The Media Center Extender Shootout: 360 vs Linksys vs D-Link Extender Options

[Xbox-Scene]

The Media Center Extender Shootout: 360 vs Linksys vs D-Link Extender Posted by XanTium | June 20 00:02 EST | News Category: Xbox360

From engadgethd.com: [QUOTE] Vista Media Center really sets itself apart from any other DVR solution out there, and the single greatest advantage Vista Media Center (VMC) has over the other options -- like the TiVo HD -- is the ability to have multiple Media Center Extenders. There really isn't any better way out there that will allow you to watch premium HD cable in every room of your house while at the same time centralizing all your media in one place. When VMC first hit the streets, there was only one HD extender: the Xbox 360. But the problem, of course, is that the Xbox is noisy and will always be a gaming console first and a Media Center Extender second. Well, things have really heated up in the extender market recently when both Linksys and D-Link released Media Center Extenders and HP upgraded its MediaSmart HDTVs. Wrap-up We are glad to see so many new ways to access all of our HD content (including recorded HD cable) on any HDTV in the house, and we're happy to say that every one of these devices is a great solution. But while gamers will be drawn to the value of the Xbox 360, the noise and sheer size of the box prevent it from being the ultimate solution for others. So as much as we miss the cool animated transitions, the old adage "Jack of all trades, master of none" was never more true, and in the case of Media Center Extenders we really prefer the Linksys DMA2100. It is less expensive, boots up faster, and is so small and quiet it will work in just about any application where the main goal is to access VMC. At the same time, it is a close race, and since an Extender is the kind of device you're likely to own more than one of, we'd probably choose one of each if we were outfitting our entire house. [/QUOTE] Full Review: engadgethd.com

[DeMoN_DARREN]

Thank god my Shuttle PC is linked straight to the HDTV.... (show off....)

If i was looking for an extender, I would go with the 360 thought, for the same reason I would go with the PS3 for a blu-ray player

[xjustsumloserx]

so is being able to use multiple extenders the only main difference between the XP media center and vista? I am wanting to set up a mediacenter/extender sometime soon, but I was more leaning to do LinuxMCE. Are there any other advantages to using vistas?

[Mr. Me]

Linux Media Center beats all.

[bucko]

I have no problems with my 360MCE set-up with my Vista Home Premium x64 PC why would I want to buy another unit. Also a lot of people use Tversity which is free as well and does nearly all MCE does. Surely if you have a 360 you wouldn't really be bothered by much of the noise it makes since you are already used to it?

[Elemino]

so is being able to use multiple extenders the only main difference between the XP media center and vista? I am wanting to set up a mediacenter/extender sometime soon, but I was more leaning to do LinuxMCE. Are there any other advantages to using vistas?

I don't know about using multiple ones, but Vista has more features than XP's version. Looks better too, imo.

[Johnwinger]

I have both the 360 and the PS3.

I use my 360 more for media sharing than my PS3 because the PS3 has so many issues with media sharing, such as file type incompatibilites and slow transfer rates.

The 360 has a huge range of support and is amazing even for High-Definition content. Easily fast forward and rewind just like a normal DVD movie.

[chronno]

Sage TV kicks the crap out of both of them. It has all the same options as MCE and a few more (like online streaming) at it costs less for the program and extenders. My dad is presently running 3 on his. And it has Windows and Linux versions.

XBMC kicks the crap out of all of them but I don't think it counts as an extender.

[devilspy]

I use a 360 w/ a broken dvd drive exclusively as a media center/ live arcade system in the living room.
My biggest issue is it won't play x264 .mkv formats. Blueray/HDDVD backups. While it does play wm9 vc1 the media available in those formats tends to be slim to none, with Norwegian subs hard coded.

If there was a way to play more formats than the 360 media center would be perfect for my needs.

Otherwise it's a bit of a let down, I tend to use my original xbox with xbmc more than the 360, except when I actually do have compatible hd formats only the 360 has the power to play.

[ryanpeterson]

Why limit yourself to such limited file formats? Check out PopcornHour , http://www.popcornhour.com/onlinestore/, where you can play any format available. Granted, it doesn't have the slick UI that the XBox has, but being able to play just about any movie type makes up for that. Just throwing another option into the mix since the existing media extenders are so terribly limited.