Hey everyone I'm new here. I've been looking into getting a tivo or replayTV recently. While in the back of my mind wondering if there was a do-it-yourself solution out there. Then I found MythTV and KnoppMyth.

I have several questions though. I've searched for some answers but ultimately it's easier just to ask.

1. What are the cost comparisons for building a MythTV vs just buying a Tivo? Does it cost more for the MythTV or is it just really based on your build of the system? From what I understand in the long term you can save a lot of money not having to pay TiVo supscription fees.

2. I've never worked with Linux and it seems scary to me honestly. But i have built my own computer and php powered websites so I'm not a complete newbie to hardware and software. How difficult is it to set this all up? Is there some sort of complete newbie FAQ somewhere? If I understand this right KnoppMyth is an all in one software pack that contains linux and all the sofware needed to run a MythTV. So it should be as simple as installing and configuring one software package right? Am I wrong?

3. Tivo and replayTV have these season pass recording abilities which look very attractive. Does KnoppMyth have that? How reliable is it. I'd hate for it to miss recording one of my favorite weekly shows and regret not just buying a tivo instead. But I'm looking for an alternative better and cheaper route then a tivo.

4. Do most people use a remote with their mythTV and how exctly does that work? What type of remote?

5. I already have a Creative Video Blaster turner card I bought for my PC. It doesn't work very well under windows XP though. Is there anyway I can use this card in this setup? It has native mpeg2 hardware encoding built in but isn't completely live like some other cards. I think it has a 1 minute delay.

6. Does KnoppMyth support DVD-RW drives like a Pioneer 105? If so how easy is it to record prerecorded shows to DVD-R?

7. Does KnoppMyth allow you to record video from analog video input jacks. Say from a VCR or DV camera. In that regard does it also support firewire for recording to hard disk from a DV camera then buring to VCD or DVD?

I know there are a ton of questions here. Questions embedded into questions and so on. Any help in answering these is greatly appreciated. I can't stand mailing lists so I'm glad I found this place. I just hope this isn't one of those forums that have a bunch of "search before you post" nazi's. Those people aren't very helpful.

1. Cost depends on your hardware. My setup cost approximately $500. A Tivo cost around $200 (depending on model, etc). I do not pay any subscriptions. Tivo (I think still) requires a subscription.

2. If you are willing to do the work, you can usually find most of your answers about Linux somewhere on the Internet in how-tos or on boards like this. KnoppMyth takes care of most of the setup, but you will most likely be doing some stuff from the command line.

3. I don't know what Season Pass is. My KnoppMyth downloads 10 days worth of TV schedules, and that is what you use to shcedule your shows. You can also set it to record Time Slots like a vcr (ie. every Monday at 9pm). From my experience, sometimes the xmltv lists aren't reliable. I have only missed taping one show, and I've been using my system for about 1 month now. Remember... the software is free.

4. I bought a Tivo remote off of Ebay. That is what I use. You can use almost any remote depending on what type or IR reciever you use. If you buy a PVR-250 card with a remote, KnoppMyth installs this as the default.

5. I am unfamilar with this card.

6. I do not believe this is natively available yet. But I download my shows (mpeg2 format) over my home network to my PC, and use TMPEGC's DVD Author to cut the commercials and burn the DVD.

7. I have never tried this, but my Myth setup has various inputs available. I would imagine this is possible, but I've never tried it.

Overall, if you want to roll up your sleeves and work, you can get a good system with no subscriptions and alot of benefits by building one of these boxes. If you choose to do so, read the boards and look for the best supported hardware. I really recommend buying a PVR-250 (or 350) card.

If you don't feel like putting a lot of work into it, then buy a TiVO.

Well, TiVo isn't available in the UK new any more, so I can't directly compare, but I reckon my box cost around £250. The most expensive part was the PVR 350 card I bought - but I think it's worth it because the output is wonderful.



You're right if you have the correct hardware. I had issues with a dodgy graphics card, and set a bunch of geeks on it. They declared it impossible after two days. When I replaced that, KnoppMyth was fine.

A word of warning: if you go for the PVR 350, it's not automatic to set up. Now I know what to do, I don't think it was particularly hard - but finding all the information together in one place was. You'd need to edit a few configuration files and suchlike.



Myth supports that sort of thing - you can tell it to record every episode of a certain show. Haven't really tried it though.



One came with my TV card. No setup needed - KnoppMyth just worked with it automatically.



I know it supports analogue input jacks. I heard vague mumblings about the latest version supporting Firewire too... but I haven't tested that.


Amorya

I went through the exact same descision a few months ago and decided on MythTV.... BUT for a single reason: network connectivity and the ability to record once while watching on multiple TVs


You can get a tivo for $49-$99. The tunner card for MythTV alone is over $100... now you said you have one but I'm not sure if it will work. There is no question about it. The initial outlay is significantly more. HOWEVER you don't pay $12 per month which adds up to a $144 per year savings. In the end, MythTV costs more up until say 3 years out (assuming you don't have a PC that will work and you weren't going to use anyway).


All the information you want is easily available on the net or here. However it will take work to get up and runnig


Yep MythTV has it, I would not have considered it if it did not.


Yes, and if you buy a PVR-250 tunner it comes with a remote

5. I already have a Creative Video Blaster turner card I bought for my PC. It doesn't work very well under windows XP though. Is there anyway I can use this card in this setup? It has native mpeg2 hardware encoding built in but isn't completely live like some other cards. I think it has a 1 minute delay.


Yes

If you don't have the spare computer laying around, then the TiVO will be the cheaper and easier option. Luckily, my old PC that already had and excellent AGP graphic card and TV tuner was available, so my cost was $0.



Linux can be difficult if you are not used to a Unix-style file system. If you are going directly from Windows to Linux, with no previous work on Unix systems, you will have to learn how the structure is laid out to get a better idea of the processes. The hardware setup in the CD will autodetect the most important hardware and install the correct drivers, most likely you will just have to tweak a few config files to correct the leftover bugs.



R5 now has built-in support if you want to buy the USB ATI Remote Wonder, check it:

http://knoppmythwiki.homelinux.org/inde ... =ATIRemote

Are we responding to a year old post (look at the posting time for the first post - Posted: Mon Mar 08, 2004 7:09 am Post subject: Tivo or MythTV? ) or is this some glitch in the time stamp?