Go to your local Radio Shack or other electronics parts store and purchase a ground loop isolator. Fixed my awful interference problems. It was about $15 at my local Radio Shack.
You obviously have not tried KnoppMyth. I set up my MythTV machine -- on a VIA EPIA ME6000 no less, a somewhat obscure board -- in a matter of about two or three hours with this. This is including installation time.
So many people insist on setting up MythTV from a clean installation all on their own, which is great and all -- you'll learn a lot about Linux in the process -- but KnoppMyth literally makes the process painless and extremely fast.
Of course, KnoppMyth is meant for machines dedicated to Myth, so I'm not discrediting everyone who tries installing it on their own.
Since the disk would be spinning full time, though, I wonder what kind of record time one would get (battery would be the limiting factor).
Actually, it would be the disk itself that would be the limiting factor. Apple doesn't recommend booting off an iPod because it might overheat the device from too much use on the drive -- recording would be just the same, I'd assume.
And you can buy either IBM or Motorola chips for Apple machines.
And you can put in a new IBM or Motorola chip into an older machine through upgrades, such as those from PowerLogix. You can have a machine produced before 2000 running a top-of-the-line G4. That upgrade route may seem expensive, but compare the price of it to buying a new nice motherboard, new memory, and new CPU, as well as whatever else might need upgrading on an x86 machine.
I'm not bashing the x86 world. I'm just protecting the Apple crowd from your argument.;)
The system you're talking about could possibly be as "low-end" as a fanless 500MHz or 600MHz VIA EPIA system with hardware MPEG2 decoding alongside a WinTV PVR 250 with hardware MPEG2 encoding.
The only problem is the lack of driver support for the hardware MPEG2 decoding in Linux at the moment, but as soon as it's there, that's the solution you're probably looking for. It's the solution I'm looking at now...
What do you run on Macs nowadays that needs this speed?
What kind of question is that? Current high-end processors stall while loading complex web pages and big flash animations. Double-clicking many applications still results in multi-second load times. CONSUMERS want and need this kind of speed because it is CONVENIENT.
You're lying if you say it's pointless having instantaneous application response in every single respect, from opening it, to running it, to closing it. You're full of it if you don't want web pages to literally pop up on your screen the second they are retrieved, no matter the content, be it Java, Flash, or just complex HTML.
The list could just go on, and on, and on. Everyone has a use for this speed.
I don't use either one, but changing channels is handled by your video input card. Both MythTV and Freevo, I assume, can control channel changing for recording if your card is supported.
If you have an external cable box, you're right, it won't change those channels for you. But then again, a standard VCR won't do that either, I don't think. There are video input cards that can handle standard cable TV and maybe digital too.
Shrug - it's up to you, and you seem to have made your mind up. But I have friends who wanted PVRs a couple months ago. One decided to roll his own using MythTV. One bought a TiVo. Guess which one still doesn't have a functioning system? And has spent far more than the other friend did (including lifetime subscription)?
Well, I doubt I'm going to do my PVR project for a while. But yeah, the Do-It-Yourself spirit took me over a few weeks ago.;)
When it's all said and done, you could buy two standalone TiVos for less than what you're paying, or opt for the DirecTV option and pay LESS for a TiVo, installation, and 6-8 months of DirecTV service... and you don't have to do any more work other than clicking a couple buttons on American Satellite's website. When you look at it this way, building your own doesn't make much sense!
Throw a lifetime subscription on top of the $249 TiVO you mentioned and you have $549. Use a regular monthly charge for someone like me who has standard cable, and after two years, it's more than $549.
If I had an interest in DirecTV, though, trust me, I would've had a TiVO long, long ago.
I responded about the performance issue in another post in this thread.
You've also forgotten an IR receiver, keyboard, mouse (both wireless... right?), CD-ROM (unless you somehow planned to boot and install Linux over the network), and probably a few other items. Toss in another $100 or so.
IR receiver, keyboard, mouse, CD-ROM... if I don't already have all this handy and want to buy it myself, it is included in the "extra $75" I put in my parts list. No need for the extra $100. (I wouldn't pay extra for wireless keyboard/mouse.)
I was actually considering a TiVO, but I use standard cable service. Their monthly charge is too much for me. I don't like the idea of my $250 lifetime subscription going away when I want to get a new TiVO box or my own box dies. If I get an "80 hour TiVO," it's not going to have the 80 gig (or bigger) drive that I would get. And I know the phrase, "You pay for what you get," and the importance of paying extra for something that just works. I am a Mac user.;)
TiVO is too much of a gamble for me though, and if the OSS PVR applications are coming along well, I think it would be fun to roll my own box if it could be approaching TiVO-like quality (just for recording a few shows and maybe pausing live TV every once in a while). It's also good knowing that the money I could plunk down for my own box was less than a TiVO, and I ended up with a functioning computer in the end too. It could act as an emulation console or any of many other purposes.
