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Windows Media Center/Other PVR Software

post #1 of 9
5/18/05 at 11:05am
Thread Starter 
Does Windows MCE or any other type of PVR software require fast hard drive speeds? I want the 100 gig drive but the 7200 rpms brings it over my budget, would i be fine just getting the slower 100 gig drive and using it as a PVR? Thanks for any help.
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post #2 of 9
5/18/05 at 3:54pm
5400RPM is plenty fast for PVR type usage ... you do NOT need 7200RPM.

If it makes you feel any better, the original TiVo and ReplayTV commercial PVR boxes used the 4200RPM hard drives since that gives them enough rotational speed, yet keeps the noise and heat down due to slower RPM.
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post #3 of 9
5/18/05 at 6:48pm
Thread Starter 
^^oh ok thanks very much. i wasn't quite sure but now i know, thanks
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post #4 of 9
5/18/05 at 6:53pm
yes, you dont need any sort of fast drive for PVR, my myth box has 3x300 GB drives, even HDTV is max about 2MB/sec @ 1920x1200 so doesnt require really fast drives.
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post #5 of 9
5/18/05 at 6:55pm
Thread Starter 
thanks guys
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post #6 of 9
5/18/05 at 7:08pm
I don't think on a laptop you are going to have to worry about it. If you build some massive multi-tuner recording servers like I have seen people do occasionally then it becomes an issue.
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post #7 of 9
5/18/05 at 7:29pm
I have 4 tuners in my SageTV box and I have two 5400RPM drives in there. No issues so far.

I wish I could buy all my drives as 5400RPM since they generate so much less heat, but can't find the bigger drives in 5400RPM anymore
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post #8 of 9
5/18/05 at 7:55pm
You will be happier with the larger drive which is important in recording. The MCE defaults to the C hard drive when you set recordings. I kind of regret getting the 60 gig 7200 because of this.
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post #9 of 9
5/18/05 at 8:21pm
^^^ Can't agree more ! When it comes to TV recording, the more space you have, the better.

MPEG2 video files recorded at a high bitrate tends to become really big ... at the best recording quality (6-8Mbps) the file sizes will be between 3.25 and 3.75 GB for each hour of recording.
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