I drive an automatic, but shoot with an SLR. I also enjoyed building the PC.
Listener - you can build a decent PC that will serve admirably as a music/picture server for very cheap, especially if you're not worried about aesthetics and can harvest an old PC case with an adequate power supply. Then, all that is left to buy is the MOBO, processor, RAM, disc drives and a hard drive complement. This can be done with less than $300. A good TV tuner will cost about $80 from Hauppauge (optional). With that set up and a copy of Windows 7, you'll have a pretty slick system that is fun to turn on at parties (there is a neat feature on WMC7 that locks the computer and only allows the media center to be played, meaning you can have your PC on at parties, with your guests able to change music, add songs to the queue, etc., without worrying that someone will mistakenly shut down the system or delete all your stuff by mistake.
Don't let me dissuade you from building a PC and having fun with it. Just realize that it is not the one-box panacea that it is advertised. But it can complement a Blu Ray/Cable box nicely.
