One of the biggest deterrents to me picking up a dedicated Media Center extender for my Media Center PC has always been the cost.

Prices for these devices have always lingered right around the $200-$250 price point which was far enough off from an Xbox 360 to prevent me from buying a second one as an extender, but still high enough that I couldn't justify dropping that much cash for a box that's main purpose was to stream content.

With the imminent release of Vista Media Center, and the fact that the current crop of Media Center extenders will not work with the new OS, you're starting to see this generations extenders at much more reasonable prices.

Case in point, today only Woot has the refurbished Linksys WMCE54AG Wireless Media Center Extender for an attractive $99 with $5 shipping. This is just about low enough to make the purchase a no brainer for me.

Features:

• Instant $120 rebate on any TiVo Series 3 - Coupon Code TV120
• $250 off the Nevo SL WiFi Remote - Coupon Code NEVO250
• 15% off all Harmony Remotes - Coupon Code TCR15
• Save 10% on upgrade kits - Coupon Code TCUP10
• Save 10% on all Slingmedia products including the Slingbox - Coupon Code TVS10
• Save 15% on cables - Coupon Code TCC15
• 10% instant rebate on TiVo Wireless G USB Network Adapter - Coupon Code TCW10

We covered the Toyquest RipRoar VideoFree DVR Portable Media Player a few months back and decided it looked like a solid portable device for the youngsters.

Walmart has this "toy" for $48 on clearance with $.97 shipping, which is a pretty phenomenal price considering it cost $199 at release and can currently be found on Amazon for $126.

512 MB of internal storage (expandable by 2 GB via memory card) is probably the devices biggest shortcoming, but you have to remember this is for the kiddies.

You can cram plenty of episodes of Blues Clues or Dora the Explorer on one of these things - at least enough to keep your pipsqueak satiated for a good while, and that leads us to the units strongest selling point.

There's no downloading of shows off the web and transferring them to the unit to mess with.

The Riproar records programming directly to the unit from any video source giving you an endless supply of free content (let's just assume you steal your Cable TV / Satellite) to entertain your child with on the road.

It also includes some other nice features such as an external speaker, scheduled recordings, 5 hours of battery life for video, MP3 and photo playback, TV out, and an IR remote for controlling the unit while on the included dock. Is it wrong that this feature set sounds better than some of the real adult PMPs on the market?

At such an inexpensive price, this thing is either a seething piece of digital poo or nobody is aware of this decent looking product and as a result they simply aren't selling. At $48.97 I'd be willing to take the gamble on this one and give it a try.

This definitely falls into the "gifts that are ostensibly for my child but really for me" category, but whatever. I do what I want.

• TiVo Series 3. Before you start shouting 'TiVo is great' -- hold it right there. I know TiVo is great, I know the Series 3 is a damn fine PVR and I know HD is the must-have thing this Christmas, but I just don't think it's the right time to buy a Series 3. Most stores are selling it at $799 although Yahoo Shopping found one at $670. That's pretty expensive for a PVR, no matter how good it is. But I can guarantee the Series 3 will have a substantial price drop shortly after Christmas, and that will be a much better time to buy.
  
  
• XP Media Center without an Express Vista Upgrade. If you're planning on buying a media center PC running Windows MCE, then make sure it has an Express Vista Upgrade. With the right manufacturer you can get a free upgrade to the Vista operating system when it comes out before March 31, thus saving yourself the hefty cost of upgrading later on down the line. If you decide you don't want to upgrade to Vista, then you don't have to, but at least you have the option.
  
  
• Microsoft Zune - With so many excellent digital media players out on the market the Microsoft Zune just doesn't cut it. It's full of DRM and you have to hack it to do things that I would expect it to do as standard. I agree with Brad, the Archos 604 is a much more attractive option.
  
  
• ReplayTV PC Edition - Turning a PC into a PVR is a great idea, but ReplayTV PC Edition is not the software to use. It lacks some much-needed features such as multiple tuner support, HDTV support, ability to stream video to other computers, and a free electronic program guide. It will cost you $99.95 with an additional $19.95 yearly fee. Sage TV and Beyond TV are a better option in my eyes, and you can always get basic PVR functionality for free with GB-PVR.

1. VBOX Cat's Eye DTA-164e - This sexy little PCI Express tuner can handle 2 HD ATSC or analog NTSC signals at the same time, allowing you record two channels at once, or record one while watching another. This guy is expected to hit the streets in a couple of weeks, and should go for about $199. If you're looking for a cheaper HDTV tuner, check out the AverMedia AverTV HD MCE A180. You can pick it up for around $70.
   
   
2. An HDTV set - What use is an HD tuner without a good HDTV to watch it on? Hi-def sets are a hot item this year, and rather than jump in over my head and tell you to go with 1080p/1080i/720p, I'll just point out that there's a number of bargains around. Best Buy is offering 10% off all its HDTV sets this season, and the Philips Outlet store is offering $450 off selected plasma TVs.
   
