Worth Reading?
-3 [9 votes]
With its little side-flaps extended I can’t help but see this pre-built MythTV PVR as some sort of Transformer, but sadly though its capabilities are broad I don’t think they extend to being a robot in disguise. Still, you could have some pretty good times even without self-adhesive decals to position; $499 gets you an Intel Celeron 2.66GHz, 256MB of RAM, a GeForce 6200 graphics card, 80GB hard drive and 18x DVD burner, specs easily capable of running the Ubuntu OS together with one of the most well-respected PVR environments, MythTV.
Basically this is an unpack-and-plug-in solution to your media streaming/live TV pausing/scheduled recording needs. Yes, you could build your own Linux box and install MythTV, but this saves you all the effort, is cheaper than a Windows Media Centre and gives you access to a vast range of fan-programmed add-ons. Upgrade options include up to a terabyte of hard-drive space, multiple TV tuner cards and WiFi, with various models hitting price points up to $1099.
This would be a great way to cost-effectively get into PVR ownership - you could start with the basics and then add to it yourself as you can afford more. Definitely jumps to the top of my “must try” media centre list!
Hannibal [via The Red Ferret Journal]
Okay, the title on this lead me to believe there would be SOME form of review, comparison, or even a mildly subjective description of just WHY this “MythTV PVR eats Windows MCE for breakfast” … perhaps even a screenshot or two. This is nothing more than a product announcement. WTF??
I’m sorry you were disappointed, Henaway. Unfortunately we’re yet to get a Hannibal PVR in for review, which makes in-depth comparisons difficult, but as I did say in my post it’s a cheaper entry point than most commercial MCE machines, is arguably more flexible in allowing you to spec up the PVR yourself (i.e. you can pick one of their TV capture cards or just add in one yourself), and MythTV remains one of the benchmarks for PVR software with a vast range of plug-ins and add-ons available.
As is the case with all technology, it’ll suit some users more than others - those people who aren’t looking for too much customisation would perhaps be better served with a MCE box or even a standalone dedicated PVR - but there’ll always be the tinkerers who would prefer the open-source alternative.
I second that “WTF”…very misleading title
so you mention is on the queue, next time…. put that as the heading.
Let me understand this…they use a WinTV card from Hauppauge…retail value of under $200. A computer case with probably a very cheap motherboard and some inexpensive hard drive…maybe less than $150 complete. Throw in a free operating system and a free software application and they are trying to charge between $500-1100.00?
Not to mention the case they are using gets really bad reviews for being noisy according to Newegg.com customers.
Oh well…fools and their money are soon parted I guess.
I should add that you can build a BETTER system for far less money…
Case $50
250GB Hard Drive $70
Motherboard w/AMD 64-bit 2800 Processor $66
DVD /-RW Drive $50
WinTV PVR 350 $125
Ubuntu Linux $Free
WinTV $Free
Total Cost $361
Yeah cause you won’t need any of thos pesky parts your missing (sound card, video card. power supply, Firewire and USB cards, some type of cooling) not to mention the box reviewed is a dual tuner.