Laptop Support

[seani]

Hi,

I'm UK-based and considering GB-PVR instead of a dedicated DVB-S PVR such as a DreamBox.

One issue is noise; I'd be reluctant to have anything noisier than a whisper.

Are there any combinations of Laptop / External DVB-S HD compatible tuner that are recommended/known to work well with GB-PVR?

I'd want to support:

1) SD/HD

2) Timeshifting

3) Support for a decent EPG, and I don't mind paying a modest annual/monthly fee. At the moment I'm really only interested in channels available via Freesat at 28.2E - not *that* much interest in softcams either to be honest - watch too much as it is :-)

4) HDMI output to an HD Ready LCD TV/large TFT monitor.

Failing that, any *very quiet* "ready-to-go" solutions/specs available? I did look, but I couldn't find a readily available "shopping list". Clearly the authors setup would be of interest in terms of supported / recommended hardware etc.

Thanks

Sean

[Ted the Penguin]

1) SD/HD

GB-PVR does this, with the right hardware cards.

2) Timeshifting

this is supported by default

3) Support for a decent EPG, and I don't mind paying a modest annual/monthly fee. At the moment I'm really only interested in channels available via Freesat at 28.2E - not *that* much interest in softcams either to be honest - watch too much as it is :-)

I am not from the UK, so I wont be much help in this dept.

4) HDMI output to an HD Ready LCD TV/large TFT monitor.

that depends on your video card. there are cards now that have HDMI outputs, but any card with DVI can use a DVI->HDMI converter.

[herbs]

Hi,



3) Support for a decent EPG, and I don't mind paying a modest annual/monthly fee. At the moment I'm really only interested in channels available via Freesat at 28.2E - not *that* much interest in softcams either to be honest - watch too much as it is :-)

Sean

Most people use http://www.birtles.org.uk/xmltv/ , download it and see if it has the channels you need.

[prouton]

Are you looking at using a laptop because that's what you have to throw at the project, or because you think it will be quieter than a desktop/tower computer? While laptops are good for space and power concerns, I find them to be noisier than towers when the processor has to do some work (as it would with HD streams). The cooling is accomplished with a very small fan, running at high speed when "resting" temperatures are exceeded, versus a tower that can use relatively large 120mm fans running at only 1,000 rpm (all but inaudible) to move sufficient air.

Obviously, with a tower computer you get far greater choice in tuner cards and video adapters, as well as cheaper bulk hard drive storage.

[ACTCMS]

While laptops are good for space and power concerns, I find them to be noisier than towers when the processor has to do some work

I can confirm that from daily experience - I control the machines on my home network from a fairly expensive Sony Vaio - OK so it's a couple of years old, but the fan makes some racket when you do just about anything useful. I use networked MediaMVPs for watching SD live and recordings - works great, but I'm not sure about HD.

[prouton]

MediaMVP's don't do HD. That's the "next version" many people are waiting on. If they can't wait, there are a couple media extenders on the market that can do HD, but there's no native support for them in GBPVR.

[seani]

Are you looking at using a laptop because that's what you have to throw at the project, or because you think it will be quieter than a desktop/tower computer? While laptops are good for space and power concerns, I find them to be noisier than towers when the processor has to do some work (as it would with HD streams). The cooling is accomplished with a very small fan, running at high speed when "resting" temperatures are exceeded, versus a tower that can use relatively large 120mm fans running at only 1,000 rpm (all but inaudible) to move sufficient air.

Obviously, with a tower computer you get far greater choice in tuner cards and video adapters, as well as cheaper bulk hard drive storage.

Well I'd considered buying a suitably specced laption explicitly for a silent PVR, but as you say, historically I've only used them for less demanding applications, so they've appeared to be more suitable than they are.

A tower/mini tower is a perfectly acceptable solution (this stuff will be parked out of sight in a bit of a made-to-measure cupboard), providing it's a near silent as possible. I'd find the sort of noise kicked out by my xbox 360 unacceptable for instance.

What I want to be able to do is timeshift and record DVB-S SD and hopefull DVB-S2, have access to a decent EPG and schedule recordings, and play DVDs.

Access to other streaming media/mp3s etc. is very much a secondary consideration (although by the looks of it. compared to DVB-S integration etc. this is easily done)

My current setup is a TiVo / Freeview combination, so I'm looking for something approaching that level of integration. I'd like to keep the hardware costs at ~400 UKP if at all possible.

[dneprrider]

Well I'd considered buying a suitably specced laption explicitly for a silent PVR, but as you say,

Another option may be to go with a motherboard that supports a mobile pentium chip. Same as a laptop! These boards can run very quite. I am running a Silent AOpen I855GMe-LFS board. It is a few yeas old so there are newer ones available now. This board is very quite I can't hear the PC running when I am in the same room and I had it installed under the TV.

I am also using the on board DVI video output as some video cards have loud fans. I wanted to avoid that source of noise too.

Using a board like this allows you to install multiple HDDs. Which I found I wanted after recording large amounts of video, DVDs etc.

[stustunz]

things to look at when making it quiet

1. use big case (ie normal tower is ok)
2. fanless video card
3. no fans smaller than 80mm (if you can)
4. remove small fans and duct the air if you have to
5. check the specs of the hard drive or toms hardware for quietest one
6. only have fans pointing backward away from you
7. use water cooling (no ramp up noise when the cpu kicks into gear)

if you are going to put it in a cupboard make sure it has good venterlation climate control (air con) ducted to it is best but any air from out side the cupbaord will do otherwise the fans will be working over time to cool it making it a waste of time putting it in the cupboard