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[Scronch]

I'm looking forward to someday having TiVo-like functionality in MJ/MC.  Here are some questions that I pose for those with experience in this area:

1) What will be the minimum speed processor?

2) What will be the minimum RAM?

3) What will be the minimum disk size and speed?

In other words, what's the minimum system required to get "acceptable" TiVo-like recording?  I will arbitrarily define acceptable as 10 hours minimum at a quality equivalent to a VHS tape on a 2-hour VCR speed.

Scronch

[JimH]

Scronch,
We're still learning but this system works OK.

Media Jukebox PLUS 9.0.63
Install Path: C:\Program Files\J River\Media Jukebox\

CPU: Intel Pentium 4 1792 MHz MMX
Memory: Total - 523 MB, Free - 309 MB
OS: Microsoft Windows XP  Workstation 5.1  (Build 2600)

I have a similar PC, a little slower, 1.6Ghz that isn't quite enough.  It could be something other than the processor but my guess is that CPU speed will be the bottleneck.  Luckily prices have dropped.

Disk speed on the first machine is 7200 RPM.  The other one is 5400.

On disk space, compressed programs take around 4GB/hour for good quality.  I have a TiVo with a 60GB drive that has a rating of 16 hours for best quality.

I have seen a 1 1/2 hour movie compressed to fit on a CD and it was barely watchable.

So a 60GB drive should be minimum and bigger is always better.

More later.

[TimB]

Maybe I have low standards (no comments! ) but I find the second worst TiVo compression to still be fine for me.  It has trouble with rendering a flashing police car light at night but that's pretty obscure.  However this acceptability for me also could be connected to my lousy cable reception.

I'm personally not convinced that the typical family is ready for family PC/TV integration.  I believe that the computer is still a solitary device, I suspect that often the visionaries in these kind of areas are WAY WAY WAY ahead of the mainstream.  (See AOLTV for a recent failure in this space.)  However I've also been accused in the past of lacking vision, which I guess is the flip side.

That aside my seat-of-the-pants marketing sense is that if you can do it with a 2 gHz machine that would be fine for mainstream acceptance with prices coming down.

But to repeat myself from another thread and possibly overstating the obvious, getting the UI right is IMHO the most important aspect of this whole concept.

All opinions of course and your mileage may vary.

-=Tim=-

[Scronch]

Not bad.  So say the minimum is a 2GHz processor with >=60GB disk at >=7200 rpm.  Have you tried it with less than 512MB RAM?

Scronch

[Ingo]

Hi Scronch,

I've been using TiVo-like software (other than MJ obviously) for nearly 2 years now.
I started on a Duron 700 and switched to a Athlon 1.2GHz about a year ago.
Using the Duron Divx was a nogo, had to use a less cpu intensive codec like MJPEG. The Athlon gets along wit Divx (and MP3) at quad-pal (that's 384x288). Even for timeshifting.

Ingo

[Scronch]

Thanks, Ingo.  With your 1.2GHz, how much RAM and what size & speed disk are you using?  Scronch

[Ingo]

a typical recording is around 650MB per hour; or around 12MB/minute or 200kb/s. So disk speed doesn't really matter.
I'm currently using two disks. one 80GB disk for mostly WinXP, personal data and MP3 and a second one which is mostly for .avi stuff. But recording works on both disks. There are a few framedrops from time to time, but not to bad and audio stays in sync with the video (lip-sync).
RAM shouldn't matter as well. But currently there are 320MB SDRAM, 100MHz, CL2 in my system. Which is definitly not enough, but that's not because of recording taking up too much memory (ok... that's around 60MB RAM/swap for Sh.wSh.ft.r allone) but all these other tools and programs I've constantly around.
More CPU power would be a great plus for recording. Especially during times when I'm surfing or doing some other stuff that takes up the cpu. Or when I watch a delayed (timeshifted) tv show (because recording and playing at the same time takes my 1.2GHz to the limit when using Divx).

Ingo

[JimH]

Sh.wSh.ft.r is at:

http://www.showshifter.com/

[Ingo]

Sh.wSh.ft.r is at:

http://www.showshifter.com/

JimH,
I wasn't shure if it's ok with you to post a link to a (future) competitor.... but you're right, I'm talking about ShowShifter.

Ingo