Thanks, that's a decent attempt at talking me out of it :)
If you put boxee on it you can add your own torrent feeds and have it serve up whatever media you can find online. My main use for it would be to brainwash the kids with Swedish cartoons because my region free dvd player just died, and converting and burning stuff is a hassle anyway. Apple's site has refurb ones for $259 USD (for the 40GB version).