Plug the Pinnacle PCTV HD Pro Stick ($130) into a USB port, and get yourself instant HDTV on a laptop. It also turns your PC into a personal video recorder with its included program guide software, and also gives you a remote control for lean-back comfort.
Teamed up with an additional remote control Pinnacle calls the PCTV MCE Companion ($100), it works with Windows XP Media Center Edition and turns that PC into an analog and digital TV set.
The only downside? All of this HDTV must be received over the air with an old-fashioned antenna. Now if there were CableCards involved, this would really capture our undivided attention. Alas, products like that will have to wait until Vista is released early next year.
Product Pages: PCTV HD Pro Stick and Pinnacle PCTV MCE Companion [Pinnacle, via CrunchGear]