[mythtvnz] Just how cheap could you build a system? Possibly OT.

[Nick Rout]

On Wed, Jun 6, 2012 at 8:59 PM, David Moore <dmoo1790 at ihug.co.nz> wrote:
> On 06/06/12 20:45, Nick Rout wrote:
>>
>> On Wed, Jun 6, 2012 at 8:27 PM, Nick Rout<nick.rout at gmail.com>  wrote:
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Does he record at present? Does he want to? I find many people who
>>>> can't use a VCR. I find people who could use a VCR but have no clue
>>>> about using their DVD or hard drive recorders. Maybe a DVR will be too
>>>> complex for him.
>>>>
>>>> In which case a simple DVB-S/DVB-T set top box may be sufficient.
>>>
>>>
>>> Having said that the Magic box recommended by someone else has a great
>>> reputation.
>>
>>
>> If I wanted to build a cheap but slightly limited system I would get a
>> dual core revo for around $450 from trademe. It will have a 320G hard
>> drive and if you get the right model will have USB3 or eSata for an
>> external drive, usb2 in any event. In other words easy to add further
>> storage.
>>
>> Add a USB DVB-T tuner for under $100 and one of these remotes for
>> $13US http://rtr.ca/sapphire_remote/
>>
>> That's less than the magic box but only has one tuner, unless you find
>> a dual tuner USB job - not sure if they exist. You could really do
>> with 3 tuners for DVB-T (as there are 3 muxes). Adding a HDHR will get
>> you 2 more (or get one to start with - I am not sure of the new NZ
>> price.)
>>
>> Things get more complex if he doesn't have hdmi on his TV, as a decent
>> video card (ie nvidia with vdpau support) with analogue out is hard to
>> find. But if you have to buy a new TV get one like an LG with built in
>> freeview and ability to record to USB hard drive (but I guess only one
>> tuner, don't know if it can multirec).
>>
>
> Thanks for the info. The TV is a CRT which he's perfectly happy with now. So
> no digital inputs. Which probably makes the myth solution a non-starter.

It certainly makes an all-in-one like a revo difficult, as most have
HDMI and VGA. There are VGA to composite converters, but they are
neither cheap  nor good quality from what I understand.

Best option would be a nvidia card with component out (assuming his
CRT is recent enough to have component in). Some of the 8xxx series
nvidia cards may do composite if you can still find one, and they will
do vdpau too (but not as well or with as little power as a recent one
like 4xx or 5xx series.

Decent size widescreen flat TVs can be pretty cheap these days, but it
certainly adds to the cost - budget possibly doubles!