[Samw]

Steve, I think the TV Tuner with remote control is all you need. It comes with the Windows software required to watch DVD's and download TV listsings from the Net and record TV programs like a VCR but with more features. While watching any TV show, you can pause, go to the bathroom, return and continue where you left off (I assume this is because the show is stored on the hard disk while you have paused it). You connect your TV straight to the TV tuner itself. As for audio, you'll get an audio cable that goes from the TV tuner to your soundcard. Buy a TV tuner that supports stereo. Some cheaper cards like the ATI TV Wonder VE only support mono audio.

The more I search the net, the more HTPC's I find. This is a real trend. Why pay $900 for a DVD recorder w/ HD from Futureshop (for example) when you can build a HTPC for less that does more)

Here are just a few more pics out of the hundreds of HTPC's out there. If we find that the VIA 1.2Ghz CPUs are too slow, there are now mini-itx sized P4 motherboards that we can use in the cases below instead. The pictures below are just fancy cases. Any old PIII (or better) PC can do the same thing.