[Gllug] New IT dept-based sitcom

[John Winters]

On Fri, 2006-01-13 at 01:00 +0000, M.Blackmore wrote:
> On Thu, 2006-01-12 at 21:41 +0000, John Winters wrote:
> 
> > Having MythTV running on a permanently on server completely changes the
> > way I watch (and record) television.  Instead of hoping there will be
> > something on when I feel like watching (fat chance!) I let the computer
> > hoover up everything which I've told it I might like, and then watch at
> > my convenience.  It's different from scheduling something to record on a
> > VCR.  I don't really care if something is recorded and then I don't
> > watch it because something else will have taken its place.
> > 
> That's precisely what I want to do - tho' the reality is that I'd
> probably end up deleting 90% of it.

MythTV will do that for you.  When your allocated space is full it
simply deletes the oldest thing every time it wants to record something
new.

>  At least not in VCR tape hell -
> which means I don't record anything at all.
> 
> How does the set up work with regards to getting it all to an actual
> watching zone (i.e. physically to where you park your arse to watch it
> all)?

You need a computer on which to watch, although it needn't be the same
computer which does the recording.

> I've got heaps of old computers in the 500-800mhz class here and large
> capacity disks/sata cards are sooooo cheap nowadays.
> 
> Though in the living room/bedroom I'd want something small, very quiet
> and unobtrusive whirring away, which is what I assume you need to pull
> the files off the server stuffed in the loft/spare bedroom etc.

I'm still hunting for that elusive item - a silent box fast enough to
watch TV on.  The 600MHz Mini-ITX system is meant to be good enough for
analogue TV, but it can't quite manage DVB-T.  You get skips in the
audio every 1-2 seconds, which render it useless.  I'm told there's now
a 1 GHz fanless Mini-ITX, but I'm reluctant to spend any more until I
*know* it will work.

Currently I have a Celeron-based box in my sitting room in a Silent-I
case.  It's quiet, but not quite quiet enough.  The CPU is cooled by a
heatpipe arrangement leading to a single fan which also cools the PSU.
It's a lot quieter than most PCs, but not really quiet enough to justify
its name.

All the really thoroughly silent boxes are too expensive to contemplate
at the moment.

John

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