I've watched with interest some of the latest news about MCE 2005, and how it compares to TiVo. The part that doesn't quite sit right with me is the cost - a good MCE computer runs for about $1500. A TiVo runs for $500, and if you have DirecTV, even less. And now, Comcast offers their own PVR for a monthly service fee.

So what would get someone to spend the extra money to get MCE 2005? The extenders. XBox offers them, Newsgator allows you to read feeds on it, and there's a DVD collection extender too. And there are others - from what I've heard, it's much better at handling other types of media files, such as audio and pictures, than TiVo.

But that didn't quite seem like enough to justify three times the cost. I'm still not sure I could, but there are a couple of new things that get me closer to accepting the cost difference. One, Microsoft is beta testing a service to remotely be able to record shows. Yes, I know TiVo can do this too.

The other one is the interesting one. An extender to control a home automation system! Now, that would be cool!