New sign up, and glad to find a dedicated resource.
I've decided to bite the bullet and replace the VHS DVD combo unit with something a little more flexible and with better recording definition.
I'm looking for a couple of things with a HTPC, quick start up, low noise (raptor not

), cool running and ease of use.
I have played with a Vista install on raid0 2 x 250Gb drives and X2 5200 for a week, with pure HDMI, and wasn't happy with that. Pulled the box out of the living room and swapped in a X2 6000 and replaced one of the 250's with a raptor drive. Had a quick install of Linux MCE - and that brought back all of the nightmares from previous dabbling in Ubuntu and Mandriva

. So the install dvd has gone straight into the bin.
Now another install of Vista has gone in and I'll be looking around for solutions with resolution and sound output over the next few days - in the relevant forums and searching for previous answers first.
Cheers,