[mythtv-users] Laptop as a Front-End (HD)

[John Welch]

On Thu, Feb 18, 2010 at 3:31 PM, Nick Rout <nick.rout at gmail.com> wrote:
> On Fri, Feb 19, 2010 at 9:17 AM, Dan Wilga
> <mythtv-users2 at dwilga-linux1.amherst.edu> wrote:
>> On 2/18/10 1:59 PM, Nick Rout wrote:
>>>
>>> On Fri, Feb 19, 2010 at 5:38 AM, Dan Wilga
>>> <mythtv-users2 at dwilga-linux1.amherst.edu>  wrote:
>>>>
>>>> Personally, I have a late-2006 Macbook Pro that I use for my frontend in
>>>> the
>>>> bedroom. Even a machine this old is capable of playing 1080i.
>>>
>>> In what codec?
>>
>> Good point. This is MPEG2. It probably can't handle h.264 at that size (I
>> haven't tried.)
>
> In answer to the original question, handling HD h.264 will probably be
> difficult in most laptop hardware. However the new CrystalHD method
> may work. Of course there is no support in mythtv for that yet, but it
> should come eventually. XBMC apparently has support and can be used as
> an approximation of a frontend.
>
> The point being that many laptops have a minipci-e slot, originally
> designed for wireless cards, but capable of being pressed into use for
> a crystal HD card. Of course unless you have two minipci-e slots (some
> do, see a recent post by Jarod in the crystalHD thread), or some other
> wireless solution, you'll be wired only. I don't care too much for
> wireless frontends in any event, but it would be nice to try a laptop
> with crystalHD and a 802.11N wireless setup.
>
> So I would be trying for a laptop with two minipci-e slots, wireless-n
> and then hope for CrystalHD support in mythfrontend real soon now.

Thanks for the responses so far.  I really appreciate the input.  I
haven't been looking at whether or not the laptops have minipci-e
slots or not, but I will have to check

Just want to reiterate, though, that I'm considering the use of the
laptop as an HD capable front-end as a "nice to have" feature, not a
necessity.  Further, at least at this time most of my recordings are
from the HDHR, so not being able to playback h.264 isn't a huge deal.
This could change for me depending on "The Comcast Digital Transition"
that is going on in my area now.

Basically, I'm looking to find out if I need to go to the higher end
of my budget to get a faster processor and/or NVidia graphics, or if I
can get away with looking at the lower end, which mostly have a
Pentium T4300/T4400 processor and the Intel graphics.

Thanks again,
John