[thelonghop]

Hello xbmc! I just recently discovered the HTPC world and am eager to jump in. My wife has been on me to cut cable for awhile and I'm trying to trim expenses so I think this is the way to go. But first I have some questions and I'm hoping that some of you here will help me navigate all the options available to me.

What I'm looking to do- watch OTA broadcasts, DVDs, BDs, vudu, HuluPlus, Amazon VOD, Netflix, and all types of streaming web content, and to DVR as much of it as possible, at least OTA. (I may not use all of those but I want the option)

How I'm hoping to do it- I have a high-end PC in my office that will act as the backend that I'll add a dual-band video card to capture OTA and act as NAS.

I'll build a front-end PC to go in the living room that I'll stream everything to via wired LAN. As far as I've been able to tell, there's no current capability for BD playback from within xbmc so I've got a PS3 that I'll use for that.

The questions- am I able to do everything I'm looking to do with a combo of xbmc and MythTV? If not, what am I missing?

I'm running Windows 7 on my main PC, should I stick with Windows for the HTPC or can I run Linux on it and if so is there any benefit to doing so?

Thank you!

[TheCasa]

Welcome to the xbmc world. It's a lot like Alice and the rabbit hole. Check out the hardware thread and get some ideas. Read a bunch of threads here and you'll get a much narrower question.

Othewise, if I'm not mistaken, MythTV is linux only. You can try MediaPortal for windows. A lot use it and xbmc can still be your front end.

[thelonghop]

Thanks, I'd never heard of MediaPortal but it looks pretty robust and more finished that MythTV. Definitely something new to think about.

[thelonghop]

Super Bowl Sunday is pretty slow around here!