Plex, the fantastic media center software I’ve written about before, added some icing on the cake recently: out-of-the-box support for Logitech Harmony universal remotes.

Logitech Harmony remotes are great because Logitech maintains a massive database of all the codes for pretty much every consumer electronics device ever made (the Harmony 550 was my pick for the best gadget gift under $100). You (usually) don’t have to sit there “training” the Harmony with your original remotes — you just hook it up to your computer, type in the model numbers of your TV, receiver, game console, etc, and you’re off. It vastly improves (and simplifies) control of your home entertainment center.

However, while Logitech did have remote codes for the Mac Mini (which is what I’m using to run Plex), the six buttons of the Apple remote aren’t enough to control a full-featured software suite like Plex. So I wound up buying a piece of software called Remote Buddy that interprets signals from remote controls and turns them into keystrokes. Basically, I spent 2 hours having my Harmony learn IR codes from 7 “virtual” Apple remotes (7 distinct sets of 6 IR codes) to give me 42 effective buttons, but then I had to create keystrokes for each of those 42 IR codes in Remote Buddy so that the proper commands would be sent to Plex (as keystrokes). It was extremely tedious, and I wound up having to do most of it over again because one of the learned IR commands was corrupted (resulting in double-presses).

Not happy with this solution either, a few users over on the Plex forums got together and decided to do something about it. An special IR profile could be added easily enough to the Plex code by the developers, but the catch was that Logitech would have to create a Plex “device” in their massive database. When I found that out, I pretty much lost all hope because while I love Logitech’s hardware, they’re a big company and I didn’t really expect them to pay attention to a little open-source project run by some home entertainment geeks.

Fortunately, I was wrong. Within a few weeks, Logitech was working with the Plex team to establish an expanded set of IR codes that a Mac could receive and that Plex would specifically listen for. Right around Christmas, the Plex device was added to the Logitech Harmony database. As soon as we got back from visiting our relatives, I eagerly updated Plex on the Mini, plugged in the Harmony to my laptop and fired up the Harmony control software. I found and added the Plex device, flashed the remote, and within minutes I was successfully controlling Plex just like any other device in the Logitech database.

Plex treats the Harmony remote as just another type of input device, so you can customize the key mappings using an XML file just like you can with the keyboard. I tweaked a few of the buttons to my liking, which only took a couple more minutes. All told, I had everything configured exactly the way I wanted in less than 10 minutes — compared to almost 2 hours I had to spend before learning IR codes and configuring Remote Buddy.

With the addition of Plex to Logitech’s device database, Plex now integrates as nicely into your media center as any other device. In my follow-up after my first couple months with the software, the one big drawback I mentioned was the struggle to find a good way to control it. That concern has been solidly dealt with. Considering how much we use this to watch archived video, I want to give a big thank you to the Plex enthusiasts who initiated this crusade, and the folks at Logitech who cared enough to listen to the little guy. From the comments on the Plex forums, it looks like they’re going to sell a lot more remotes because of it!

I’m going to take a little intermission before Part 3 of the Navigating the Financiapocalypse series, since I need a little more time to get my thoughts down on investment advice. Instead of saving money, today we’re going to talk about what you should buy if you want to spend some money: gadgets! That’s right, get out there and stimulate our crappy economy any way you can. And yes, you’ll stimulate my personal economy if you buy through the links I’ve provided — which just happen to be great deals!

I’ve thought about doing this for awhile because if there’s one type of question I get more than any other, it’s “What ____ (TV/MP3 player/camera/monitor/laptop/etc) should I buy?” I keep up on most of this stuff, so allow me to point out my favorites for this season. My criteria is really just one thing: what gets you the most for your money?

I’m going to hit the big categories first and probably come back later to make more obscure picks. Do you want a recommendation? Hit up the comments!

JUMP TO MY PICKS FOR THE BEST…

• HDTV
• Portable GPS
• Laptop
• Portable music player
• Point-and-shoot camera
• Consumer DSLR
• Blu-Ray player
• Overall gadget under $100

Best HDTV

Samsung LN46A550 46 Inch 1080p LCD HDTV

Few companies make televisions that converge in quality, beauty, and price like Samsung does. I’ve got one of last year’s models and I love it. They just usually seem to hit the sweet spot between those attributes. For a little over $1200 (including Amazon’s excellent white-glove delivery service; trust me, you don’t want Bob, the guy who helped move your couch, moving your new HDTV), you can pick up the LN46A550 — which I know just rolls right off the tongue — and you get a beautiful picture, plenty of inputs, an elegant frame, and a very palatable 46 inches of HD goodness. There’s smaller and larger versions of this, of course, but 46 inches plenty big for most family rooms and offers the best bang for the buck right now.

Bargain hunter runner-up: If you’re looking to keep it under $1k, the Sharp Aquos LC42D64U 42 Inch 1080p LCD HDTV would be my choice. If you’re all about style and don’t care how much money you waste, buy one of the Sony TVs.

Best portable GPS

Garmin nüvi 360 3.5 Inch Portable GPS Navigator

You can pretty much spend as much as you want to on GPS devices, but there’s so many good ones for under $200 these days. One key feature is text-to-speech, where it reads the road names to you. This ~$150 Garmin wins out over the slightly cheaper competitors in this price range because most of them will only say “In 500 feet, turn left” whereas the Garmin will say “In 500 feet, turn left on Jackson Road.” I find that to be very valuable. It comes with both dashboard and windshield mounts, and car and wall chargers. Garmin also won a GPS comparison test for having the most efficient routing (an article which I can’t find right now, but I read it before I bought my GPS earlier this year).

