Linksys Linksys Media Center Extender DMA2200

Reviewed by: SDTechDeals

Duration of ownership:

Strengths: Wireless VMC Media Extender; Linksys brand name

Weaknesses: No MyMovies support; slow; no xp media center support

Overall Evaluation: I picked up both Linksys models for my home, one for the living room, and the other for the master bedroom. As the living room didn't have a DVD player, I got the DMA2200, as it had one built-in. It's nice having one less HDMI connection to worry about, and can pretty much control most of my audio/video thru one remote. I think the included LInksys remote is cheapy and crap, so I use my Logitech Harmony One instead. The codes are already in their database. The DVD player is fine. My HDTV is only 1080i, but the picture looks great. I think it is upconverting, but I'm not a video head to know the difference! ;-) The VMC interface is a bit sluggish. You also have to leave the main VMC HTPC on all day, if you want to access it. With the cost of electricity these days, this is not the best option. What I have found myself doing is to turn the comptuer on in the other room (wake it from sleep), then go to the Linksys and start watching. THus far my only knock is that it does not support the MyMovies plug-in. As a result, I cannot view my ripped DVDs. For movies converted to MPEG, I have no issues, and they play w/out jitter. I am just hoping that they provide plenty of firmware upgrades, and at some point add MyMovies ability.