Yeah admittely you need some exposure to Linux/UNIX prior to setting up a mythtv system but in my opinion its the best way to go. You get access to a full web based digital TV guide which is constantly updated over the air via the arial, you can automatically schedule the shows you want to record, you can also create season passes and the content is recorded in high quality divx/xvid which retains almost a digital copy of the program, and the files are relatively small once they have been transcoded (around 100MB), so you get the best of boths worlds.

Newsgroups, Torrents and Web Sites are all great, but you rely on other people providing the content, and you will likely not get same day recordings like you can with a MythTV system.

Now I realise not everyone has system administration unix skills, but there is simular software out there for windows, which would be more user friendly and any older PC within the last few years will work, all you really need to buy is the DVB card.

This is true of course but TV shows are just one type of download so for me a newsgroup/nzb solution covers all my needs but you're right, a dedicated service like MythTV is the best solution for TV 'feeds'.

As I mentioned above, I use 'SageTV'. It's the windows equivalent to MythTV and - while not free - is pretty cheap and has a terrific support forum. I am not in any way opposed to linux or mythtv. As an IT person I was tempted to give it a try but at the time, "my brain was full" It would be a great project to force you to learn linux (I ended up loading oracle database and oracle app server on linux as my 'baptism by fire' and it was, indeed, "a learning experience"!).

In the end, I find I just don't like TV (of any nationality) that much and so these projects are technically fun, but ultimately, not well used !