thanks for the reply. i'm guessing i would not be able to use the remote to do this though right?  also it seems that the linux hd-dvd movement is really flowing.  Is there going to be support for hd-dvd or blu-ray in the future or is that a legal drm type issue that won't be touched. The price of that x-box hd-dvd drive looks so tempting!

I don't really want to have the clunky and apparently not completely reliable sony VGP-XL1B2 dvd juke box connected to my computer plus the added cost is pretty high.  Also the file size on the dvd's with the 1:1 rip make it so you would need alot of storage to have your entire library of dvd's.  Since storage is costly I was wondering if some sort of transcode function could be added so it can be converted to xvid or divx to save space here is a linux program I found that can do that but I would like some integration like the rip function maybe a rip and transcode button too.  http://freshmeat.net/projects/dvdrip/?branch_id=20118&release_id=250174

Thanks for your time.  If this is just crazy for some reason or not aloud please disregard this.

the dvd, just downloaded it off the torrent last night =D  thanks for the info. i guess i should have looked at the wiki first.  I hope it works though because this video card is supposed to offload like all video playback from the cpu.

actually the card i posted does come with a breakout box and that connection is not svideo although you can plug svideo into the card i posted it has 3 more pins in the center.
here is a picture: http://images10.newegg.com/NeweggImage/productimage/14-127-296-03.jpg
a card that just supports svideo would be one like this http://images10.newegg.com/NeweggImage/productimage/14-145-067-16.jpg
as you can clearly see the connection is different.
I really do not want to buy a 90+ dollar box just to do something that a video card could do for 20 bucks more.  thanks for trying to help me though it is much appreciated.  do you think the card i posted would run under that LMCE quick install dvd?

no i mean component aka rgb aka y/pb/pr  aka y/cb/cr svideo is not component it is y/c. 


here is what svideo breaks out into only 2 differnt connections (4 pins, 2 pins per cable): http://www.fullcompass.com/product_image.php?imageid=17620

the card i posted comes with a box like this one: http://cgi.ebay.com/Gigabyte-Nvidia-9-pinsHDTV-RGB-S-Video-AV-Out-Cable-NEW_W0QQitemZ140063096420QQihZ004QQcategoryZ40161QQrdZ1QQssPageNameZWD1VQQcmdZViewItem

although that video card looks very awsome and all it does not have the component r g b output that i was looking for it only has the composit single rca out for regular tv's.  thank you though.

currently i have an extra am2 x2 4200 processor and some other spare parts.  I need a motherboard, video card, tv tuner(s?)
as i am very new to this whole linux stuff i am worried what i will buy will not be compatible.  please let me know about these items.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127296 - video card need the rgb out for my current television because it is a 32" standard def crt with rgb component inputs.  If this card will not work please let me know what will.

I really have no idea what motherboard to get but i know it needs to have pci express x16 for the video card that I'll need.  Also I think I'll need 2 or 3 tv tuner cards because sometimes I will record 2 shows at the same times and watch live tv.  So I will need slots for those too =\

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815116626 If this tuner would work that would be great because it is cheap please let me know if it will and if there is a cheaper/ better option that you know of.

Thank you for all the help in advance