experiment: low end tuner/PVR
I knew the Myth setup would work, but right before I went FT I ordered a barebones tuner/PVR. $30 used off Amazon. It’s pretty terrible but actually does work. It’s intended to be used with a usb hard drive, but I stuck a 128GB stick in the USB slot and that worked fine.
Pro:
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very low power (6w I think) which is important for any device that will be powered on 24/7.
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very small and light
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physical power off (if you want it) and logical standby functions
Con:
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does not cache EIT information. When you change to a channel it starts D/Ling EIT information and displaying it to you in real time. It could take 5mins on a given channel to get complete EIT for the next 6hr block. If you change channels the info is lost and you start again. A tiny SQLite db would make a huge difference here.
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it’s dumb - only use EPG (guide) data to schedule shows; it basically lets you select a show in the EPG to schedule a time-based recording. It doesn’t know (or tell you in the schedule menu) what it is taping. It’s like programming your old VHS only you don’t have to enter date/time. If you are willing to look up shows in a TV guide and work out scheduling conflicts on your own, it may be fine for you
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no, seriously, it’s dumb - cannot do any kind of conflict resolution at all. It just refuses to schedule anything that interferes.
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cannot add a recording schedule entry from a show you are currently watching. In other words, if you are watching a show and want to record it in the future it won’t do it because the beginning of the (current show you are watching) is in the past. This
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remote is actively terrible. As in poorly laid out physically, and no UI logic at all. Button presses are counterintuitive and maddening.
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can get hung on channels with no (or maybe malformed) EIT, requiring a hard boot
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not configurable
I may sound like I am beating up the little box; I’m not. It’s just not a good fit for my uses.