I was reading some reviews of the Xtreamer media streaming device over on the MS Windows Home Server blog and on We Got Served and it appears this may be an affordable alternative to getting a full Windows Media Center front end in every room. I need something that'll play AAC music as well as DVD rips in VIDEO_TS format. (More important are the VIDEO_TS rips.)
Turns out this little device does, in fact, handle VIDEO_TS, just like Windows Media Center. I confirmed that with one of the reviewers, too. I don't have access to our DVD library in our bedroom right now; this might be just the thing, rather than getting yet another computer.