Metcarob's Windows MCE vs Linux MCE Comparison

I have both a Windows XP Media centre PC and a LinuxMCE PC set up in my living room attached to my TV. I am hoping to replace the windows Media centre PC but before I do this I need to ensure that LinuxMCE is up to the job of replacing it. I am hoping the LinuxMCE community will be able to assist me with advice on how to get LinuxMCE performing the way I want it. For this reason I have created this page comparing the two highlighting areas where the LinuxMCE set up is not currently living up to my requirements.

Base Systems

	Windows Media Centre	LinuxMCE
Manufacturer	Eversham - EBox (Eversham have gone bust now)	Built myself
Operating System	Microsoft Windows XP Media Centre Edition Vesion 2002 Service Pack 3	LinuxMCE DVD Install
Motherboard		Abit AA8-Duramax http://www.abit.com.tw/page/en/motherboard/motherboard_detail.php?pMODEL_NAME=AA8-DuraMAX&fMTYPE=LGA775 06/12/2004-i925X-W83627-6A79FA19C-12
Processor	Intel(R) Pentuim(R) 4 CPU 3.00Ghz	Intel(R) Pentuim(R) 4 CPU 3.60GHz
RAM	1Gb	1Gb (2x512Mb Sims www.crucial.com)
Graphics Card	PCI Express Card GeCube RADEON X550 256mb http://www.gecube.com/products-detail.php?prod_cat_pid=&prod_cat_id=23&prod_id=61534	AGPx8 NVidia Geforce 6600GT http://www.nvidia.com/page/geforce_6600.html
External Network Card	On Motherboard	On Motherboard (1 x RJ-45 GbE LAN Connector)
Internal Network Card	None	PCI Card EtherFast Lan Adapter SP2500RS 10/100Mbps Auto-Negotiation http://www.micronet.info/model_detail.aspx?series_no=5&sno=211
TV Capture Card 1	PCI Card	PCI Card Hauppauge WinTV Nova-T500 Dual Digital Tuner http://wiki.linuxmce.org/index.php/Hauppauge_WinTV-NOVA-T-500 Not the diversity model
TV Capture Card 2	PCI Card Exactly the same as TV Capture Card 1	None
Hard Disk		Seegate Barracuda 7200.8 500Gb http://www.seagate.com/ww/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=46cc99f4fa74c010VgnVCM100000dd04090aRCRD&locale=en-US&reqPage=Model&modelReqTab=TechSpecs

TV Output, resoultion, etc.

My TV is an old Sony TV. The only output device connected to the computers is the TV (Both Audio and TV outs are connected via a scart lead.) Both systems connect to the same TV via Scart and for the comparision I am using a switch box which switches from one to the other.

	Windows Media Centre	LinuxMCE
Video Connector used	Video connector	S-Video connector
Video Resolution	1024 x 768	1024 x 768
Color	High (32-bit)
Refresh	60 Hz	60
Audio Connector used	Motherboard Stero out going to a splitter going to Scart lead adapter	Motherboard Stero out going to a splitter going to Scart lead adapter