XBMC or MythTV?

gamecube6 · Post by **gamecube6** » Fri Dec 26, 2008 3:43 pm

Does anyone have any experience with DVR's here? I was originally going to build a Mythbox, seeing as it was an interesting open-source alternative to buying a Tivo. However, Xbox media center seems to be another interesting solution.

MythTV has nearly everything that XBMC has, in addition to ripping DVDs and having a bigger hard drive, however XBMC is a lot cheaper. Anyone have any idea what the better solution is?

palmertech · Post by **palmertech** » Fri Dec 26, 2008 4:02 pm

If you lack the hardware for both, then XBMC. MythTV is much, much better, but building a box to use it is stupid. If you have a spare older computer lying around, it is a great solution. If you have an old xbox, got with that.

If neither, buy an xbox for $50 at gamestop and use it, or buy a friends old computer from him, whatever is cheaper. Besides, a lot of people do not need all the features of mythtv.

And I may be wrong, but I think you need a hardmod to use a bigger HDD is an xbox.

vskid · Post by **vskid** » Fri Dec 26, 2008 4:10 pm

XBMC is available for PC, too, so if you build a media center you'd be able to try out both.
An Xbox running XBMC won't be able to record TV. It also can't play HD video, though it can upconvert DVDs (and does a good job at it, too).
I've been considering the same thing as you, but with the PS3 added to the list of considerations (and I already have an Xbox with XBMC, that option would include building a server to put media on to access from anywhere in the house). I think a media center would be the most flexible, since it has the option of MythTV, XBMC, and Windows Media Center. You could also record TV with it (if you have a tuner) and its easier to upgrade.
I'm thinking of building a Media center that would also function as a media server with a Core2Duo, 2x 1TB drives for media, 2x 500GB drives in RAID 1 to backup pictures, and a TV tuner. Maybe add a Bluray drive, does anyone know what kind of hardware that would require? Also, our HDTV supports up to 1080i through component, cards with "HDTV out" should work with it, right? If not, it also accepts RGB (with V and H sync), I'm just not sure if it would work with the RGB from VGA.
Sorry for borrowing your thread, I was thinking of making a thread about it but I was too lazy/forgot.

gamecube6 · Post by **gamecube6** » Fri Dec 26, 2008 9:09 pm

palmertech wrote:If you lack the hardware for both, then XBMC. MythTV is much, much better, but building a box to use it is stupid. If you have a spare older computer lying around, it is a great solution. If you have an old xbox, got with that.

If neither, buy an xbox for $50 at gamestop and use it, or buy a friends old computer from him, whatever is cheaper. Besides, a lot of people do not need all the features of mythtv.

And I may be wrong, but I think you need a hardmod to use a bigger HDD is an xbox.

I was originally going to use an old computer and throw in a few things, like bigger hard drives and DVD burners. It seems that MythTV is the way to go.

vskid wrote:XBMC is available for PC, too, so if you build a media center you'd be able to try out both.
An Xbox running XBMC won't be able to record TV. It also can't play HD video, though it can upconvert DVDs (and does a good job at it, too).
I've been considering the same thing as you, but with the PS3 added to the list of considerations (and I already have an Xbox with XBMC, that option would include building a server to put media on to access from anywhere in the house). I think a media center would be the most flexible, since it has the option of MythTV, XBMC, and Windows Media Center. You could also record TV with it (if you have a tuner) and its easier to upgrade.
I'm thinking of building a Media center that would also function as a media server with a Core2Duo, 2x 1TB drives for media, 2x 500GB drives in RAID 1 to backup pictures, and a TV tuner. Maybe add a Bluray drive, does anyone know what kind of hardware that would require? Also, our HDTV supports up to 1080i through component, cards with "HDTV out" should work with it, right? If not, it also accepts RGB (with V and H sync), I'm just not sure if it would work with the RGB from VGA.
Sorry for borrowing your thread, I was thinking of making a thread about it but I was too lazy/forgot.

I knew that XBMC could be run on a PC. However, MythTV was a better solution.

I'm not the greatest at hardware issues, but I can tell your proposed solution will be VERY expensive. Your 4 hard drives alone would probably cost as much as a PS3. Assuming you have a Windows based computer, I would go with a PS3, or at least consider skimming down your current media center idea. (If you have a Mac, do not get a PS3 and hope to stream media to it. It's very difficult.)

Now what would be really interesting, designing a house with a MythTV backend in a closet somewhere and multiple frontends around the house

RockNRoll! · Post by **RockNRoll!** » Sat Dec 27, 2008 12:01 am

I know somebody who has MythTV. It's great when it works, but it's a confusing linux thing that's a b!tch to set up and a computer that can handle that kind of stuff costs upwards of $500. If you don't want to spend too much money or go through the frustration of trying to make linux work, get the xbox thing. Plus you have to subscribe to a thing that supplies the MythTV computer with TV schedule information and that's not free.

Harshboy · Post by **Harshboy** » Sat Dec 27, 2008 12:07 am

vskid · Post by **vskid** » Sat Dec 27, 2008 12:07 am

gamecube6 wrote:I'm not the greatest at hardware issues, but I can tell your proposed solution will be VERY expensive. Your 4 hard drives alone would probably cost as much as a PS3. Assuming you have a Windows based computer, I would go with a PS3, or at least consider skimming down your current media center idea. (If you have a Mac, do not get a PS3 and hope to stream media to it. It's very difficult.)

Storage is one of my main issues, our desktop only has a 160GB hd, and DVD rips average 5-6GB a piece. The desktop is also pretty slow, 1.6GHz Athlon, converting videos for mp3 players takes forever. I figured that the media center could be the do everything computer. All the different aspects are required, might as well save space and one box do everything.
My only idea is to build a server using an Atom and streaming video to the xbox. That would cut the price in half. The only problem is that the Atom motherboard don't have much room for expansion, the only 330 (dual-core Atom) board on Newegg has 2 SATA ports. I guess I'll just have to see what comes out and use what I have (thats the nice thing about not having money, makes decisions easier).

gamecube6 · Post by **gamecube6** » Sat Dec 27, 2008 11:06 am

RockNRoll! wrote:I know somebody who has MythTV. It's great when it works, but it's a confusing linux thing that's a b!tch to set up and a computer that can handle that kind of stuff costs upwards of $500. If you don't want to spend too much money or go through the frustration of trying to make linux work, get the xbox thing. Plus you have to subscribe to a thing that supplies the MythTV computer with TV schedule information and that's not free.

I run linux on my laptop, I think I can deal with it