Graphics Card/Onboard Graphics for Media Centre PC

unfortunately crt tvs with hdmi don't exist because of the resolution (not enough pixels)
a DVI connector for a crt tv would only display the analogue signal (the same signal as VGA) and this seems to say that VGA isn't very good: Displaying VGA equipped PC on a CRT TV - will this work? - AVForums.com
i do understand that you probably don't want to buy a new LCD TV as your main TV, and videos and games should seem fine on it, just not text.
The problem is, LCD TVs have had a lot more work put into them. The 32" Philips TV we used to have just had two HDMI connectors, but the new 50" LG we have has a VGA port in the back, which can make a netbook seem amazing
The thread linked above does concern me with what they say about using s-video, but I'll continue searching :)

yeah, I think what could be the best 'plan of action' would be if you buy a really cheap low range graphics card with an s-video port to see if it works as one would expect, rather than the concerning picture colour

from a bit of hunting, the nvidia geforce 6200 might suit this testing purpose. i'm afraid i couldn't get ebay to work properly to see the lowest prices as all my web browsers were acting up (had to do a fresh install yesterday as I couldn't cope with the constant errors any more ), but make sure to check it says s-video, and preferably a proper old one, not some new repackaged pny one or something. also, if this is just going to be for testing, no point going for one with lots of video ram (unless there is only one size, wasn't sure)

yeah, that looks like a great price and has an s-video port. remember, it probably isn't best to stick with the 6200 as your final one, as turbo caching isn't really that great (unless you have a lot of RAM) but hopefully it will give us an idea whether s-video will work well.

yup
let's hope it arrives soon :)