3. Archos 604 Portable Media Player - A lot of folks are going to be putting Slingbox on their list this year, but I tend to use Orb when I need to stream live or recorded TV over the internet. It's free, and it works great if you have a PC-based PVR. For long trips I prefer to load up my PDA with compressed TV recordings. But it would be nice to have a dedicated portable media player with a 30GB hard drive, and WiFi would be nice, so I'm going to put an Archos 604 on my list this year. You can probably pick one up for aroudn $400. If you value a larger hard drive, and could live without the Wifi, you might want to consider the 80GB 504, which will set you back around $350.
   
4. Mvix MX-760HD Wireless HD Media Center - While I don't have much need for a device to stream content across the internet, it would be nice to have a way to stream content from my office to the living room. The Mvix MX-760HD can stream HD video over an 802.11g network, and has pretty much every port you could need to connect it to a TV set. Available in early December for $329.
   

AOL usually sells movies for $10-$20, with TV shows going for about $2 per episode. But with a growing number of sites that people can visit for their video needs, this seems like a pretty smart promotion to get people to try out the service.

• ADS Media Link ($90) - This media server hooks your TV up to your PC and the internet. It can show videos, images and music from your PCs hard drive on your television. All in all it's not too bad but does not support playback for WMV files and is not great when it comes to playing music on your TV. The internet browser is also a bit slow. It supports both SD and HD. For the $90 price tag it is a good budget model.
  
  
• D-Link MediaLounge DSM-520 ($200) - Againlike the ADS Media Link, this media server can play MPEG-1, MPEG-2, and MPEG-4 video files but not WMV files. IUnfortunately it does not have internet browsing support. However, it does have good support for music files and you can even use AOL's ShoutCast radio service. It has also been reported that it sometimes has trouble with non D-Link routers. Personally I don't think it is worth the $200 price tag.
  
  
• Actiontec Wireless Digital Media Player ($150) - This device is very similar in functionality to the ADS Media Link, but costing about $60 more. It supports SD and HD video, and has internet browsing capabilities, although they aren't great. It has a variety of digital video and audio connections too.

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• Prismiq MediaPlayer ($150) - This has support for a nice number of video formats including MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4/DivX, and VOB but unfortunately not WMV. The Prismiq MediaPlayer was one of the first digital media hubs and it still looks good today. Like most it has difficulty with web browsing.
  
  
• Netgear EVA700 ($230) - Netgear have done a very good job with this streaming machine. The EVA700 is well designed, has a nice looking user interface for the TV and even supports WPA.
  
  When it comes to video and audio it supports a whole range of formats including WMV up to 1080p, xVid and AVI formats. You can even plug in PMPs to the USB port and play video directly from them. For both video streaming and audio streaming this product does the job well.
  
  The only downside to this media extender is it lacks an internet browser, otherwise it's great.
  
  
• Zensonic Z500 ($330) - I'm going to keep this short, it's pretty much like the Netgear EVA700 plus a few dollars and minus a few features.
  
  
• Pegasus Cynalynx ($400) - The Cynalynx looks like a very high end media server doing everything that the EVA700 can and more. In addition it has support for WPA2 and can even stream DVDs as they are played from the PC.
  
  However, if you did want one you'd find yourself a bit stuck, I couldn't find anywhere to buy this product. Apparently some units have been shipped to Europe and Aisa but PC Magazine said it was unsure if Pegasus could ship the Cynalynx in volume.
  
  
• LinkSys WMCE54AG Media Extender ($240) - This device is specifically for use with Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 with the ability to bring most of the MCE capabilities to your TV including watching videos, viewing pictures and PVR functionality.
  
  It also features some extra features such as MSN Messenger, video downloads from MovieLink and CinemaNow, and music from MSN Music, AOL Music, and Napster.
  
  
• Xbox 360 ($300 core $400 platinum) - A media server, DVD player, and Games console in one. The Xbox handles media from most portable devices pretty well and can stream WMA files using the Xbox Media Center with a PC running Windows MCE.
  
  There is even rudimentary internet browsing plus a video download service. Compared to other media servers its not the best but you do get a whole gaming console too.
  
  
• Use a Mac ($300 approx.) - Why let Apple do it for you when you can do it yourself. Ryan Faas of Informit.com has a brilliant guide on how to make your own iTV with a MAC. If you want to keep it all Apple then this is the way to go.
  
  
• Media Center PC ($235 upwards) - If you make a media center PC and connect it to your network you have yourself a media extender with all the features you could ask for. But not only do you have a media extender you have a media center PC too and you can get a new set up for as little as $235.
  
  
• Akimbo RCA Player ($200) - It's not exactly a media center but worth mentioning because it does one thing that the Apple iTV will be good for, buying videos on demand. The Akimbo RCA Player will download (for a price) TV shows, videos and movies from online sources. However, it will not hook up with your PC and does not allow you to browse the internet and it does cost $9.99 a month just to keep using it.