[vdr] Advice on new motherboard, xineliboutput, vdpau, hdmi video & audio, etc.

[Seppo Ingalsuo]

Hi,

My old HTPC motherboard died and I'm now looking for a new one to become 
a vdr-sxfe "thin" client. The old Silverstone case is for normal ATX 
board but I no more need PCI slots so a smaller one, even a Mini-ITX 
would do. Since the PC runs 24/7 I'm interested in low-power 
motherboards with Atom CPU. There should be VDPAU support for MPEG-2 
SDTV decoding + high-quality de-interlacing. I'm watching also sometimes 
H.264 HDTV channels from satellite. There should be 1080p50 video + up 
7.1ch multi-channel PCM audio over HDMI. I'd like to get rid of SPDIF 
connection to AV-receiver.

My HTPC box has a home-brew LIRC receiver that connected to motherboard 
(Asus style) COM port heading. If COM ports are history I could change 
to Bluetooth remote control with a PS3 Blu-Ray remote. Therefore 
integrated BT support would be nice (otherwise some USB-BT dongle). WLAN 
is not mandatory since I stream from vdr server over gigabit ethernet. 
Are there still issues with some ethernet chipsets and Linux?

I found some options such as Asus AT3IONT-I DELUXE, Asus AT3IONT-I, Asus 
AT5IONT-I. I would be happy to hear experiences about these motherboards 
with Linux and Xine. Are there problems with some motherboard features? 
Other recommendations are welcome too!

Cheers,
Seppo