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Thread ID: 85364	2007-12-08 00:43:00	Personal Video Recorder	pine-o-cleen (2955)	PC World Chat

Post ID	Timestamp	Content	User
618960	2007-12-08 00:43:00	Right . Well the VCR has finally died, and I thought it was about time I invested some time and money into building a PVR . From what I can see so far, a linux based PVR is the cheapest and possibly best way to go . So, Ive ordered 'Linux for Dummies' and I'm about to dive into a lot of research . I have a couple of old boxes that I could use to build this from, but from what I have read so far, I will need a lot of HDD space, but what I need is opinions on minimum specs, to see if they will cut the mustard! Also, can anyone suggest a TV card? I will need to be DVB-S capable, but maybe analogue as well? I remember seeing one that could do both, but I have no idea if it would be suitable . So . . . opinions please .	pine-o-cleen (2955)
618961	2007-12-08 01:15:00	Take a look here to start with. http://mcraenz.googlepages.com/ It is a while ago since he made his system but some info that to start with. More on forum.team-mediaportal.com But there are a lot of other cards, software that do a good job. I use a Hauppage WinTV-HVR4000 but that is probably a bit over the top for what you are wanting. The bundled software does not work YET in NZ but they are working on it. You can use your Sky Dish for now for Freeview by splitting your cable and running it into a card. Technisat Skystar 2 seems to be the most popular and available off several Trademe dealers new. Consider a bigger 90-100cm Sat dish if you want multiple LNB's for more than one Satellite. Also keep in mind that DVB-T will start here part way through 2008 so we are told and for that you need a DVB-T card and a good UHF aerial. As far as space goes I have 53 documentaries recorded in MPEG format which range from 30 min to 2 hours and tale up 133Gb of HDD space one one of my HDD's.	Bantu (52)
618962	2007-12-08 01:21:00	All good info, thanks . I've just been looking at the Media Portal website . Also keep in mind that DVB-T will start here part way through 2008 so we are told and for that you need a DVB-T card and a good UHF aerial . Aparantley it wont be available in my area, so its DVB-S for me .	pine-o-cleen (2955)
618963	2007-12-08 06:23:00	Note that you will want lots of ram for buffering (I recommend at least 1GB). A mid-range CPU should do fine, but don't get a junk one - media PCs need to handle low-latency multitasking very well. Also the more powerful your processor, the less time transcoding stuff for archiving takes. And as mentioned above... tons of HDD space!	Erayd (23)
618964	2007-12-08 08:23:00	1gb really? I downloaded and installed Media Portal on my PC (Sempron 2600+, 512mb ram, 120gb HDD, GeForce FX5200). It seemed to be a bit sluggish and I noticed a bit of jittering when playing a DVD. Also It wont recognize my graphics card as a capture card, but this wont be a problem when I buy a DVB-S card.	pine-o-cleen (2955)
618965	2007-12-08 08:43:00	1gb really? I downloaded and installed Media Portal on my PC (Sempron 2600+, 512mb ram, 120gb HDD, GeForce FX5200). It seemed to be a bit sluggish and I noticed a bit of jittering when playing a DVD.Oh it will run on less than that, but your performance will drop - as I said, you want the memory for buffer & filesystem cache. Less so when just playing or recording, but try doing both at the same time and you should see a substantial benefit. This comment didn't apply to Windows systems though; Windows (<= XP anyway) has rubbish memory management at the best of times. The ram also helps a lot if you are streaming to multiple clients. Also It wont recognize my graphics card as a capture card, but this wont be a problem when I buy a DVB-S card.Eh? Most graphics cards are not capture cards; they are output-only. Which brand/model is yours?	Erayd (23)
618966	2007-12-08 20:36:00	My media PC / PVR setup as it is at the moment: (Changes all the time :D ) I'm running mediaportal on an AMD XP1900+ with 1GB RAM - 64MB shared with onboard video - 2x Hauppauge Nova-S Plus DVB-S cards and a Hauppauge PVR500MCE analogue card - 400GB SATA HDD This is just a server though and is only used to record TV. I have a small Asus "book" PC that is connected to the TV via HDMI and networked to the TV server, running the mediaportal client.	CYaBro (73)
618967	2007-12-08 22:57:00	Eh? Most graphics cards are not capture cards; they are output-only. Which brand/model is yours? Mine is, It's an Asus V9520. It has an adaptor for CVBS and S-Video input and output. I posted this issue on the media portal forums and apparently its not supported at the moment (the input that is). So I'll have to wait till I get a TV card.	pine-o-cleen (2955)
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