TiVo and the like (MythTV talk itt)

JihadJesus

So I've wanted to set up a DVR for my entertainment center for a while and haven't looked into it too deeply until recently. I use Comcast for internet and basic cable, and at one point considered going the simple route and just upping to digital cable and using their box - but that's what my inlaws use, and it doesn't seem all that great (and would jack up my monthly cable TV bill a good deal).

I was going to browse around regular TiVos, but a friend of mine who's a bit on a Linux geek mentioned MythTv to me. I've poked around the wiki and mailing lists for a bit, but it's over my head as someone who has never used Linux (or even built their own desktop, for that matter). I'm interested in learning and puting together my own setup, and the functionality seems pretty great, but it's damned intimidating to get started - even the FAQs blitz off like you're a habitual Linux programer who has built multiple systems and just needs some help with hardware configurations, drivers, etc.

Has anyone here used MythTV? Or have other general suggestions on getting myself up to speed? It looks like it might be a bit more expensive to get a simple single-box MythTV setup running in my entertainment center than just buying a damn TiVo, but this satisfies my desire to tinker around with stuff too so I'm fine with that as long as I can find some intro to it between the level of 'durrrrrr here's what it does' and 'configure your file partition in this manner, since file system X is good at Y but sucks at Z, but file system X1 is the opposite and so on'.

Essentially, does anyone have a MythTV resource for Linux (and homebuilder in general) retards who are just getting started?

RandomEngy

I would stay away from MythTV unless you're real big on screwing around in Linux. There's a lot of easy to setup windows options such as the Media Center app that comes with Vista Home Premium, BeyondTV and some others.

JihadJesus

RandomEngy wrote: »

I would stay away from MythTV unless you're real big on screwing around in Linux. There's a lot of easy to setup windows options such as the Media Center app that comes with Vista Home Premium, BeyondTV and some others.

That's all well and good, except that you're talking to someone whose desktop is a 2001 Dell with a PIII 933 - I don't have a Vista key and 2 gigs of RAM just sitting around taking up space, and if I was looking to buy a system with that kind of hardware I'd just replace my desktop and use a media center extender to stream the content to my entertainment center. The attraction of MythTV was the low cost necessary relative to PC solutions, getting a chance to learn how to put together a system, and getting my feet wet with Linux - and the fact that services like Comcast and TiVo charge monthly fees for the use of limited hardware that can't be changed.

ToyD

Here's my 2 cents if you want it. Buy a TiVo. I'm a tinkerer, programmer, and engineer. But I hate having to fix shit for my wife when it breaks. And I hate it more when I have to answer 20 questions for "how the hell do I turn on the tv and change a channel."

For the price of a tivo, I get everything working with almost zero hassle. I currently have an HD Tivo with a multistream cableCard and I could not be happier. The only thing I cannot do with it is order on-demand pay per view because the cable co doesn't support upstream from the box yet.

The service fee is small and the initial outlay is small and I don't have to worry about the guide feed provider going away.

My 2 cents, but tivos are damn easy to use and just glorious in the UI department. Much better than the cable co provided DVR I tried.

phekno

I would have to agree. Unless you want to spend a lot of time learning Linux and all of the minutiae of MythTV, avoid it. I ran it for a long time because I wanted the ability to burn DVDs from episodes I had recorded and I thought this would be a cheap way to do that and have a DVR. Unfortunately, the process for burning DVDs was a little convoluted (it might be better now) and the results weren't that great. Needless to say, I didn't use that functionality that much and basically ended up using the machine as a glorified DVR. Now I just have Comcasts HD cable and DVR. It works OK as long as you have good signal (I missed the entire second season/episode of Heroes because of crappy signal). I was considering TiVo, but for HD it's $300 for a mediocre box. I could do the same, with more storage, on MythTV if I spent roughly the same amount of money (i.e. $130/HD tuner card x 2 cards = $260).

I guess what I'm trying to say is, unless you want to learn something about Linux, MythTV, TV, tuner cards, have the excruciating task of explaining to your wife/girlfriend how it works and why this is better than an off-the-shelf DVR or TiVo, as well as having to fix it every time it breaks (and it will), then avoid it.

On the other hand, a guy I work with has had some success with a Windows based PVR program called GBPVR. I'm not sure of the hardware he's running. He also mentioned Media Portal. I have no experience with either of these programs.

edit: as for resources (I didn't read your OP) check out http://www.mysettopbox.tv/. It's basically a site for KnoppMyth, which is like a live, all-in-one distro, specifically for MythTV. Ubuntu's web site has some relatively good user created documentation as far as installation and setup goes (and personally I think that's the easiest way to go.) Here's another forum that might have some good information.

ToyD

Since you mentioned storage as an issue on the HD tivo, I feel I should mention that it has a port for an external SATA drive to expand your storage plug and play like.

I have not played with it much as I'm not a television show packrat, but it's there and I assume it works.

yalborap

On this same topic, what would be a good option for someone looking to set up a general HTPC? I've got somewhat limited computer knowledge, and have only limited computer hardware to work with for this.

Windows would of course be ideal, for maximum compatibility and such, but Linux would also work.

Seguer

If the biggest concern of MythTV is the linux part, then try GBPVR. Free windows DVR software. I use it myself after determining that linux may not work properly with the hardware on the computer I built for it (wireless card etc) (yes I am aware of the wrappers thing :P)