[mythtv-users] Frontend hardware confusion.

[Ajay Sharma]

On Tue, Mar 22, 2011 at 2:58 PM, Jan Johansson <j2 at mupp.net> wrote:
> Right, I’ve been to the Wiki. Ive scanned the lists. I’ve tried to use my
> best judgement. But I _still_ do not know what I want as a frontend-only
> box.
>
> I only use Watch Recordings (SD only right now, but a HD-PVR is in the cards
> in the near future), and I use Mythvideo occasionally.
>
> The wiki states that ION2 with Feature Set C for VDPAU should be able to
> play “pretty much anything” on even an Atom-box.
>
> So, right now, I am considering something like a ZOTAC ZBOX ID41-E
> http://www.dustin.se/pd_5010550080.aspx
>
> I am figuring 4GB of ram and a cheap SSD.
>
> Am I thinking right?

I think the general consensus is that any Atom board is "good enough".
 But to really future-proof your frontend you should consider
something a little more powerful.  That way if you run into some media
which isn't hardware accelerated, then you're CPU would be able the
software decoding.

I'm in a similar boat as you.  Currently record SD video and am
planning on going to HD very soon.  So I'm looking into an intel
i5-based backend/frontend and some ion2 frontends.

There's also a lot of love for the mac mini as a frontend because it's
pretty powerful for the electricity it uses.  But IMO, the price is
two high when you start looking at getting 2 or 3 separate frontends.

--Ajay