What are the good tv tuner cards and remotes available

[Servant]

I recently bought a Dell Zino on Black Friday. I upgraded it to X2 3259e processor and installed Windows 7 64 bit on it. What i plan to do is install a television tuner card on it and convert it into a home theater. So basically it will be majorly used as a home theater and in minority as a personal computer. I am hoping to buy a 5.1 speakers to my receiver via HDMI and then video onward to the television via the same. I don't have much experience with the media center's so any kind of helpful information is most welcome.

[Hardwareman]

I am using a silicondust HDHomerun network tuner card with my Windows 7 home theater personal computer. It has two tuners built in it. It can record QTA signals or ClearQAM. Personally i am getting my HD from comcast basic package with clearQAM. You can buy it at amazon or newegg. For a remote i use the Logitech Harmony Universal remote. Logitech products although aren't any good but still there are no better alternatives so i stick to them. I love the harmony remote and the software that comes along with it.

[Maxforu]

I have the Logitech Harmony remote. I especially find it very convenient because of the software that comes along with it. The device codes are built in to it from the beginning so no need for programming new codes in to it. The remote is activity based which means you basically set up the devices like the television,receiver and then create an activity such as Watch TV which will turn on the television, turn on the receiver and sends it to the correct input. Then it will launch the Windows media center. The remote had codes which my original remote didn't like the codes for HDMI inputs on my television.

[Killen]

Give the regular Microsoft remote a try if you wish for something less expensive compared to the Harmony universal remote. You can find those on newegg in my opinion for a good deal. As far as the HDHomeRun is concerned, it communicates with the PC over the network. Plug the cable cords in to HDhomerun , the network cable in the HDhomerun and then insert the computer in to the network. Then just install the drivers and software for HDHomerun using the instructions available on their website.

[T.J.]

HDhomerun's advantage is that it supports ClearQAM. However if you aren't going to be using cable and are instead relying on QTA HD then that would be a big waste of money. All you need is a dual ATSC tuner which would be comparably cheaper for you.My home theater personal computer spends most of its life as the media center, i usually check for updates for my blue ray software and windows patches once or twice a month and only then i exit the media center. Go for a logitech Harmony remote considering it is the best out there compared to some of the other products.

[Rawko]

Does your receiver support HDMI pass through?? If yes then you should be running the HDMI to the receiver from your Home theater personal computer. Then run it from the receiver to the television. If not then you can use optical audio for the receiver and HDMI for the television since your receiver is not capable to support HDMI. By the way remember if you boot the home theater personal computer or HTPC for short while the television is off then there is no video output when you turn on the television, so you will have to reboot the HTPC again.