I took the easy - and cheap - route
I took the easy way out. With one day to go before all the post-Christmas sales expire, I went to the local Circuit City and got a Tivo for $49.99 (after $150 rebate).
The rebate expires tomorrow (as do rebates on lots of products, IIRC Sirius radio is the same, and some Media Center Edition PC's).
I came very close to getting the nicely integrated Sony VAIO VGX-XL1, but at $2,000 vs $50 I just couldn't justify it. It's just a toy after all.
So, the impulse-buy-cheap Tivo will be setup tonight and I'll sleep easier knowing that it's probably not even going to show up on the highly tuned credit card radar that my wife possesses.