What is the best way to turn an old laptop into a media center?

I have an old laptop lying around. It’s got 2 gigs of ram, dual core 1.8 processor, 160 gig hard drive, runs Vista and has a busted screen. I’d like to hook it up to my 40 inch HDTV, and I’m willing to buy external sound and video hookups for it, as well as wipe the hard drive and change the OS. I’d like to be able to access the internet from it, as well as RSS the torrents for my favorite shows and movies. I have absolutely no idea where to start or what to do. HELP!