> I'd like a back-end server with lots of disk space and maybe 2 or 3 > capture cards that I can stuff somewhere out of site,
There are a variety of tuner cards available for Myth now. To me, multiple cards are about mandatory, even if you don't watch much TV. I love the PVR-500 (2 tuners on one card, with hardware encoding), though I've heard rumors that Happauge changed the chipset on newer 500 models. FWIW, an hour or two searching the MythTV users list at <http://www.gossamer-threads.com/lists/mythtv/users/> will be time likely well spent. > and a front-end system I can use for viewing on my lone TV that is quiet > and unobtrusive. Right now I have a noisy front-end/back-end system in my living room. But I'm deaf to computer fan noise. :-) What's neat is that with Myth, any computer hooked to your home LAN is also a TV -- an old PC in my bedroom suffices as the bedroom "TV". I'm redoing another room as a game/living room, and in that the "plan" (insert standard disclaimer about plans!) is to use two 20/21" LCD monitors as "TVs" in that room. > So, for these 2 systems, can someone give me a rough list of the > essential-to-have hardware and the cost analysis? A trip to NewEgg should give you some price points, but it's worth mentioning that if your backend uses tuner cards with hardware encoding, you can get away with an embarrassingly low-powered CPU on that machine. > I.e., if there's a certain MoBo I ought to use or specific hardware > combination that "just works", tell me. What distro will you go with? Myth had some issues with motherboards with Via chipsets, but that may now be a thing of the past. The KnoppMyth <http://mysettopbox.tv/knoppmyth.html> distro is a semi-turnkey Linux/Myth distro and has a forum full of hardware reports/suggestions. > I don't want to fight with hardware, I want to build an appliance that will > do it's job with as little interaction from me as possible :) You'll definitely have to sink some time into the setup/play phase. However, once set up I think it'll meet your appliance requirements. Regards, . Randy -- Fast fact: If the U.S. had an infant mortality rate as good as Cuba's, we would save an additional 2,212 American babies a year. Cuba is one of 41 (forty-one!) countries that have better infant mortality rates than the U.S. _______________________________________________ gnhlug-discuss mailing list gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss/
