I'm a MythTV user. I have an old P4 with two tuners running as dedicated Mythbuntu backend. That old computer has served its purpose just fine. The only issue that I encounter are choppy recordings when it records to 1080 shows simultaneously. But that's not the point of this post.
Today was the first that I heard of LinuxMCE. I watched the video, read the wiki and I am VERY impressed. I would like to give it a test run but the only spare box that I have is an another old P4. Will this be enough to tinker with LinuxMCE until I get enough confidence to run it as my main source? What problems should I expect to encounter using such an old and slow machine?
The Wiki stated that you must have exactly one core. However, since I already have a fully functional MythTV backend, can I have the core connect to that backend rather than setting up an entirely new backend through LinuxMCE? It has taken me many hours to get my MythTV backend running just the way that I like it. I would really prefer to avoid going through that again until I'm ready to fully commit to LinuxMCE.
After seeing the LinuxMCE video, it was clear that LinuxMCE has a much better interface than MythTV. Does LinuxMCE replace the frontend interface for MythTV? The biggest problem that I have with MythTV is that I don't like the needing to use a keyboard input as a controller. While I found a a really cool free application
http://www.accentual.com/freemote/ to control MythTV with my blackberry, I would rather use my loop pointer
http://www.hillcrestlabs.com/loop/.
How quickly will a media director boot using netboot? Will it be much slower than if I have LinuxMCE installed on a HD?
What are the most cost effective options for controlling my lights with LinuxMCE. Am I correct to expect to have to pay ~$40 per light switch or power outlet?
Thank you!
