Extenders for Media Center held so much promise only a year ago, but now with
one of our favorite Extenders being discontinued it makes us pause and wonder about the future of the model. A small, low powered STB connected to the TV doing all the heavy lifting for our HTPC makes perfect sense as a concept, but in reality when you consider the price vs the feature set, it just doesn't add up. The economic reality is that an Xbox 360 does more for about the same amount of money, so the small footprint and low power usage just wasn't enough to sway consumers to the Linksys extenders. Looking forward we don't know what to expect, with a premier Media Center partner like Niveus publicly stating that it's
new Zone product was created because customers didn't accept the limitations of an extender, it really makes us wonder. We still think the extender model has its place, but it seems now that it only makes sense as a feature of another product instead of standing on its own. So in other words, we still have our hopes up for a Blu-ray player with a built in Extender for Media Center, but in the meantime we'll be picking up a couple more DMA2100s before its too late.
[Via
GeekTonic]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Cory @ May 16th 2009 9:44PM
OH NO, I just started looking for an extender. Does this mean I should wait to see what is comeing next? dang...
C
drhamr @ May 16th 2009 10:01PM
good riddence
dagamer43 @ May 16th 2009 10:05PM
Honestly, the 360 is a perfect extender because of what it can do and the price it costs. Unless your extender is the primary way you watch TV, investing the amount of money an extender costs was probably too much for most people (leading to decreased sales). Because nothing is stored locally on the 360, even a bargin-bin $130 refurb 360 with no HD would play just fine.
This is one market that Microsoft has done really well with compared to other extenders. Now if only Media Center had more market penetration with general Windows Vista users, it would get a lot more resources during development time!
Aaron @ May 17th 2009 1:16AM
Except the 360 is noisy, doesn't ship with wireless, can't even get a official 802.11n solution, uses more power, takes up more space, and has consistently faulty hardware.
NorthCranky @ May 17th 2009 12:15PM
Yeah, that's one thing I hate about the 360&PS3 noise. The loudest sound will come from them and it can get LOUD. Crappy things to use as extenders.
Dana @ May 17th 2009 10:58PM
I bought an XBox360 to try as an extender and took it back because it was absurdly loud and ran way too hot. I ended up getting 2100s for the rest of the house and they are fantastic (I only watch shows I've recorded - no bittorrent).
I don't know what Microsoft is thinking. If they expect the Media Center to make it as a viable whole-house alternative to the garbage cable companies are offering, they CANNOT expect consumers to go putting today's models of XBox360s in their bedrooms, kitchen, home offices, etc.
UnnDunn @ May 16th 2009 10:52PM
Extenders make sense as part of the TV, and in this age of internet-connected TVs, I think now may be a good time for Microsoft to push the idea with renewed vigor.
steveo @ May 18th 2009 12:21AM
Yes! And have netflix work on it, too.
IseWise @ May 16th 2009 11:54PM
I am hoping that we will see some new extenders based on the Nvidia ION platform. It would only make sense. They're small, powerful, and basically silent. Its a no-brainer to build a extender off the platform.
Griffon @ May 17th 2009 1:28AM
You know what, they got what they deserve and so is MS. The industry completely fucking screwed first gen extender adopters by not offering forward comparability with vista/win7 server releases. If you are going to charge folks a arm and leg for single purpose device this is not acceptable behavior. Once again MS wallowing in a IP centric customer comes last molass that keeps MCE from really going anywhere.
Andrea @ May 17th 2009 2:32AM
The DMA2100 is sold over here in the Netherlands for only € 69, that's a really sweet deal if you ask me and it's a price point that would make Media Center Extenders a reasonable alternative to the Xbox360. I wouldn't like to have an Xbox360 in my bedroom just to use Media Center functionality because of space and noise limitations.
Jeetesh @ May 17th 2009 12:24PM
I guess the era has come where television and radio manufacturers should just integrate the h/w within their sets. "Economies of Scale" would do the rest for consumer interest. The important thing is that it is a feature that consumers definitely want... and that has been established.
lucyfan62 @ May 17th 2009 12:38PM
I've had my Xbox 360 since Christmas, and for the life of me I cannot get it to connect to my Vista laptop. The software installs but the minute I try to connect to Media Center, I get an error message saying something is in use that is preventing it from connecting. I've gone through every "solution" I can find online and nothing works. I was actually looking at the Linksys extender, but I guess I'll put that on hold now. For me, the whole Media Center Extender has been worthless.
Ben @ May 17th 2009 12:39PM
Does RDP work on your Vista computer? The extender model basically creates a local user on your computer and then connects to the machine via RDP.
lattosimbaste @ May 17th 2009 4:49PM
lucyfan62-
I went through connection issues between my xbox and a Fujitsu laptop a few months ago and ultimately tracked it down to the bundled password manager for the fingerprint reader on the laptop. Might be worth a look.
Good luck!
Garst @ May 17th 2009 4:22PM
I know that the Xbox 360 can work with Windows 7, I've tried it. But can the Linksys? If it can, I might hurry up and snatch the DMA2200. It would be the perfect extender/DVD player for the kitchen.
AndyS @ May 17th 2009 9:55PM
The extenders work the same across both VMC and 7MC from all reports so far.
3waygeek @ May 18th 2009 8:40AM
I've been using a couple of DMA2200s on my Vista64 media center box for a month or so now, using 802.11n. They work surprisingly well, considering they're Linksys. Newegg and others are selling the 2200 for around $140, a good price considering that it includes an upconverting DVD player.
If your VMC box has multiple tuners (especially if they support clear QAM), this is a good solution for extending cable TV access to rooms not wired for cable -- the extender can use one of the tuners in the VMC box, and the signal will be streamed over the network to the extender. Quite a bit easier than stringing coax.
Tony @ May 18th 2009 12:55AM
That would be awesome if they make the firmware public domain when they drop support. I bet we would finally be able to get some better codec support.
Greg @ May 18th 2009 1:11PM
I have ysed the DMA2100 with Windows 7 for over two months. It works and the updated interface look great (small improvments over Vista).
The Xbox 360 was the second extenxder i bought and it sucked, it was just too noisy(gave it to my son-in-law). I have 3 DMA2100 and there are great, small quite and cheap. On average I spent about $150 each for the DMA2100s. That is a lot less then the xbox 360, starting at $300. If the extenders were $100 they would have sold like hot cakes.
Paul Bowie @ Aug 6th 2009 8:25AM
Good Riddance to Linksys media extender
I have had nothing but trouble with the 2100 model , have never got it to work, -Linksys dont support it, and so all you have a forums to try to find answers
mine would actually get to the Media center screen but not play anything
my bandwidth at home is great, all on a home network that is not overworked.(especially at night)
I have a MCSE, A CCNA and A+ networks qualifications but do you think I can get it to work ! NO !
So much so that I use my PS3 as an extender now and that one works just fine !
HT Slider @ Aug 2nd 2009 12:55AM
I've never wanted an extender, but I do have 7 Media Center PCs. What I would like to see is Microsoft allow Media Center PCs to access Recorded and Live TV on other, locally networked Media Center PCs (softsled functionality).
These days there are so many low priced, ultra-low power processors and motherboards available that would make ideal PC based Media Center Extenders. Smaller companies like S1, Niveus, etc. could manufacture and sell PC based Extenders complete with Bluray support and provide truly ultimate extenders that can also directly play back on-line DVDs. This would open doors in all markets from custom installations to high volume retailers to home built PCs.
All that is required is for Microsoft to finally add the #1 requested feature to Media Center - the ability to access Live and Recorded TV on other locally networked Media Center PCs.