which direction for htpc

[peter kotar]

now using asus a7n8x dlx, barton 2500, 256 mb ddr, AIW 9800 pro, connected to tosh 46h84. use xlobby and zoomplayer ...works awesome for movies and gaming. but no real pvr function. ati software encoding is just not up to it i think. looking at hardware solutions. im intrigued by theater 550. but drivers getting bad rap. is MCE the way to go ??hdtv wonder(ATI) has the best picture quality ive read. how would you set up a new system if u were going to. remember, cosst is a factor. ( maybe $400 to upgrade what i got. im thinking new mobo and proc but my soundstorm works great with yamaha reciever. what would you do???

[IVB]

h/w encoding via a PVR-250 type card for SD will get you in the game for $100 or so. I'd also spend some $$ on good s/w [i like SageTV] to make it easier.
For HD there's a variety of opinions and cards. Read up on Fusion, myHD, etc.