[mythtv-users] Potential hardware - or underpowered ?

[Brian Wood]

On Sunday 16 May 2010 12:41:42 pm Simon Hobson wrote:
> Brian Wood wrote:
> >I'm not sure
> >what the "display" version of the GuruPlug has in it, but it's almost
> >certainly some sort of hardware decoder, a 1.2Ghz. ARM does not have the
> > oomph to decode HD without help.
> 
> Actually, no hardware decoder at all - so all done in software. I did
> get the impression that they might be overselling it's abilities
> "just a tad" !
> 

So even the "Display" version has no hardware decoder? For a device that 
claims 1080p "support" that's hard to believe. Sounds like they spent more on 
marketing than on engineering.

I think that 1.2Ghz. ARM probably could decode HD in real time, if it were 
immersed in liquid nitrogen, and overclocked to about 10 Ghz.

As I said, all these "Plugs" are just over-grown NSLU2s, or headless Netbooks. 
The makers should concentrate in the included software if they want to 
differentiate themselves from the others.

The latest LJ had a writeup on the PogoPlug, an interesting device, not for me 
but for non-technical people who want to essentially run a web-based file 
server. I was happy to see they have placed their source tree in escrow, in 
the (very possible) event they go out of business. The device is essentially 
the same as any other "plug", it's the software and the underlying 
infrastructure that makes it different from the rest of the crowd.

http://www.pogoplug.com/

The photos make it look like something intended to support Breast Cancer 
research.