xzzyx@hotmail.com a écrit :

I'm considering setting up a PVR. Could someone suggest which software might be best for me. For example, how does linvdr compare to MythTv?

Maybe you're not at the right place to get an unbiased comparison ;-) VDR is best ! Seriously : VDR is perfect as a set-top-box / dedicated HTPC. The whole bunch of plug-ins and add-ons make it really useful.

How mature are both? Do I need to be a German speaker to setup LinVDR?

VDR is very mature. The developer version series 1.3 has always been stable, and now gets also featureful. I think Klaus will release the 1.4 stable relase soon (that is, in a one year time-frame... maybe) There is an how-to in english about LinVDR (announced in this ML). People here are also very helpful. I personnaly don't speak german, and I think I don't miss anything, just reading this ML. Klaus's home mailing-list is here, so the core-developers follow and the stuff that matter is here.

I'm intend to buy a digital tuner for use with a 2nd hand MSI MS-6215 (possibly utilising the oboard video and TV-out). Any advice would be welcome.

If you plan to use the onboard video + TV-out, you go the software output way : buy a budget DVB card (those without a MPEG2 decoder), and install either the softdevice plugin of the vdr-xine plugin. More on this in a separate thread, if needed. Subscribe to the softdevice-devel@berlios.de ML. The other way is : buy a full-featured DVB card (AKA FF-card), and use it's TV-out. This is the main/official setup, the one that just works. If you only want to have DVB / recordings on the TV, use the FF-card. If you plan to output to a VGA monitor, have higher resolution, view DivX natively, use X on your TV, etc., use a budget card and your onboard VGA, but be prepared to a lot of little fun problems...

Thanks,

Andrew