I think it's a great idea but the part with the satellite may be a bit tricky. Again it goes back to our old friend DRM - I don't know of any satellite tuner cards for the PC that will work with Dish or Direct TV. If you were willing to switch to cable there are some tuners that will work for that but it is far from perfect. Supposedly there was this new standard called CableCard which would fix the problem but as usual the cable companies are screwing it up. Even when it does work you cannot build your own CableCard system - you must buy it pre-installed in a Media PC of some sort.
However, getting HD OTA (Over-The-Air) worked for me and the PC tuner cards for that are relatively cheap and well-supported. If local networks broadcast in HD in your area that is a pretty good way to get HD sports to your PC. If you really need satellite or cable I think you only option is to use a separate tuner box and run the video out either through a slingbox or some other method to your PC. If you aren't using a Slingbox then you will not be able to control the TV channel from your PC and will need another remote or some sort of IR blaster setup. For home theater components I would take a serious look at a home theater in a box (HTIAB) solution. I know they have had bad rap in the past but they have really come a long ways recently and if your room isn't huge they should be able to fill it perfectly. And they are usually pretty easy on the wallet. Check out some of the reviews: http://www.hometheatermag.com/buyersguides/htibs/ Oh, and he's right about the speaker wire. Good generics are great but Blue Jeans are awesome and at a reasonable price. If you are looking to make your own component video cables and stuff check out this episode of systm: http://revision3.com/systm/avcabling -- Brian Weeden
