A challenge with F2A,Cable,Internet,PVR,DVD

[mark.sangor]

I am not sure if it's possible to do what I am trying to do and I am looking for your feedback/thoughts to any of the below "challenges".

What I want to do is have cable and Free-to-Air connected to PC so that I can do what PVR allows me to do (is it possible to have two different video/audio inputs?)
In addition, I want to have the ability to play DVDs, burn DVDs, and have internet connection.
All of this connected to a TV (not a computer screen).

I want my PC to be in a basement and my TV plus DVD burner on the fist floor (distance between PC and DVD is about 2 FT [or 60 cm) and distance between PC and TV is about 6 FT [or 180 cm])
The IR for the free-to-air, cable, and mouse/keyboard will be sitting beside the DVD.

I have a PC running XP (PIII 500MHz with 512MB RAM and 80GB HD [7200 RMP])

I've done a bit of research and it seems like the best DVD burner is NEC ND-3550A, the best TV tuner card is Hauppauge PVR350 (comes with IR and remote), the best free-to-air card is Twinhan VisionPlus VP1020A (about $80 US) (comes with IR and remote)
I will also need the satelite dish and the network card plus mouse/keyboard is not going to be a problem.


What else do I need?
Will the distance between TV/DVD/PC going to be a problem?
Will PC create any interferances?
Should I chose Linux or Windows? (I am comfortable with Linux but I would rather go with windows)
Which software should I chose that will allow me to connect both tuner cards (please note that I am in Ontario, Canada, and TV Guide plus weather service would be a VERY nice to have thing)
Can a PIII handle everything?

Is this even possible? I have a wife who doesn't like me to spend money so I don't want to buy anything that won't work
Do you know of any store in the GTA area that sells any of the free-to-air equipment?

Thanks a lot for any thoughts,
Mark

[ricklous]

I have a wife who doesn't like me to spend money so I don't want to buy anything that won't work

dont get the 350 then. Its good when it works but a few searches on the forums will show you how many problems various people have run into with them.

although i dont have one myself, the 150 has a lot of fans and there are versions of it for sale with the IR remote/blaser. might be a safer bet if you need it to work out of the box.

[wtg]

Your PC will be seriously under-powered as a PVR, leading to a great deal of frustration trying to get things to work smoothly. My guess is playback during a recording will be almost impossible, and DVD burning might not be viable either.

Having started with a 1.1 GHz Celeron and moved up to a 2500+ AMD, I wouldn't consider any less than a 1 GHz P3 as a minimum, and 1.5 GHz or better recommended.