[olug] HTPC box

[Will Langford]

A couple years ago I built a myth box out of an nvidia 7100 based
motherboard (onboard hdmi with working audio-over-hdmi).  That meant:
motherboard, cpu (on the lower end), ram, processor, hard drive, case.  I
added to that a couple PVR150's for capture and have been fairly happy
since.  Although I'm thinking about moving to firewire sometime this year.

If you're just building a playback only system (along with games or web),
then you shouldn't need too much horsepower as far as I know.  A motherboard
with HDMI (and audio over HDMI) output should suit just about any need you'd
have (???).  I'd confirm this works on whatever OS you'll be running, first.
 Early on I had to hack at alsa drivers myself (one or two line patch so i
never made it public) :) ... this has since been resolved.

For modern capture, not entirely sure what to suggest.  Particularly through
DISH.  Within the last few months, someone had commented here about getting
firewire to work through Cox (albeit unrelated to DISH).  A friend has a
Hauppauge HD PVR that captured 720p and 1080 (not sure i/p) beautifully (in
windows).  The HD PVR also has excellent support on myth / etc.  You're
looking at $200 prolly for the device, alone sadly.  PVR150-250's are cheap
if ya don't mind going SD rather than HD.

Something to note about non-paid-for-pvr's -- you'll need to fork $10 a year
(i believe) to Schedules Direct for channel listings / guide infos.

As far as software, mythtv (mythbuntu seems to do okay), xbmc, boxee, etc.
 There are plenty of free/gpl windows myth-ish "ports" etc available as
well.

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Although it doesn't do capture, I've been curious about something like one
of these for some time:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16856176002

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Similarly, I'm curious if an Atom board with HDMI out would work nicely.
 There are nvidia and intel video based motherboards with HDMI out
available.  $100-$150.  That means board + ram + hd + case.

The atom stuff (either shrink wrapped lil devices, or the motherboard) would
undoubtedly offer a quiet system, particularly if you insist on a case with
large fans (if any) :)

-Will