Hi, i'm new to HTPC but not new to PC's them self has i've been a PC builder and a PC tech for a very long time.

My friend wants me to build him an HTPC out of an old Dell Dimension 2400 that he has layin around.

It can handle 1gb of ram, and from what I've read 1gb seems to be enough if it will only be used for MCE.

It has onboard video and onboard sound, and 3 open PCI slots.

He currently has Direct TV with a Set Top Box, going into his TV with HDMI and it's a HD box.

What we would like to achieve from this build is being able to watch live television in HD while recording 1 or more shows HD shows.

My questions are this,

1. How to get the computer to show up on the tv. I know we can take the VGA to DVI then to HDMI however will the resolution look like crap?

2. How many tuners and what kind of tuners would I need to acheive this?

3. How would I hook up the Direct TV settop box to the tuners?

4. Since I only have PCI, really adding a video card is out of the picture unless I want to add a PCI video card, and if I want to do that, any suggestions?

I thank you all in advance for any help you can give me.

The only HD you can get is from over-the-air, so you're out of luck with satellite. You'll have to use the set top box's analog outs going in to your PC's tv tuner.
If that dell is that old, the video card might not do it (needs an onboard mpeg decoder). You'll have to find an analog TV tuner like the Hauppauge PVR 150 or ebay for an nvidia DualTV or something. All those questions are answered if you use the search function.