some pointer please

[N2h221]

Hey guys

I am moving house in a month a need to make a decision within this week, to either stick with my eurovox/starview boxes or get the same experience on my media centre PC. The decision I make will directly impact the furniture I buy. If I go with using my media centre only then I have specific kind of stand requirements, if I go with my MediaCentre PC and my starview box then I need a different kind of furniture to cater for this. This will also impact on where the wiring and leads go and the whole setup of the living room. Either I get this right or I end up in the dog house
So I need some specific information.

This is what i want to do -
1- Watch all my channels that I can currently get on my boxes on my MediaCentre-
What TV card do you recommend? Budget £50-£100
Primary function watch all channels ( I dont want to record etc)

2- Once I have the card- I am assuming I insert the Virgin Cable into the back of that and run a scan?

3- What software do i need to run/download and tweak on my MediaCentre to get all the channels "working"
Can you provide steps in stages? links to direct downloads or names?

4-Do I need to pay extra for any software to make sure I get a good experience.

5-I will be using MediaCentre in Windows 7 64bit (that is a must)

6- Whats with the lag I have been reading when switching channels?
How long are the delays? does it depend on hardware? TV card hardware? Media centre hardware? etc

6- any thing extra to enhance the experience - tips? best wishes? curses?


Guys I have 1 week to make a decision on this and if I am going down the VM channels on my PC I need to order in what ever kit I need. In this week, Once that decision is made the rest of the stuff needs to be also ordered/decided on for moving home.

If I had a few months of spare time I would sit at my machine and read through the 600 odd posts just on this forum, then I would spend some more time googling but guys I have a week to make this decision.
by all means tell me to read the forums and pat your self on the back when done for the being the post police. But guys I could do with the help.

Many thanks for taking the time to read this.