[mythtv-users] Advice on a newbie MythTV system

[Jason Arnold]

I am planning on building a myth system with the following 
design goals, in order:

1) Media server (ripped DVDs, CDs, recorded records, 
pictures)
2) Cheap
3) Weather, games, web, etc
4) Live TV
5) PVR

Because of #2, I'm trying to figure out what the bare 
minimum is that I need to purchase and where I can gain 
some improvement to the later groups with minimal added 
costs.

Here are my starting assets:
1) A dual-450 MHz P-II w/ several UW SCSI drives ...or...
2) A 1 GHz Athalon w/ interlaced memory (I think that I 
can go to 1.5 GHz with the current motherboard)
3) A 250 GB UDMA 133 drive (although I don't believe 
either motherboard supports 133 - the athalon supports 
100)4) An ancient Nvidia TV-out/Video card
5) A Hauppauge PVR-150
6) An Nvidia 256 Video card
7) Misc sound and other cards laying around

I'm planning on putting the box in the basement and 
snaking the video/audio up the wall to the living room, so 
noise isn't an issue.  I also need a new TV, preferrably 
around a 19 inch flat panel.

So here's some questions:
1) Should I save a bit and use a monitor instead of a TV? 
 How well does that work for Myth?  If so, what's a 
generally acceptable delay on a flat panel in ns?
2) Will something like a Hauppauge PVR-350 be enough to 
pull off most of the myth functions without a 
CPU/motherboard upgrade?
3) If so, which motherboard should I use?  I can't use 
both as I need one for my desktop.
4) Any other words of wisdom?  Any other small upgrades 
with big payoffs?  I'd like to keep my costs under $200 
(excluding monitor/TV).

--Jason