I've been reading and looking and am more confused than ever

I want to get setanta sports only (well I want fox sports, but I'm not paying for channels I don't want to watch) and I guess the dazzling array of other "free to air" that satellite provides

The type of decoder box -

what's the point of getting a linux type box? noticed them on ebay going for the $150 mark with strong boxes going for $100 - i get the impression that strong boxes are kind of the way to go? but is a linux box worth a bit extra?

I have a PVR which acts as my set top box - it has an RF in and out.(I hate using it but - it was a piece of cheap poo when I got it - but it does the job I suppose)


I was thinking of getting the cheapest receiver decoder thingy that I could that takes a card and is irdeto 2 or something, then ring up setanta and get a card for $15 a month, then connect this to my pvr via an rf out to record the soccer games that are on too early for me to get up

now an ebay listing has got me thinking a bit more - does getting a linux type receiver mean that you can connect an external hard drive, or connect it straight to your computer or set up a pvr / media player for divx files in the one unit??

anyone care to give a summary of the benefits of the linux box - or is it not worth getting if realistically I am only getting the setup for one channel?

(I did try to find the answer, but couldn't find anything - so if it is already covered please point me in the right direction!)