Through a modern tech student's eyes

About 4 months ago I started a little project to build a media center pc. After several pc component failures and several failed attempts at running Windows Vista, I have a fully functional homemade computer w/ better-than-Tivo functionality! In case you don't know, this gives me the ability to do the following:

• Control live television (pause, rewind)
• Watch recorded shows on another computer or portable video player
• Browse a normal looking channel guide with absolutely zero delay
• Automatically record shows or entire seasons of shows

Those are the highlights, and so far it's a much better experience than anything else I've seen including Tivo brand DVRs and DirectTV brand DVRs.