i finally broke down and purchased tivo. glad i did.
if you don't have a dvr yet, get one. i debated about the windows xp media center edition, but to me, a “real” pc just doesn't seem like the form factor for a home theater component...i could imagine myself getting mad staring at my tv and a clunky pc looking hardware somewhere nearby making fan noises...aside from that the cost of a “media center pc” was prohibitive. yeah, i could've used the msdn version of media center edition...but that would violate the license agreement now wouldn't it ;-)
i took a look at the features from media center and tivo and decided for the cost, tivo was a good choice for me right now...i wish xbox had a dvr, then i'd be set.
so with my new tivo, i can have media (audio/video) playback capabilities from any networked machine on my lan as well as utilize my wireless (or wired) lan to connect to the tivo service (yeah, no more phone calls)...two of the biggest reasons i waited for so long.
so go get a dvr...now.