Soldato
Snap! This is the way I have my HTPC set up as well. Love media portal. It takes a fair bit of setting up and tweaking, but it is mighty powerful and adaptable.
This! I run MediaPortal and use that as my TV server too. It looks fancy, supports anything and is easy to use. With one box, I can watch and record TV, watch ripped films, see info on them from IMDB, watch trailers on films, listen to my music and also play PC games on my TV. I can bitstream HD audio to my amp and it is also fool proof to use for my missus!
Great piece of kit isnt it. Just 1 hour to set it up, a little longer if you dont have the plugins already. but once its done. It just works! The software even monitors directories. And anything added to the directories shows up in mediaportal with episode\movie info without the need for you to interact with it!
I also have an Xbox 360 remote hooked up and it works seamlessly with the frontend.