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[lowendfrequency]

I recently purchased a sweet new laptop with Media Center, but to my dismay, I'm having codec issues with the 360 as an extender.  I was well aware of the codec restrictions, but it was my understanding that Transcode360 could handle xvid.  Well, apparently not all xvid files.  I can't get any of my 720p xvid movies to transcode.  MediaCenter running directly from the laptop handles them no problem however.  So I'm hoping to cut the 360 out of the loop, at least for these specific files. My TV doesn't feature a VGA port, but I'd really like to view my laptop on the screen.  I could convert VGA to DVI and then DVI to HDMI, but I'd imagine that could get costly.  Instead, I'm looking for a cheap yet effective VGA to Component transcoder.  Does anyone have any suggestions?  Also, any suggestions on my MCE problem would be appreciated too.

[lowendfrequency]

After doing some research, I'm even more confused.  I've been finding transcoders for around $100 bux, but I've also been finding simple vga to component conversion cables going for as little as $10.  If this conversion is something as simple as a cable, what's the purpose of the powered transcoder?