Type/Brand of RAM used in Sable

[newlinux]

I know that it is PC3200, I'm just wondering the brand and model. I assume there are only two slots for memory in the Sable, correct? what motherboard does it use?

Thanks... Still planning my myth system. Will wait for edgy, though, because myth .20 will be in the repositories...

[crichell]

Most of the time we use Kingston - occasionally Corsair. There are two slots. It's an Asus motherboard.

[newlinux]

will the sable (especially the optical dvd drive) work vetically and horizontally okay (no problems reading and writing dvd/cds, no overheating if horizontal). I think I would prefer it horizontal.

[crichell]

The drive is horizontal - only fits in that way. It's a very slim PC. We haven't had any problems with heat or playing disk.

[newlinux]

Thanks for the always quick response. But I'm not quite clear yet, So I'll ask my question in a different way. Is the sable meant to be layed on it's side (horizontal) or upright (vertical, as it is in the picture on your web site). In other words can it look more like a component in an av/rack without any problems (horizontal) or does it have to be in tower position and are there any problems reading discs or blocking fans in either orientation.

[crichell]

oh - i get it now. it's built to be vertical - the only reason is that the side door hinge falls slightly below the side when opened. Going in an AV rack you can pull the computer up to the front where the door would open without hitting the bottom of the rack. (I hope I'm saying this clearly - let me know if I'm not)

Cheers, carl

[newlinux]

I'm pretty sure I get what you mean. Thanks!

[newlinux]

do the hard drives for sable support NCQ? At still salivating over building my home theater environment here. I'm currently repurposing a couple of older PCs, and I think the sable will be the final piece... Hoping to purchase one next month.

[crichell]

NCQ is a Seagate proprietary technology. Generally we use Western Digital in our desktops and only use Seagate if we're out of WD stock.

[crichell]

I've been thinking more about media centers too - I've been looking at Freevo since it appears to have a similar feature set and it's built in Python. Have you compaired them? What are your thoughts on Freevo vs. Myth?

[newlinux]

Thank you. I have compared them a bit. Last time I checked freevo didn't buffer live TV, which is a big drawback. Additionally, myth .20 has a UPnP server, which may help with a couple of my networked dvd players.

Freevo seems to be "lighter," using SQlite instead of MySQL and being of more of a plugin architecture, but it also seems to be not as integrated of a solution. I realize Myth has plugins as well, but is more integrated. But the big decider for me is the amount of support, documentation and how-tos available for Myth compared to Freevo.
I'm also not sure of how distributed freevo is. Maybe I'll give it another look.

[newlinux]

Also, I really want the commercial flagging - I'm pretty sure Freevo doesn't do that...

[crichell]

Commercial flagging is a nice feature (fast forwarding on my DVR is annoying.) My leaning towards Freevo mostly has to do with it being developed in Python - it will be easy for us to dive in and make contributions where it seems fit. But then again Myth definitely has the mindshare.

[newlinux]

I'm sure freevo is probably good for most people. Probably easier to support too. But If I'm doing this on my own, I want all the help I can get - that's where Myth is better for me. I expect if it doesn't already eventually freevo will have all the features in myth that I want. Python is definitely a big plus - this should also help speed the rapid improvements and extensions to freevo. But this is all the beauty of free open source - as a consumer I can switch and change my mind at any date.