Linksys Media Center Extender | 
| Brand: Linksys
List Price: $360.18
Buy New: $104.99
You Save: $255.19 (71%)
New (28) Used (1) from $292.50
Rating:  36 reviews
Sales Rank: 755
Media: Electronics
Autographed: No
Memorabilia: No
Operating System: MS Windows Vista Media Center compatible
Modem: n/a
Includes MP3 Player: 0
Shipping Weight (lbs): 6
Dimensions (in): 13.5 x 9.7 x 6.1
MPN: DMA2100
Model: DMA2100
UPC: 745883581771
EAN: 0745883581771
ASIN: B000XQGOW4
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Features:
| • | Bring your digital music, movies, and photos to your TV or home theater | | • | Allows you to share your photos, music and movies on your computer with friends and family | | • | Uses existing high-speed Wireless-N home network | | • | Easily navigate menus with a single learning remote |
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| Accessories:
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| Customer Reviews: Read 31 more reviews...
 Good Product but missing DVD playback. March 20, 2008
Anyanet
20 out of 23 found this review helpful
I bought TWO DMA-2100 (no dvd drive) from Amazon and was able to hook it up and get it working on my new wireless N 5 GHz home network. I'm browsing through the elegant Media Center menus to find the reason I bought this thing in the first place - DVD PLAYBACK from my Vista Media Center P.C. -- only to find that FUNCTION IS MISSING!!! After Calling Linksys, SONY(the maker of my PC) and Microsoft... I learned that DVD PLAYBACK IS NOT POSSIBLE ON ANY WINDOWS MEDIA EXTENDER FROM ANY COMPANY DUE TO COPYRIGHT PROTECTION ISSUES. Apparently there is an issue with streaming protected content (DVDs) over any network to another device. This upset me, because on the product description on Linksys website it clearly states for the DMA-2100: "With elegant and easy-to-navigate menu screens, you can play DVDs..."
NO YOU CAN'T, IT'S CURRENTLY ILLEGAL! AND THE FUNCTIONALITY IS NOT THERE!
This was the whole reason I bought it. Since connected to my SONY Digital Living System PC are two-200 disc DVD carousel changers (Sony VGP-XL1). I want to be able to watch any of my 400 movies and stream them to any TV in the house by using these Extenders.
Pros:
Easy to Set up. Works great for getting your pictures or other NON-protected content to your TV or monitor wirelessly.
CONS:
Does not Stream DVD discs or any other protected content over any type of network (wired or wireless).
 Works Well and Wife Loves It February 20, 2008
Bryan Bigari (Madison, WI United States)
18 out of 19 found this review helpful
I purchased two of these extenders in Januray to go with my two XBox 360's, and I am nothing but pleased. I ended up buying a QuadCore 6600-based PC to use as the media center, mainly because I didn't want to have to go through the hassle of upgrading my older machine to Vista. I am connecting it to a wired network; I haven't yet gotten a 802.11n router so I can't speak to how well it works wirelessly.
The interface is exactly like it is on the Vista machine. I don't experience any sluggishness - this might have to do with how powerful the PC is. It's easy to use, and my family thinks the interface is a big step up from my Time Warner cable box. This thing is really quiet too - if you get close to it when no one else is home you can hear some noise but I haven't been able to identify just what it is. Compared to the runway-noise level of the 360's, this is silent.
The one compliant I have is the on-screen instructions for setting up the learning remote are poor. They start at step two, and then are wrong. For example, they mention pressing the '?' key to confirm the IR code. There is no '?' key on my remote. Anyway, the instructions are on the DVD in the install guide, so it's not that big a deal. Once I found that, it was easy to set up.
This product just works. Nothing flashy about it, but that's what I want. I'd recommend this to anyone looking to build a home media distribution system around Vista Media Center.
It works! Looks like Vista Media Center. March 26, 2008
Good Time in LA
17 out of 18 found this review helpful
It plays our recorded TV, pictures, DVDs ripped to XviD (not DVDs in the player), and music from the other room with an interface that looks just like Vista Media Center. Wife acceptance factor = high. We are using wired ethernet (100) and a 1080p tv via HDMI. The supplied remote is good. Speed of menus is acceptable (even faster, if you turn off transitions in the setup). FF, rewind, pause, etc. are all fine for Live/Recorded HD TV -- looks perfect on our 1080p tv.
XviD files are a little slow to start up on the DMA2100.
I had realistic expectations and we are happy!
NOTE: This note is ONLY for people with a Linksys Etherfast DSL/Cable router. If you have that router, your computer will not detect the DMA2100 unless you also go into the router setup and set Filter Multicast to Disable (which is NOT the default). Thanks for wasting my time, Linksys. After the change, it works great.
 If you don't want support, this is the product for you April 21, 2008
B. Mundy (NC)
17 out of 28 found this review helpful
I hope this device gets better with some firmware updates. It has lots of potential. But It falls short so many ways. UnBox videos won't play longer than 15 minutes (way to encourage not pirating tv shows guys...). And there is absolutely NO support from Linksys. If you want a nice way to listen to your podcasts while looking at a picture of the album art on a big flat panel then this is for you. Otherwise I would wait until either they fix lots of problems with this model, or they come out with it's replacement.
You also shouldn't expect much in the way of content from Microsoft's "Internet TV beta". They don't update it often enough to make it worthwhile, and most of the content is encoded at very poor quality.
I hate for this review to be such a bummer. But the product really should have had much more work done on it before sending it out the door. It really is a beta test product that has been marketed as "The next best thing", but doesn't deliver.
If you have the cash sitting around and don't mind being frustrated at the lack of functionality, or you just want to have the latest cool gadget, then you are gonna buy it anyway. But at least you have been warned.
 A decent V2 extender, but missing obvious features February 15, 2008
Pooh Dad (Massachusetts)
13 out of 13 found this review helpful
I use this at 720P 2 floors up from my MIMO G router and it works pretty well with the exception of live HD video. Navigating the media center interface is not as fluid as when the PC is connected directly to the TV, and it takes a long time to update my large library everytime I turn it on. I think the dual band Linksys wireless N router would help here (a $250 upgrade).
A big disappointment is lack of DIVX support, but a free download called Nic's FourCC changer will adjust your DIVX files to appear to the extender as XVID, which it does support. In the end, this was not a showstopper for me.
You cannot play ripped DVDs with this product, which is another missed opportunity for Linksys and Microsoft. My extender does not work with the MCE 2005 keyboard, but does work with my HP MCE remote, which is superior to the remote included here.
This extender is small, silent and light. It lacks a remote dongle, which would be very useful for keeping the box out of sight, particularly in wall install scenarios.
I've wanted a product like this for a long time, and although it is far from perfect, I probably will keep it since at the moment there's nothing else available in this product category. I'd recommend it, although not at a $299 MSRP given the limitations I've pointed out.
Unless you are into the digital home as a hobby, it may be worth waiting for feature improvements, price drops, and competitive product introductions (such as the forthcoming D-Link box).
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