Just the facts ma'am- Component list please

[DozyGal]

Can someone provide a straightforward list of optimal but not coolest components required for PVR?
E.g.

Hauppage 250
200Gig
Cable Modem Service
ATI 9600 etc.
1 gig ram


Thanks

[bznotins]

Is this going to be a dedicated PVR?  Will you be using it for games and other PC-like tasks?  If not, the ATi 9600 is overkill.  Just get a cheap 9200SE with a good TV-out.

A big HDD is probably your best big expenditure.

1GB of RAM is overkill as well.

Broadband (cable/DSL) is good to have but not necessary.

You might want to network your DVR to another PC, and in that case maybe a wireless NIC might be useful for you.

The TV card is pretty important too.  People love the Hauppage 250/350 cards.  Personally, I have the ATi eHome Wonder which is about $30-$40 cheaper than the 250.  I can't speak for comparative quality, because it is the only card I have ever used.

One downside of the eHome Wonder is that Snapstream won't work with it.  But SageTV works well with it and that's what I use.

So, at the end of the day, take the big bucks you were planning on spending for a CPU, high-end vid card, and 1GB of RAM, and plough that into the HDD and TV card.  Those are the two most important parts.