media box - any hints, tips, or recommendations...

[Target]

I was going thru my junk box the other day and I've got almost enough pieces to put another machine together

I don't need another machine, and it's relatively low spec but still too good to toss out (AMD 2600, 2G ram, GeForce 256 w/TV out)

the TV out part got me thinking that maybe it would make a reasonable media box (not that I really need one of those either, but digital TV is starting to come on line here at the moment)

I'm a total noob to this so I've been googling all over on this over the last few days and while it appears that the specs are adequate, I don't seem to be able to find much info on these sort of setups - there are plenty of forums for established or distro specific setups, but not much about how to go about choosing a particular platform.

As an added complication I would also like to be able to use it as a 'NAS' when I go to LAN days (windows network)

I'm OS agnostic on this (I'm familiar with Windows but not Linux ) and would prefer a 'headless' system, which I suppose implies some sort of server OS (again, something I'm not familiar with), and controlled via a remote or gamepad

Does anyone here have any experience with anything like this, or can point me at some worthwhile resources 

TIA

target

[4wd]

Perhaps dual boot between MythTV and FreeNAS ?

Choosing a filesystem that's common to both, (that might knock out using FreeNAS' ZFS).

[Target]

Perhaps dual boot between MythTV and FreeNAS ?

Choosing a filesystem that's common to both, (that might knock out using FreeNAS' ZFS).

I had considered that, however wouldn't the dual boot predicate a display and a keyboard?

[4wd]

I had considered that, however wouldn't the dual boot predicate a display and a keyboard?

Have it default to MythTV on timeout when at home and when you go to a LAN meet, plug the video out into a second input on your monitor and carry one of those roll-up silicon keyboard that cost around AU$15.