Be aware with either Freevo or MythTV that my Athlon 2200 was just a nudge over what being accurate for doing recording. I would venture to guess a person wouldn't be too thrilled with the performance of an 800 mhz machine.
This is why I'm still questioning my potential self-built PVR system. The WinTV PVR card encodes all TV feed into MPEG2 itself though, completely taking the stress off the processor, so there should (technically) be no worries about that, and the 800MHz should be fine, especially considering most modern VIA EPIA boards do MPEG2 decoding themselves (and support for that is coming along well in the Linux world).
Of course, one could also buy a two-slot adapter for the one PCI slot in the EPIA (around $15 on eBay) and fit in another PCI MPEG2 decoder card if they wanted. The processor should be pretty available then.
The/. crowd is still missing a valuable lesson in "building your own tivo" -- it's freaking EXPENSIVE! I love how all the lists of "needed hardware" included multiple super high-end video capture cards -- each of which costs the same as a full TiVo.
Now mind you, I have not yet built my own PVR, but have actually been looking into it quite a bit now.
How is it more expensive? First, as far as I know, you'd need a VIA EPIA with at least around an 800MHz chip on it; that should set you back around $105 shipped. Then you'd need some memory; an extra $50. 80 gig hard drive; should be around $80. WinTV PVR card, to handle all the MPEG2 encoding from TV; $125. Mini-ITX power supply; $30. (Throw in some extra for a case, or put it in something fun like at mini-itx.com.) Linux distribution and an installation of Freevo or MythTV; free.
No priceless joke at the end of the list: good.
That totals under $400 ($390). I'd say put an extra $75 in the mix, just in case there are upgrades/other necessities, and you're at $465. When I was looking at TiVOs this past December, they ended up being well over this price with subscription services.
Now, the question remains of whether or not my product list up there would be feasible...
Slashdot Mirror
Go to your local Radio Shack or other electronics parts store and purchase a ground loop isolator. Fixed my awful interference problems. It was about $15 at my local Radio Shack.
Sorry, $15.99.
No, the end is when the friendly HIV strand dies in a car accident.
You obviously have not tried KnoppMyth. I set up my MythTV machine -- on a VIA EPIA ME6000 no less, a somewhat obscure board -- in a matter of about two or three hours with this. This is including installation time.
So many people insist on setting up MythTV from a clean installation all on their own, which is great and all -- you'll learn a lot about Linux in the process -- but KnoppMyth literally makes the process painless and extremely fast.
Of course, KnoppMyth is meant for machines dedicated to Myth, so I'm not discrediting everyone who tries installing it on their own.
Since the disk would be spinning full time, though, I wonder what kind of record time one would get (battery would be the limiting factor).
Actually, it would be the disk itself that would be the limiting factor. Apple doesn't recommend booting off an iPod because it might overheat the device from too much use on the drive -- recording would be just the same, I'd assume.
And you can buy either IBM or Motorola chips for Apple machines.
;)
And you can put in a new IBM or Motorola chip into an older machine through upgrades, such as those from PowerLogix. You can have a machine produced before 2000 running a top-of-the-line G4. That upgrade route may seem expensive, but compare the price of it to buying a new nice motherboard, new memory, and new CPU, as well as whatever else might need upgrading on an x86 machine.
I'm not bashing the x86 world. I'm just protecting the Apple crowd from your argument.
The system you're talking about could possibly be as "low-end" as a fanless 500MHz or 600MHz VIA EPIA system with hardware MPEG2 decoding alongside a WinTV PVR 250 with hardware MPEG2 encoding.
The only problem is the lack of driver support for the hardware MPEG2 decoding in Linux at the moment, but as soon as it's there, that's the solution you're probably looking for. It's the solution I'm looking at now...
All in all, it's a sweet device. I need to make more Mac friends. It's only a matter of time before there's an iChat AV videochat directory*.
Didn't take too long, did it? http://www.myisight.com/
The G5/970 should do similarly or better than the G5/970 ...
Performance should be very similar, yes.
What do you run on Macs nowadays that needs this speed?
What kind of question is that? Current high-end processors stall while loading complex web pages and big flash animations. Double-clicking many applications still results in multi-second load times. CONSUMERS want and need this kind of speed because it is CONVENIENT.
You're lying if you say it's pointless having instantaneous application response in every single respect, from opening it, to running it, to closing it. You're full of it if you don't want web pages to literally pop up on your screen the second they are retrieved, no matter the content, be it Java, Flash, or just complex HTML.
