[vdr] Nova-T USB vs NOva-T USB2 for epia PVR

[Kartsa]

> Hi,
> I'm new to this PVR lark, although I have been using an EPIA 
> min-ITX box as
> a Divx/DVD player using geexbox for a year or two.
> 
> I hope this list is OK for asking relative newbie questions - 
> please point
> me elsewhere if it's not the right spot.

I would not count my self as an expert but never the less this list is for
VDR specific topics.

> I want to add DVB-T reception to my media box, and ideally 
> have it replace
> the video recorder too, but it remains to be seen if it has 
> sufficient welly.
> 
> A fair amount of net-wandering suggests that the Hauppage 
> winTV USB and USB2
> cards are both suported but they use different chipsets - is 
> that right? Any
> pros and cons between them? My gut feeling is that the USB2 
> should be better
> as the interface to it is faster, but the hauppage specs say 
> that the older
> card needs a 500Mhz host, whilst the newer one needs a 1Ghz 
> host. Does the
> newer one really need more from its host, or this just an 
> effect of the
> (windowsa) software they supply? Also I can find a lot more 
> docs for the
> older device - is the new one a bad idea at this stage?
> 
> My box is very slow (and thus silent) - it's an EPIA 800Mhz 
> box, too old to
> have built in MPEG deconding. It plays divxs fine, but 
> glitches slightly
> playing Full-res DVDs. I think adding a hollywood + PCI card 
> will help it do
> playback with less load, and is the only chance of it being 
> able to play
> something whilst recording something else. But that will fill 
> its only PCI
> slot, which is why I am considering USB for the TV input. 
> Does this make
> sense, or should I forget trying to play and record at the 
> same time and
> just put in a PCI winTV card?
> 
> I could upgrade the box to use an M10,000 motherboard and an 
> internal DVB-T
> card instead but that's best part of 100 quid more expensive, 
> so I'm hoping
> to get away with it. TV quality is not too important, so long 
> as it's not much
> worse than a VCR, that's fine.

My VDR box is a PIII 600MHz and can record several channels at the same time
while I am watching some live channel or a previous recording. It is quite
normal that 3 to 5 simultaneous recordings takes place. I have two DVB cards
which is practically all I need because the channels I record from are on
two muxes.

> Also, is there a distro like geexbox which boots up quickly 
> to PVR mode,
> with everything controlled through the OSD?

I would recommend using google (or what ever search site) for more info on
linux vdr. I.e. linvdr is a such distro you seek for.
http://www.linvdr.org/
There is also english documentation
(http://linvdr.org/projects/linvdr/index.en.php)
VDR Home: http://www.cadsoft.de/vdr/ 

> 
> TIA
> 
> Wookey

\\Kartsa