HTPC

[The Dad Fisherman]

What do you guys consider the most critical parts of the build? beefed up processor, More Memory on the Video card, etc. etc.

[TomS]

There are some LiveCD's out there that will let you try out a few different Linux media centers.. The good thing about the LiveCDs is that they let you test out your hardware to see if its up to snuff before you commit.

Never tried Myth. I just installed XBMC (xbmc.org) on the Kubuntu machine in the den.. great interface, seems like it can support everything I needed, but still need to spend the time getting it configured correctly. Boxee is another one being developed that just announced Linux support.

Also, I have tried a few different methods to get the signal to back to the HDTV.. The simplest ended up being the best. The HDTV supports a VGA interface, so I purchased an inexpensive 25' cable. The HDTV runs as a second display off the Kubuntu desktop at 1366x768 resolution.

-- Tom

[kenyee]

Originally Posted by The Dad Fisherman

What do you guys consider the most critical parts of the build? beefed up processor, More Memory on the Video card, etc. etc.

Video card is not needed if you don't decode H.264 (HD resolution)...the built-in video card on the microATX motherboards is fast enough.
A 2GHz processor is plenty fast enough to save off the HD video to disk. You won't need that much memory either.
The most critical part is probably the tuner if you want to use it w/ Verizon. Make sure you get one w/ unencrypted QAM support.