BTV on Thinkpad

[WardXmodem]

There are forums discussing USB, but most steer the user toward cards.

I have had a "tower" PC doing BTV for years, but my UPS says it is drawing like 250W, while my personal ThinkPad, shows about 17W on a wattmeter.

SO I got to thinking - could I make the Thinkpad T41 into a BTV machine?

It has direct S-Video out, 2 USB ports, audio in and out.

However, as I see threads about laptops, I see some mention of IR blasters, but thought this thread might consolidate BTV thoughts for laptops, or perhaps (and I have 2) Shuttles, with their single slot.

Also, I am not sure I understand USB Hubs that well, I do know you want powered ones as so many devices use USB power, but would I have to have an MPEG encoding tuner on a direct USB, and for a remote keyboard, IR blaster, USB hard drives, etc (not for recording, but for moving things around) they could all be on a hub, right?

Thanks!