Mythbox: Software

I remember when I initially considered building a media PC, I had thought that I would base it on Mediaportal. Mediaportal runs on Windows and does pretty much all that you'd want a media center application to do. The only problem with it is that it crashes like hell for me there - I don't want to take the risk for the main TV.

GB-PVR, also for Windows is another very similar, though mush lighter weight contender. I strongly considered GB-PVR, partly for its ability to run on Windows 2000. Plus, it's fairly easy to set up and stable.

Windows Media Center is the other oft-used option. However the limitations here are artificial and infuriating. For example, the way Media Center restricts you to two tuners or that it doesn't support DVB-S natively, nor does it support any HD options outside of the US. This somehow seems unacceptable for such a product. On the plus side, Media Center has probably the best user interface of the bunch.

This leaves MythTV, the relatively stable (if impossibly difficult to configure) usually Linux based DVR software. MythTV sure has the features and it has the advantage of being itself completely free along with the operating system on which it usually runs. I chose mythbuntu as my flavour of choice. Given that cost is my primary driver for this mythbox, I felt that MythTV presented the only real option (all others discussed would have required a Windows license - and product activation on a DVR. That sure doesn't feel right.)

The pros and cons:

MediaPortal

+ Lots of features
+ Itself free and open source
- Requires a Windows license
- A little crash happy

GB-PVR

+ Stable and snappy
+ Nice and lightweight
+ Able to run on Windows 2000
- Requires a Windows license

Windows Media Center

+ Nice, intuitive user interface
+ Relatively easy to set up
+ Media extenders available
- Requires a Windows license, Windows Vista to get newest version
- Stupid tuner number limitations
- Lack of DVB compatibility

MythTV

+ Features galore
+ Highly configurable
+ Relatively stable
+ Completely free
+ Media extenders easy to build or buy
- Hellishly difficult to configure
- Notoriously bad support and documentation

MythTV's definitely got what I need, I'm just hoping I'm up to the set-up task.

Mythbox: Hardware

When deciding to put my mythbox together I didn't want to spend very much at all. Nor should I have to: I've got components lying around for Africa. I have a bad habit of upgrading my main PC more frequently than is probably necessary (meanwhile my laptop chugs along on 4 or 5 year old technology, I forget how long it's been) and so this means I've got a spare CPU, motherboard and memory and even a 120 GB hard drive.

120 GB isn't very much when it comes to video so I'll upgrade this at some point. For now, though, I'm making cutting costs my main priority. These are the things that I still think I'll need:

• A TV tuner card
  
• A case.
• A remote control of some kind.
• A DVD burner.

The DVD burner is the only thing I consider optional currently. For now I'm just going to "borrow" a DVD drive from another PC. Seriously, it's pretty rare that these optical drives are used for much these days.

The TV card must be able to receive DVB-S. DVB-S2, the newer standard which enables HD reception, is not a necessity for me because the broadcasters have no plans to upgrade to it yet. Their current satellite has no DVB-S2 transponders. I could get a second card if I wanted to but this isn't a priority. Most DVB-S cards also have an analogue input and this will do for me to plug in my Pay TV decoder. Sure, the video will be analogue (meaning the CPU will have to do a little work) but at least it should work.

The case will have to be fairly high quality and preferably with optical bays oriented to allow horizontal positioning. I'm not a fan of these expensive $400 "media center" cases you see about the place. I don't need metal, nor fancy lights, nor LCD displays. Just a decent black box.

The remote doesn't need too many requirements. However the standard Windows MCE remote should do the trick nicely. Partly this is because it includes IR blasters which allow the PC to change the channel on the Pay TV decoder.

All in all the mythbox should do enough to be useful. My old CPU isn't quite HD video ready probably but given I have practically no hope of getting HD reception this isn't really a concern.

Cheers to fazen for the image. Licensed under CC.

Mythbox: Debating the choice - build or buy

For ages I thought building a media PC was a stupid idea. Why would you spend all that money on a noisy, ugly PC when you could buy a cheap DVR? The answer came to me after much research and just with the passing of time.

Cost became less of an issue simply with time. Computers are cheap. Their components are cheap. This is partly because of reduced costs, partly because the US dollar exchange rate is favourable for me at the moment. Now it's about the same to build as is it is to buy.

Flexibility is the thing that really wins. With a PC I can do whatever I want. More tuners? Go ahead! Watch videos from other PCs? You bet! HD upgrade? Why not! Ultimately it was the fact that my country is finally going digital - but there's a huge lack of digital capable DVR's (I have no idea why). The choice is even more dire when it comes to DVB-S which is want I want to use. I have no hope of getting DVB-T coverage. (An aside - see if you can guess which country I'm in). With a PC I just slot in the tuner cards I want an voila! Entertainment gratification.

In summary then:

Buy:

• Just works

But...

• Limited expandability options
• Small range of digital capable DVRs

Build

• Infinite flexibility
• Easy upgradability
• Choose whatever video source you desire!

But...

• Fiddling required

For me the build pros outweight the cons, mostly because I'm good at fiddling.

Mythbox: Building a media center PC

I've decided to build a media center PC based on Myth TV. Be on the lookout for posts about why I decided to do this in the first place, why Myth and the trials and tribulations along the way.