|
|
Post by hurnik on Mar 14, 2010 10:51:49 GMT -5
Yeah pretty much what I'm looking for is a centralized file server, that I can easily access remotely, run a few programs on it (SABnzbd for usenet, and also run a bit torrent client), and then being able to stream 1080p mkv's over the network to my popcorn hour, and PC. I also like the backup functionality of WHS. Right now I've got my workstation doing all of this right now, and I just want to get it all off my PC onto a server to do it all, so my workstation is just a workstation. Is what I'm asking too much for one of the atom based WHS's, or do I need to bite the bullet and buy one of the beefier WHS's like the HP dual core unit that you have? I think what you have to do is to figure out how much processing power you need on the server. I don't have any personal experience with Atom processors, but you plan on doing any audio or video transcoding, I would suggest a multi-core box. You don't need a fast processor to push video over the network, your network connection will be the bottleneck Stuff that is grabbing data over BitTorrent or Usenet will be limited by your ISP connection. I can only base my experience on MythTV (this was about 2-3 years ago). You really needed a higher end CPU if you wanted to record AND watch live or record two things at once while playing back due to the transcoding. Tivo is probably more efficient in the sense of what CPU power they use, but obviously that's proprietary hardware and specialized software, etc. But I think NewEgg had a Gateway media center thingy that seemed decent for like $450 or something (albeit a 340 GB HD or something) but another $80 or something you can slap a TB drive in there. And then slap in that Ceton card for somewhere around $900-1000 |
|
|
|
Post by xzi on Mar 14, 2010 11:22:29 GMT -5
Media Center actually works pretty well on a modest PC because unlike the open-source DVR software that can work with a wide array of tuner cards, Media Center actually requires hardware tuner cards which really cuts down on the host CPU requirements.
If you have an older PC you want to use, XP Media Center Edition might a better choice since Vista and Windows 7 Media Centers obviously require PCs that fit those OSs minimum requirements regardless of what tuner cards you use.
|
|
|
|
Post by adam on Mar 14, 2010 11:43:12 GMT -5
I don't know if this matters to anyone but I used Windows 7 Media Center and have two USB tuners connected to my computer. I could use both tuners for both standards, meaning 2 HD tuners and 2 SD tuners but for some reason MC doesn't like that so I have one do HD only and one do SD only.
I have noticed that MC will crash whenever I attempt to play an SD recording or live feed, but HD works fine. It must be the way I split the cable that the SD feed has times where the signal drops too low and MC freaks out and closes.
Not looking for any solutions, just trying to say MC isn't without it's problems but when you work around them, it is still way better than any TW box, navigator or not.
|
|
|
|
Post by hurnik on Mar 21, 2010 13:16:56 GMT -5
I can't wait to try this out. I have a MediaSmart EX495. When I can get the TiVoEpander add-in, I'll give it a shot. I want to see how it behaves with CCI protected content. Chris, did you try the add-in? My sister has a Tivo Series 2 Dual Tuner and was wanting to buy an external hard drive to put her MP3/iTunes on, and mentioned something about movies/tv shows. I was wondering if the media smart expander for Tivo could do that (she has a media vault for her work, so I know THAT can store files/music). Although it's not one she can use the add-on for (it's the media vault Pro for her work). It looks like if you had one of the x490/495 units you can do all that with the add-on (albeit a bit pricey, IMO). |
|
|
|
Post by Chris Miller on Mar 22, 2010 23:07:12 GMT -5
Chris, did you try the add-in? My sister has a Tivo Series 2 Dual Tuner and was wanting to buy an external hard drive to put her MP3/iTunes on, and mentioned something about movies/tv shows. I was wondering if the media smart expander for Tivo could do that (she has a media vault for her work, so I know THAT can store files/music). It works flawlessly, but is hobbled by the same CCI restrictions as TiVo Desktop has. That wouldn't affect your sister, she is gets to take advantage of the CCI free recordings from her S2. The interface is much cleaner and matches the look and feel of rest of the MediaSmart addins. It feels faster than TiVo Desktop, and quickly displays a list of all of the shows on all of your TiVo's. TiVo Desktop makes you select each TiVo and then refreshes the list of show. HP's module is a better design. |
|