Bargain hunter runner-up: It’s hard to recommend any devices cheaper than this because I don’t think any of them have text-to-speech, but if you really don’t think you’ll care about that feature you can pick up the TomTom ONE 125 3.5 Inch Portable GPS Navigator for $120 (or $99 sometimes on sale).

NOTE: Changed recommendation from the 350 to the 360 since the 350 was discontinued. The 360 is nearly identical, it just adds Bluetooth.

Best laptop

Apple MacBook

Yes, obviously I’m an Apple lover, and yes, there’s still a bit of an “Apple tax,” but the new MacBooks are hard to ignore. It’s got an extremely solid aluminum chassis, is really thin, has a gorgeous screen, a trick trackpad, and a glut of great creative software already installed when it comes out of the box. Not to mention being able to run both OS X and Windows at the same time with something like VMware Fusion — it’s like having two machines in one. And few people’s lives wouldn’t be improved by running Mac OS X instead of Windows.

Bargain hunter runner-up: If you want a Mac laptop but $1300 is a little steep, check out Apple’s refurb store. You can sometimes find previous-gen (still plenty fast) MacBooks in there for $899 or even $799. These are 100% perfect machines that carry a full Apple warranty — I’ve bought a few from there myself and they’ve been great. If you have absolutely no interest in a Mac, then after you get your head checked (I kid, I kid!) I would recommend the Dell Inspiron 1420 that starts at $599. I’ve found those to be pretty solid machines, and with a coupon they can get even cheaper.

Portable music player

Apple iPhone/iPod touch

OK, no shock here…my iPhone is without a doubt the best MP3 player I’ve ever used. If you don’t want to switch to AT&T or just don’t want to pay the monthly fees, the iPod touch 8GB for $215 will get you all the same iPod and gaming goodness. Yes, gaming…some of the stuff in the app store is fantastic. If 8GB is a little too paltry, step it up to the 16 GB for $285. Those prices are for the second-gen Touch; if you don’t mind the slightly thicker (but still really thin) form factor of the first-gen, you can get 16 GB for just $220.

Bargain hunter runner-up: Grab a super-slim 8 GB iPod nano for just $135.

Best point-and-shoot camera

Canon PowerShot SD770IS

Talk about a saturated market…frankly, it’s hard to go really wrong these days when you buy a point-and-shoot camera, but I’d go with the Canon 770IS because for just $160 it has image stabilization, great image quality, face recognition, and a good screen.

Big spender runner-up: The Canon SD880IS is even better, with more zoom range and a larger LCD. However, it’s nearly $100 more. Worth it? Up to you.

Consumer DSLR camera

Nikon D90

The consumer DSLR market is getting crowded (I’m focusing on the low end of the DSLR market because I doubt pros ask for their gear for Christmas — or care what I say ), but one recent standout is the Nikon D90. This sits at the top of their consumer line, and for under $1200 you get quite a lot. 12.3 MP, a self-cleaning sensor, a gorgeous on-camera LCD, live view, a pretty darn good 18-105mm stabilized kit lens, the first DSLR with movie mode (and 720p HD at that — although you do have to focus manually), 11-area autofocus, an HDMI port for displaying your shots/movies on TVs, some really good dynamic lighting enhancements, and of course what Nikons are well known for — great performance in low light. If you (or a loved one) are a budding photographer and you’ve got the coin, this is a great kit for the money.

Bargain hunter runner-up: Both Nikon and Canon offer great low-price DSLRs at the bottom of the consumer line in the Nikon D40 (what I own) and the Canon Rebel XS. The Canon is about $465 and the Nikon can be had for just $410!

Blu-Ray player

None

Ah-ha! Gotcha! OK, in my opinion it’s still too early for most people to get a Blu-Ray player. Prices are still falling fast, there’s too few models, and too many of the ones that are available have their own “gotchas.” But if you’re really dying to get some of that Blu goodness right now, I’d recommend the Samsung BD-P1500. It’s only about $200, performs pretty well, and is getting in on the Netflix streaming movie action just like the pricier LG Blu-Ray players and the Xbox 360. Personally, though, I would still wait. I think middle/late next year will be the point to get in on Blu-Ray.

Best overall gadget under $100

Logitech Harmony 550 Universal Remote

Few gadgets have simplified our home as much as the Harmony 550. Logitech revolutionized the concept of universal remotes with the Harmony line — they don’t just control multiple devices, they set up your intended activity with a single button press. This used to be the realm only of very expensive custom home theater installations. Now, it can be yours for $68. Anyone who does more than just watch TV with their TV can benefit from one of these. They’re especially handy for the non-technical ones…my wife doesn’t have to remember to set the TV to HDMI input 2, the receiver to Digital 1, power on the Xbox, and set the HDMI switcher box to input 2 to watch a movie — she just presses “Watch DVD” on the remote. I even have it controlling the lights in my family room via an X10 adapter!

See? Way under $100. I like the 550′s layout a lot, but if you prefer the peanut shape there’s the Harmony 670 for $75. There’s ones with color screens for more $$, but they’re not worth it.