[mythtv-users] Bob's Huge List of Questions [Was: 0.22 annoyances]

Bob Cunningham FlyMyPG at gmail.com
Tue Jan 5 08:57:59 UTC 2010


On 01/04/2010 12:30 PM, match at ece.utah.edu wrote:
> On 3 Jan 2010 at 14:32, Bob Cunningham wrote:
>    
>> The boxy Shuttle form-factor seems a bit odd for a media center: I'd
>> prefer something that will stack nicely with my other system components.
>>      
> Agreed, but in my system the frontend computer is on a different rack, so it's
> less important. The biggest problem I found with trying to stack the computer
> along with the other components is that the computer always ends up being
> MUCH deeper than anything else, and they don't really fit into HIFI racks
> because of the front-to-back depth.
>    
>> After a bit more research, it seems rear case fans are OK, so long as
>> they are 70mm or larger.  My HTPC will be on an open shelf, not in a
>> closed cabinet.  I've seen several recommendations for the inexpensive
>> nMedia cases.  I also don't need a graphical LCD display in the case,
>> though a 2-line VFD/LCD display would be useful.  This case seems ideal
>> for under US$100 (+ $25 for the LCD): http://www.nmediapc.com/htpc2000.htm
>>      
> I have 4 various flavors of front-end machines here, all with either VFD or
> LCD displays in them. The displays were cool... for about a day. I saw no
> need for them, and in fact found them to be nothing but a distraction. My wife
> and daughter agreed. I have since disabled all the displays years ago.
>    

I spent part of this evening visiting a local high-end custom home 
theater vendor, to get his take on the Home Theater industry in general, 
and my situation in particular.

His opinion surprised me.  In short, he said: "Put all your work into a 
feature-rich UPnP backend, then get a SageTV or Popcorn or similar media 
box for each TV."  From the perspectives of cost and ease-of-setup, this 
advice seems logical.  If I can get a box that's just smart enough to 
let me to access MythWeb, then it would seem I don't really need a 
MythTV frontend, and thus wouldn't need an HTPC.

Comments?  Reactions?

What would the best Media Player box be, assuming it would be talking to 
a MythTV backend?

If this strategy seems prudent, then next step would be to craft the 
best bang-for-the-buck MythTV backend, which I assume would be a vastly 
simpler problem to solve (a 3 watt PlugComputer + HDHR?).  In which 
case, I'll not hijack this thread, and will start another thread for 
that subject.

-BobC



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