Hello Dan, Welcome to the Shack.
HD-DVD vs. Blue-Ray, and you don't know what you want
, well I don't think you're alone there. A bunch of us waiting to see what happens there.
I'd say browse around the site, lots of knowledgeable folks here that would be happy to help. Also ask specific questions in the different areas and you will get a better response.
I'd be happy to help, but I'm not really sure what you're looking for.
As for DVD on the PC, for the price it really is worthwhile to get a DVD read/write drive. Never had TIVO, but if satellite from Dishnetwork is available I highly recommend it, especially with the DVR feature (pretty much the same thing as TIVO)