<div class="gmail_quote"><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); padding-left: 1ex;">
First, what are some inexpensive front-ends that can play HD (at least<br>
720p)? I've already got an AppleTV and I'm not opposed to modifying it, but<br>
whatever I use it needs to be beefy enough that it won't be laggy. My<br>
potential setup is going to be two HD-PVRs + a non-DVR DirecTV HD receiver<br>
for each, along with at least one ATSC (but probably two) tuner(s) connected<br>
to my OTA antenna. I figure with that many tuners, along with connecting it<br>
to my drobo array for storage, I'll just create a backend server and shove<br>
it in a closet, meaning frontends for every TV (which to start with would<br>
just be two TVs). I noticed there is a decoder card that may be supported<br>
soon for the AppleTV, should I just wait before replacing my AppleTV for<br>
something better suited?<br>
<br></blockquote><div><br clear="all">I have a <a href="http://1n73r.net/mythtv-log/aopen-mp965-dr">AOpen MP945-DR</a> which has worked well for me. I haven't tried it as just a frontend but it worked pretty well as a backend/frontend with 1 HDHR and 1 HD-PVR connected. It is about the size of a Mac Mini but for a couple hundred dollars cheaper. the new AOpen MP45-BDR is a bit faster and has a blu-ray drive too. If you want something more simple (and cheaper) you could also look at the AOpen BB10-BN which doesn't have an optical drive and is Atom based. All of them have integrated Intel Video which has great linux support but lack VDPAU, but the more I read on this mailing list that may not be a bad thing. You may also want to look into the Dell Zino if you are going to go with Atom processors.<br>
<br>--<br>Justin Garrison<br><a href="http://1n73r.net">1n73r.net</a> <br></div></div>