Re: GeeXboX (linux multimedia)

[Jarod Wilson <jcw wilsonet com>]

On Saturday, May 31, Keith Winston wrote:

> I've been meaning to build one of these myself with MythTV.  A friend 
> of
> mine beat me to it and built one for about $650 including case, video,
> disk, etc.  Current solutions require a lot of CPU power because of a
> lack of Linux drivers for native MPEG-2 hardware encoders (this may
> change soon).  The magic of TIVO (with a 54 Mhz processor) is that it
> uses a native MPEG-2 hardware encoder.

It would appear that MythTV has support for the hardware encoders on 
the WinTV PVR 250 & 250, so that could greatly reduce required 
processor power (though it would probably not help the cost). A 
sub-2000 Athlon is enough processor though, and they don't cost much of 
anything anymore. Personally, I happen to have enough spare parts on 
hand that my only out-of-pocket expense to complete the system would be 
$100-150 for a WinTV PVR250.

> The main reason I wanted to build one is that I refuse to set up a 
> phone
> line (or even share one) and pay a monthly fee for TIVO or Replay
> "guide" services when perfectly good free Internet guides exist.

Never did like that either...

> However, I may never get around to building one, because I've read that
> TIVO will soon release a TIVO BASIC that will not require a 
> subscription
> or a phone line connection.  If that is true, I could never build one 
> as
> cheaply as TIVO.  On the other hand, if you want all the other goodies
> of MythTV (like MP3, photo, weather, etc.) it may still be worth it to
> roll your own.

I think you're right. If all you're after is the PVR aspect, building a 
system isn't going to be anywhere near as cheap
as getting a mass-produced device designed specifically for the task. 
You'd definitely have to want the added features of Myth for it to be 
worth it, (or a big-time Linux geek; I fit the bill for both), and I 
think there are more people out there that would want the same, if they 
didn't have to build it from scratch. I think the price point would be 
a problem though. I don't know that you'd be able to sell very many and 
actually turn a profit. However, you could definitely sell at a lower 
price point than Windows XP Media Center Edition systems, some of which 
top $1000, but I'm not sure how many of those have actually sold...
--
Jarod C. Wilson, RHCE
<jcw wilsonet com>
"A wise man once said nothing at all."