MythTV
I'm building a "Do-It-Yourself" (DIY) home theater system based on MythTV.
This system will allow me to view, record, pause and rewind digital television as well as manage my household's digital media library of video, music, photos and other recordings (e.g. home movies). Besides accomplishing the major functionality goals of this system, I also expect to have substantial usability and feature gains over the commercially available alternatives.
To go along with the free software, I'm purchasing a few hardware components to create the system.
- A small, quiet, cool but confident "front-end" which will be the computer that sits next to my TV.
- A small external 1.5TB drive that serves as storage.
- A small network-attached HDTV tuner called the HDHomeRun [1] (which will allow me to turn any pc on my network into a front-end)
The computer coupled with MythTV software will allow me to do anything with my home theater from playing PC games like a karaoke system [2]
Computer[edit | edit source]
I'm either going to build a PC
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4459604&Sku=V133-92200
Or, buy a Dell Studio Hybrid
Or, buy a Logic Supply system
UPDATE -- I bought the Dell Studio Hybrid. At the Dell Outlet, I got a 250GB system with 3GB of RAM for just over $400. Can't beat that. However, the system arrived with a dead video chip, so Dell is sending a technician out to replace the motherboard.
Storage[edit | edit source]
I've had a good experience so far with my Fantom Drives external terabyte disk drive. That one is used for system backups. So, I'll buy another one that I can dedicate to video and media.
HDHomeRun[edit | edit source]
The HDHomeRun is pretty slick in that it will stream video over the network to any PC, and that stream can be tuned by VLC (a free video player). So, simply by installing VLC on my wife's laptop, she can watch TV on her laptop.
It's a dual ATSC [3] / QAM tuner network device. It's about the size of a small hub or VHS cassette, has 2 coax inputs and an ethernet port. You plug it into your antenna and/or cable and then into your home network and you can stream HD to any computer on your network and it even streams perfectly via WiFi. It doesn't have WiFi built in, only Ethernet. Currently on TigerDirect.com, you can get this for $150. Some may call it the open source Slingplayer, and although there are some similarities there is no Slingplayer with a ATSC tuner.
Since it has two tuners, I'm going to plug one into my Comcast cable box to receive whatever QAM they make available. The other one I'm going to connect to a home-made HDTV Antenna I was amazed to find out that you can build a HDTV Antenna out of coathangers that works better than the ones you can buy in the store. [4]
The SiliconDust HDHomeRun plays nicely with MythTV so that configuration should be a piece of cake. http://www.mythtv.org/wiki/Silicondust_HDHomeRun
Cost[edit | edit source]
While theirs [5] cost $18,000, my setup will only cost $1,000 $700 + $700 for the TV
- AOpen MiniPC Duo MP45-DR http://www.logicsupply.com $1,029.00
- Dell Studio Hybrid http://dell.com $869 (plus a little more for wireless)
| System / Feature | AOpen MiniPC Duo MP45-DR from Logic Supply $1,029 | Studio Hybrid from Dell $869 |
|---|---|---|
| Date: | 2009-03-22 | 2009-03-22 |
| Pics and Vid | http://www.logicsupply.com/products/mp45_dr  |
flash |
| Processor:
| ||
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2GB Total (2 x DDR2 800MHz SO-DIMM 1GB) Up to 4 GB memory size (3.25 GB recognizable) | 4GB Shared Dual Channel (2 x DDR2 667MHz SO-DIMM 2GB) |
| HDD Mobile & Flash: | 160GB 2.5" Seagate SATA 7200rpm (needs mainboard w/ SATA) | 160GB SATA 5400rpm Hard Drive |
| Operating System: | Ubuntu 8.10 Pre-Installed ("Build & Test" Required) | |
| Display: | No Monitor | No Monitor |
| Video Card:
| ||
| Optical Drives: | Slimline SuperMulti DVD-RW | Slot Load CD / DVD Burner (Dual Layer DVD+/-RW Drive) 8XDVDRW |
| Sound Card: | Integrated Realtek ALC888 HD audio 5.1 channel | Integrated Stereo Audio with 5.1ch digital output (S/P DIF) |
| Accessories: | TV Hybrid TV-Tuner Card - ATSC | |
| Wireless: | Intel PRO/Wireless 3945BG PCIe Mini Card | optional |
| Wireless Antenna: | 2.4GHz/5.8GHz Wireless Antenna 108mm (4") w/ Pigtail Cable | |
| Keyboard and Mouse: | Dell Wireless Desktop Keyboard & Mouse | |
| Media Reader: | Dell 7 in 1 Media Card Reader
| |
| Network Card: | Intel Integrated 10/100/1000 Ethernet | Integrated 10/100/1000 Ethernet |
| Speaker: | None | No Speakers (Speakers are required to hear audio from your system) |
| Build and Test: | Build & Test: Barebone - Standard (3-5 full business days) | unspecified |
| Warranty: | 1 Year Warranty (Standard) | 1Yr Ltd Hardware Warranty, InHome Service after Remote Diagnosis |
| Expansion slots (may already be used) | 2 PCI Express Mini Card slots | |
| Front Access | 2 USB 2.0 ports | headphone 2 USB 2.0 ports card reader |
| Back Panel I/O | 1 DVI-I port (HDMI via included adapter) 1 LAN port 1 eSATA port (bootable) 4 USB 2.0 ports 2 Wireless/TV tuner holes 3 Audio jacks: line-out/S/PDIF-out, line-in, and mic-in 1 DC power jack |
1 DVI 1 HDMI 1 LAN port 3 USB 2.0 ports 3 Audio jacks: line-out/S/PDIF-out, line-in, and mic-in 1 DC power jack 1 1394 firewire port |
| Dimensions (w x h x d) | 6.50" x 1.97" x 6.50" | 7.7" x 2.8" x 8.3" (not including stand) |
| Power | 20 V DC @ 4.5 A | |
| Includes | AC adapter (brick) and cord DVI to DVI/VGA splitter cable DVI to HDMI adapter S/PDIF converter Hard drive/CD-ROM adapter card User manual Utility/Driver CDs Media Center remote control with 2 AA batteries |
