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

[David Moore]

On 06/06/12 16:48, Alick Wilson wrote:
> I have a MagicTV MTC3600TD DVR. It is the predecessor of the current
> MTV3700TD, refer http://www.magictv.co.nz.
>
> I did extensive research on the Internet before buying.
>
> It is an excellent box, and I highly recommend it or its successor.
>
> It has had the occasional glitch, which typically results in a restart.
> However, I would not describe it as "flaky", I would describe it as "robust"
> but not perfect.
>

IMHO an occasional restart is a pretty big issue for someone who is used 
to the rock solid reliability of a VCR. That's the benchmark I believe. 
What you or I might accept in search of the latest tech would not be 
acceptable to someone who just wants a replacement for their VCR.

BTW I would rate a myth system as way ahead of any of the cheaper 
commercial PVRs for stability. My system has _never_ failed. Sure it's 
not totally bug-free but it's never had the pixellation/restart/other 
issues which seem to be so prevalent with commercial boxes. (Disclosure: 
I am afflicted with an annoying audio/video sync problem after upgrading 
to 0.25. Never had this before I upgraded recently.)

> The manufacturer provides firmware updates (download and USB) and the NZ
> agent provides excellent, knowledgeable and responsive support. (I had a lot
> of contact with them over lip sync problems, quickly resolved with firmware
> update.)
>
> If I was buying again today, I would probably buy the MTV3700TD.
>
> However, these DVRs and all other commercial DVRs have a major failing, and
> that is that they are only dual tuner. With a 5-minute overlap at the end of
> all recordings to allow for programmes running late, that often means I
> cannot record two programmes simultaneously.
>
> So, I intend to build myself a triple tuner MythTV box when I have the time.
>

Interesting. I have a dual tuner myth system and I almost never find I 
need a third tuner. Do the commercial PVRs support recording more than 
one show per mux? Myth does which means you could record simultaneously 
every show broadcast by TVNZ and Mediaworks for instance. Or do you 
really need to record from all three muxes simultaneously?

> Alick Wilson
>