The list could just go on, and on, and on. Everyone has a use for this speed.
I don't use either one, but changing channels is handled by your video input card. Both MythTV and Freevo, I assume, can control channel changing for recording if your card is supported.
If you have an external cable box, you're right, it won't change those channels for you. But then again, a standard VCR won't do that either, I don't think. There are video input cards that can handle standard cable TV and maybe digital too.
Shrug - it's up to you, and you seem to have made your mind up. But I have friends who wanted PVRs a couple months ago. One decided to roll his own using MythTV. One bought a TiVo. Guess which one still doesn't have a functioning system? And has spent far more than the other friend did (including lifetime subscription)?
;)
Well, I doubt I'm going to do my PVR project for a while. But yeah, the Do-It-Yourself spirit took me over a few weeks ago.
When it's all said and done, you could buy two standalone TiVos for less than what you're paying, or opt for the DirecTV option and pay LESS for a TiVo, installation, and 6-8 months of DirecTV service... and you don't have to do any more work other than clicking a couple buttons on American Satellite's website. When you look at it this way, building your own doesn't make much sense!
Throw a lifetime subscription on top of the $249 TiVO you mentioned and you have $549. Use a regular monthly charge for someone like me who has standard cable, and after two years, it's more than $549.
If I had an interest in DirecTV, though, trust me, I would've had a TiVO long, long ago.
I responded about the performance issue in another post in this thread.
;)
You've also forgotten an IR receiver, keyboard, mouse (both wireless... right?), CD-ROM (unless you somehow planned to boot and install Linux over the network), and probably a few other items. Toss in another $100 or so.
IR receiver, keyboard, mouse, CD-ROM... if I don't already have all this handy and want to buy it myself, it is included in the "extra $75" I put in my parts list. No need for the extra $100. (I wouldn't pay extra for wireless keyboard/mouse.)
I was actually considering a TiVO, but I use standard cable service. Their monthly charge is too much for me. I don't like the idea of my $250 lifetime subscription going away when I want to get a new TiVO box or my own box dies. If I get an "80 hour TiVO," it's not going to have the 80 gig (or bigger) drive that I would get. And I know the phrase, "You pay for what you get," and the importance of paying extra for something that just works. I am a Mac user.
TiVO is too much of a gamble for me though, and if the OSS PVR applications are coming along well, I think it would be fun to roll my own box if it could be approaching TiVO-like quality (just for recording a few shows and maybe pausing live TV every once in a while). It's also good knowing that the money I could plunk down for my own box was less than a TiVO, and I ended up with a functioning computer in the end too. It could act as an emulation console or any of many other purposes.
Be aware with either Freevo or MythTV that my Athlon 2200 was just a nudge over what being accurate for doing recording. I would venture to guess a person wouldn't be too thrilled with the performance of an 800 mhz machine.
This is why I'm still questioning my potential self-built PVR system. The WinTV PVR card encodes all TV feed into MPEG2 itself though, completely taking the stress off the processor, so there should (technically) be no worries about that, and the 800MHz should be fine, especially considering most modern VIA EPIA boards do MPEG2 decoding themselves (and support for that is coming along well in the Linux world).
Of course, one could also buy a two-slot adapter for the one PCI slot in the EPIA (around $15 on eBay) and fit in another PCI MPEG2 decoder card if they wanted. The processor should be pretty available then.
And yes, it was my first official slashdot post. I'd have to have a good reason like that to ignore HTML formatting.
The /. crowd is still missing a valuable lesson in "building your own tivo" -- it's freaking EXPENSIVE! I love how all the lists of "needed hardware" included multiple super high-end video capture cards -- each of which costs the same as a full TiVo.
Now mind you, I have not yet built my own PVR, but have actually been looking into it quite a bit now.
How is it more expensive? First, as far as I know, you'd need a VIA EPIA with at least around an 800MHz chip on it; that should set you back around $105 shipped. Then you'd need some memory; an extra $50. 80 gig hard drive; should be around $80. WinTV PVR card, to handle all the MPEG2 encoding from TV; $125. Mini-ITX power supply; $30. (Throw in some extra for a case, or put it in something fun like at mini-itx.com.) Linux distribution and an installation of Freevo or MythTV; free.
No priceless joke at the end of the list: good.
That totals under $400 ($390). I'd say put an extra $75 in the mix, just in case there are upgrades/other necessities, and you're at $465. When I was looking at TiVOs this past December, they ended up being well over this price with subscription services.
Now, the question remains of whether or not my product list up there would be feasible...