[mythtv-users] Hardware and software pre-building advice

[Rasmus K. Brosbøl]

Dear all,

I'm planning on building a MythTV box, and would love some thoughts on 
the following questions. I've read a lot of posts on this list, but 
have not gotten these questions fully answered.

I plan on using a single machine with this configuration:

AMD XP2000
512 Mb ram
GeForce2 MX 400 (incl. TV-out)

I want PIP working, but do not particularily care about radio. So the 
question is if I should go for one PVR-350 and a 250, or should I 
choose two 250s instead? Can the mpeg2 decoder on the 350 be used while 
PIP is turned on, or will it decode using software? What if PIP is not 
turned on?

If PIP does not work with the 350's decoder, is there any reason 
(besides CPU usage) not just to buy two 250s?

Can I run MythTV in the background somehow, so I can use the computer 
for other tasks while it is outputting to the TV. Can it be run on a 
second X server, or a second screen? Will the remote control work even 
if MythTV is running in the background, and someone is using the 
keyboard/mouse for something else?

Can all "normal" features of MythTV be accessed using the remote? 
Turning on PIP, changing channels, volume, DVD menu navigation, mame 
games or is the keyboard/mouse required in some situations?

What support is there for launcing external programs, like a browser or 
mail client? If watching TV, can I decide to launch a browser (with the 
remote) and then use the remote as a mouse to control the browser, shut 
down the browser, and have MythTV pop back into view and continue where 
it left off? Can this be done using the TV-out on the 350, or will I 
have to use the GForce?

I have been running Linux for many years, so I am not scared off by a 
bunch of configuration files. I realize that what I'm asking for is not 
going to run out of the box, but is it at all possible to do the above?

I want to use MythTV full time and not have to switch back and forth 
from other devices, prefferably not even from time to time. Is this too 
much to hope for?

Thanks in advance for any advice!

Best regards,
Rasmus