This ended up being my easiest problem to solve, at least from the hard selection standpoint, although this choice would come back to bite me on the software side of things. That being said, I'd make the same choice again.
To eliminate the hard drive noise, I decided to eliminate that hard drive all together. In it's place, I chose to use a 1GB compact flash card coupled with a Compact Flash to IDE adapter. The compact flash to IDE adapter is a small little circuit board that makes a compact flash card plug into an IDE connection and function just like a hard drive as far as the rest of the system is concerned.
I did break the silent rule for one component. I decided that things would be much easier (as well as more functional) if I put a DVD-ROM into the device as well. To read a CD or DVD, there's no way around the whole spinning disc concept. At least it only makes noise while it's in use. Anyway, the noise from a spinning disc is considered acceptable and expected when it comes to A/V equipment so I'm not really going back into the realm of PC's by this choice.
Lastly I still needed a remote control.
Build a Silent MythTV Frontend
Hardware:
Software:
