[mythtv-users] Netbook as low-power combined back-end / front-end?

[Ross Boylan]

On Tue, 2012-08-28 at 14:05 -0500, rsh1k wrote:
> On Tue, Aug 28, 2012 at 1:30 PM, Simon Hobson <linux at thehobsons.co.uk> wrote:
> > rsh1k wrote:
> >> Plus, it opens up new charging opportunities -
> >> solar, wind, etc - things that with an up-front investment could lower
> >> the annual operating costs even more.     Hmm......
> >
> >
> > Why do I have visions of the cash registers going wild !
> >
Don't forget your time!  If you like tinkering, I suppose it could be a
benefit, not a cost.
> 
> Yep, that's a very real concern!
> 
> With my current electric bill, I have a modest budget at hand if
> averaged out over a few years.  But if the payoff period is too long,
> then it wouldn't be worth the effort to build something exotic.   And
> there is a curve to it - where it becomes more and more expensive to
> save increasingly smaller amounts of power, and the additional return
> for the investment lessens.
> 
> ... which brings me back to Netbooks and the combined frontend /
> backend setup.   :-)
I'm also interested in the ultra-small since my furniture and my family
both think the case I was thinking of (Antec NSK 2480), and even some
smaller variants, is too big.

I was punting on the optical drive anyway, mostly because blu-ray is
unavailable on linux (for "protected" disks) and even in windows the
software costs as much as a player, and apparently requires ongoing
payments.

Zotac boxes with ION2 are said to work.  But quality and support sound
poor.  newegg comments on Antec ISK cases are filled with remarks about
poor quality, bad fit, and physically altering components to jam them
in.  Nor is it the only ultra-small with such comments.

>From an earlier thread I found http://www.logicsupply.com/, which looks
interesting.  They have remarks on which boards fit in which cases.  I'm
concerned about ventilation with the small cases.  The thread also
references mini-itx.com, which I haven't looked at.

Ross