Hey Rando, I just setup an XBMC mythtv box. It is nice as far as recorded shows goes... but have you gotten livetv to work with it? If so, can you fill me in?

The other thing I have noticed is that it seems to ignore commflagging and cutlists even when I do play + skip. Do you know similar behavior?

I'm in Ottawa.

I'm thinking the best solution is the network booted PC since I have lots of old capable PC's sitting around. My problem with those has been finding TV-Out video cards at a reasonable price. So I think if I could find some really cheap NVIDIA TV-Out cards (PCI and AGP) I'd be ready to go. I have found a place called Computer Recycler that's selling old ATI 3D Rage II cards that I've got working but the TV-Out quality isn't very good. Thanks for all the good advise. I'll keep looking and keep you posted.

An nvidia 6200 with tv-out would be a good option if you can find one at the right price.

If you get a 6200 with component video out that will give you more options for HD output even if it is just to upscale SD to a HDTV.
here is a card that would work well.
http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/ ... &CatId=318

I have this card in a frontend that has a PIII 1000Mhz overclocked to 1170Mhz. With XvMC turned on i can play back 720p smooth using only 50-80% CPU. 1080i is almost smooth but the cpu isn't fast enough and stays at 100%.

For just an s-video out this would be fine
http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/ ... &CatId=318