Hello, I am very new to the MythTV community, and I am in the process of trying to plan my system. To be honest, I am a little overwhelmed with all the WebPages and information relating to knoppmyth/mythtv.

I am ready to dedicate some time into getting my system up and running, but I really want to make sure I have a great computer configuration. A hardware list would be great. I am planning on having a friend build the whole system. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Here are my goals.

• I want to record in HDTV, and not have any performance problems because of it. I would like to be able to record at least 50 hours of HDTV.

• I would also like to be able to record at least two things at the same, preferably both in high definition. I would also like to have the capability to access analog tv if I ever need to do that. Eventually I would like to upgrade to 3 tuners, or add an analog tuner.

• I would like to have Dolby Digital 7.1 output capabilities

• I would like to have DVI output, with the capabilities of pixel mapping. I currently have the infocus 4805 projector that can output 854x480.


• I would also like a duel layer dvd burner drive. High quality DVD playback is very important, this includes being able to adjust brightness/contrast etc, and pixel map the dvd playback.

• A nice universal remote control that can also control my Yamaha amp.

• I would also like a radio tuner, although it is not necessary.

• I do not have cable tv. But I would like the capability to watch and record hdtv sent through cable with the computer. This is also not a necessity.

• On the software side, I would like to be able to stream and transfer media back and forth from my windows XP machines

Again, I am willing to put in the time to get a nice stable system. I have had some exposure to linux.

I would like to keep the cost reasonable, but it is not as important as having a stable system that meets all my need. Thanks again.

Look at the Dragon spec at mythic.tv
I have a "near dragon", and can record two HD streams while watching another.
DVI didn't work out for me, as my TV didn't like it. May have been a limitation of the TV, so I'm using the VGA/Component converter - bought it from mythic.tv
Make sure that you get proven mobo. The 939-pin AMD 3200 is proven. nVidia cards are proven.
My Harmony 880 works great as a universal remote, but only because I already had a StreamSnap remote, which talks to its own USB-connected IR receiver. Got that at mythic.tv too! About $29. Got the receiver cards there too. The HD3000 and Air2PC cards are both popular, supported, etc..
I don't do any analog. I've got all 5 networks digital/OTA here, and have no cable. I figured switching from cable to HD/OTA/DVR would pay for itself in about a year.

For 50 hrs, you'll probably be looking at two big drives. But don't go SATA. Use the older-style "PATA" (parallel ATA) drives. Simpler to set up. After you get the thing installed on one drive, then read the LVM writeup on the WIKI, which shows how to create an LVM that uses your myth partition on the first drive, and adds it to the free space on the second drive. It'll be simpler if you don't have lots of shows/videos to juggle around. I've got about 400GB, and probably have close to 50 hrs capacity. I'll expand in a year or so, when I can get some cheap 500s, or wait two years and get cheap 1TBs...

Get an IR keyboard too. Only about $35 from some store on Yahoo.
Here's my setup:
http://www.thornsoft.com/Misc/hometheatre/
--
Chris