I've tinkered with MythTV on and off during the last several years, but it's never quite passed the "Wife Test". There are a lot of reasons for that, but a much of the problem has been than I've always bought really cheap TV tuner cards and had to struggle to get them working. I've literally bought $10 tuner cards before. Another reason is the amount of time it takes to get a more advanced Myth system completely configured.
But Mythbuntu really puts a dent in the configuration argument. (In the past I've also used Knoppmyth, and it's also slick. I'd love to carve out some to see where it's at compared to mythbuntu, but time is tight these days.)
I realized that perhaps this time was different when my wife started listing kid's shows I needed to add to the schedule... and I don't even have it on a TV yet. So far, we're just using it on PCs around the house and the kids are already hooked. When the kids are sick and stuck in the house ~and~ it's raining, ~and~ there aren't enough TVs to go around... the ability to put one kid in front a computer in a different room and start up an hour long show is worth it's weight in gold.
Mythbuntu has a live CD that you can use to try out your hardware. A MacBook Pro makes a decent MythTV front end system, but it doesn't have quite enough horsepower to play back a full HD stream. (An installed to the hard drive version can be tuned much better, but I'm told nothing less than a 2.5 to 3 Ghz CPU can keep up with an HD stream.)
I wanted to put a real review up, but my wife and kids have been sick all week, so instead, here's what I bought and where I bought it from... if you're considering the leap, or just tinkering, this should provide some good jumping in points.
So without further ado, here are a few tips and sources for information.
First, you've got to silence that PC if you want it in the living room. I bought a Scythe Ninja Mini Heat Pipe CPU cooler. The thing is ~huge~... I had to buy a mini to fit in my full-tower case. But it's so quiet you can't hear the fan running.
Second, get a supported tuner card. I don't own an HD tv yet, but I got an HD tuner card because the picture quality is so good. There are only two cards I'll mention.
The first is the hd-5500 by the pcHDTV team. It costs $129, which is what? Two or three months worth of your current cable bill? :)
This card has native support inside of Myth TV. If you can get decent HD signal, you're good to go. My one hint? When setting up Myth, you can select this card as an an analog tuner or a digital tuner. In analog mode, you get normal, junky TV signal. Choose the digital option. (I don't recall the exact option, but if time permits, I'll reinstall and do a walk-through guide.)
The second tuner I'll mention is the one I'll buy if I decide to expand out my tuner capacity. (It's hard to go back once you've had multiple tuners and can record shows whenever you feel like it, ignoring the stupid networks that put great shows in the same time slot... okay, put decent shows in the same time slots.) So this item is a multiple tuner.
It's a HDHomeRun. It's got two tuners built in and has an ethernet interface. It's an external unit, so it doesn't use you PCI slots up. It also (allegedly) has native Myth support, as well as great support both Windows and OS X. I only say allegedly because I haven't used it myself. This item costs $169, but it's two tuners in one... if you're going to build a system out this way, it seems to be a pretty cheap way to go. Here's a review of it: Engadget HD Review: HDHomeRun.
I picked up an antenna as well. A iBlast HDTV antenna. It must be good! It starts with an "i". ;)
I'm new to the HD tech, but I'm told a decent antenna is important. This one seems to do the job. I'm getting about 2 dozen channels.
How many channels can you get? Glad you asked. Check this site: AntennaWeb.org. Fill out their form... at least the zip code... and they'll tell you what channels you can reasonably expect to receive at your house. I found them to be very conservative.
If you want the new system, buy a supported remote. See what Mythbuntu as in their remote setup wizard and buy one. I've spent several hours getting an older one working. :( I may still just buy one of the current models.
What if you don't want a dedicated Myth TV front end? You want to watch recorded TV on your Windows or Mac box? No problem.
For Windows, try out MythTV Player. It's a very simple, no frills content player... and my wife and kids love it.
On your Mac, you can run a Myth client on your desktop. You can find precompiled binaries on the MythTV Wiki.
Finally, you do need scheduling information. Until recently, that was free, but now it's a pay service... but it's on $20 a year. I can handle that. :) Check it out at Schedules Direct. They'll give you a 7 day trial so you can try things out first.
A final hint... when you want to access your Myth content across the network, you need to open up the security on your database (mysql). Don't do it by hand like I did. Instead, use the Mythbuntu Control Center. Hit the advanced option and just click through it there.
Hopefully this will save you some time doing your own research.
