DETAILS ON SETUP
XBMC

XBMC was pretty easy to setup. The only plug-in I added was the one that allows you to launch external applications like PowerDVD. Link. I added some shortcuts in the Keymap.xml file that is located in the XBMC/system folder.

<y>XBMC.System.Exec("C:Program FilesSnapStream MediaBeyond TVBTVD3DShell.exe")</y>
<t>XBMC.ActivateWindow(MyMusic)</t>
<u>XBMC.ActivateWindow(MyPictures)</u>
<n>XBMC.ActivateWindow(MyVideoLibrary,movietitles,return)</n>
<g>XBMC.ActivateWindow(MyVideoLibrary,tvshowtitles,return)</g>

This added shortcuts for Music, Pictures, Movies, TV series. The first shortcut is a direct link to launch Beyond TV from the remote control. You can make remote shortcuts to launch any program. I could have did one to launch PowerDVD and still may in the future. Don't get this confused with the launch external applications plug-in above.

Beyond TV

You just use the Beyond TV setup shortcut to setup Beyond TV. Very simple to setup. The only things I did with Beyond TV was with the appearance. I installed the widescreen icons that someone made on the Snapstream forums. I also made my own custom skin for Beyond TV to go more with the MediaStream skin that XBMC has.
Widescreen Icons Link
Custom Skin Link - Install in the Snapstream Media/Beyond TV/fsmedia folder. If you install this, you don't need to install the widescreen icons.

PowerDVD

I use PowerDVD to play my HD DVDs. If you have upgraded to the newest version, you'll notice there is no support for HD DVD. Luckily there is a mod to get this to work. Link for HD DVD support. I just read where this don't work for the latest version. I believe it only works for the first version that came out after they quit supporting HD DVD. I backed up my Cyberlink folder and tried the updated and sure enough it didn't work. Here is the cool part. I was able to just rename the original folder and now I can still use PowerDVD to play my HD DVDs.

The Remote Setup

For my remote I use the Hauppauge PVR-150 IR receiver. It's so easy to customize for any program. At one time I even had it customized for a screensaver. I'm not going to go into detail here on how to customize the buttons because it's going to take a lot of space. I'm just going to put a link that I made on another forum.
How to setup the Hauppauge 45 button remote to work with other programs link.

To get my Harmony 550 remote to work with my receiver all I had to do is program it to work with the 45 button Hauppauge remote. For the TV,Radio,Music,Pictures and other button that aren't on the Harmony 550, I created shortcuts for the LCD window and then edited it in the remote.ini file for the PVR-150 receiver.

I also setup a shortcut for the remote to launch XBMC when it's on the Windows Desktop. To do this I edited one of the default buttons in the remote.ini file to launch a autokey script shortcut that I made to start XBMC. I had to do it this way because the remote.ini file does not allow spaces when launching a program. You can see me launching XBMC from the desktop in the video.

XBMC Screenshots - with MediaStream skin - actual screenshots

Beyond TV Screenshots - with my own custom skin - actual screenshots

THE BUILD - this was when I first built the computer and posted the pics and information on Overclock.net.

Just got the Gigabyte GA-MA78GM-S2H (780G) motherboard in. Should get the rest tomorrow.

Rest of the parts are in.

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Got it setup on the table and have Vista Ultimate installed. Next will be Beyond TV and Meedio. My son is helping out.

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I've got Beyond TV and Meedio back up and running. The HVR-1800 tuner works great. Of course the OTA HD programs are shrunk to fit the screen. Everything is working so far. This PC runs cooler than my P4. I post so many pictures because I know I like to see lot of pictures of peoples systems. Here you go.

Currently using my 7600GT with the S-video out. I will be using HDMI when my TV returns.

I love my Harmony remote.