE MVP can play Divx at a time (anyone disagree?)
Further it basically kills the server since it has to transcode for
passing to the MVP unit and there are sync issues and and and.

Though I can live with that for the time being, am I correct with a
regular PC as a FRONT END - it does the decoding of the Divx AT THE PC
and not at the server -- and plays Divx movies far better than the
MediaMVP.  Or is Divx still a PITA overall?

I just have to keep my DVD2DIVX conversions to a minimum that is all and
maybe buy 2x2TB NAS drives :P

As Palin would say, "I have nothing to lose".

jeff

Tips for playing DivX videos
- simultaneous playback of DivX videos are not possible from multiple
MediaMVPs
- DivX playback requires a minimum 1.8 Gigahertz Pentium4 processor or
faster in your
PC. If your PC is too slow to "transcode" the DivX video at its current
frame size, video
will stutter or you will lose lip synch as you watch your videos. One
solution is to paly
smaller frame size DivX videos. For example, if you see jerky video or
stuttering audio
with 640x480 DivX videos, try playing 320x240 size DivX videos instead.
- MediaMVP can scale DivX videos up to full screen, but can only do this
on videos of
exactly 320x240 or 640x480. If your videos are another format, they will
be “letterboxed”
on your TV set.
- After using the Fast-Forward and Fast-Rewind buttons a loss of speech
synchronization
may occur.
- your DivX videos need to have a .AVI file extension in their names
- Once DivX videos are playing, they will typically consume most of the
CPU power available
on your PC. Therefore, you should not expect to be able to do other
tasks on your
PC while playing DivX videos.


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