Saturday, February 4, 2012

Cisco-Linksys Media Center Extender with DVD


Manufacturer : Linksys
Model : DMA2200
ASIN : B000XQONSG
Price : 420.81$
Last Price : 237.95$(Discount 43.4542905349207%
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Product Description

Sharing your photos, music and movies on your computer with friends and family has been made easy by the DMA 2200 Media Center Extender from Linksys. The device allows you to view digital photos, movies and high definition programs on your TV, and listen to downloaded music on your home theater sound system. It even enables accessing digital content and Internet services from your Microsoft Windows Vista Premium or Ultimate Media Center PC and wirelessly stream it to your home entertainment system. Its single learning remote helps you to easily navigate menus. The media extender uses existing high-speed Wireless-N home network and includes built-in upscaling DVD player.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews

69 of 71 people found the following review helpful:
Media Center friendly, yes; UPnP client, no
  
This review is from: Cisco-Linksys Media Center Extender with DVD (Personal Computers)
My initial impression are (1) if all you want is a media center extender to do what it is intended to do, then this is definitely the purchase you should make; (2) do not expect anything other than just the media center function and dvd function, that's all your going to get; (3) if the video, music, or picture is not supported by windows media connect *** AND HAS THE CORRECT BITRATE*** it is not going to play; (4) even if your media center pc can playback a file doesn't necessarily mean the extender will play it back, all the processing of the file is done on the extender and the only codecs that get supported are those listed in windows media connect.

I was expecting better codec support from Linksys, but it looks as if Linksys only has their name on the product. It really should have Microsoft on it. You don't need a Vista PC for playback of the dvd function. For you people that like to encode video on your computer and are thinking about using an extender to view it, be careful which format you choose. If it not listed as a supported file by windows media connect you can best believe it is not going to play.

The wireless worked pretty well. I have wireless-n and video playback was great, but navigating through the menus with wireless was sluggish. A wired connection was more responsive but still a little sluggish. Startup time until you get to the main menu is between 30-40 seconds. The unit is absolute noiseless. Even the dvd drive is quiet during playback, fastforwarding and rewinding.

This purchase was not for me. Like i've said many times before, you'll only be satisfied if your files are supported in windows media connect formats. I could not get WMV files to playback, but I could get WMV9 files to playback. I tried a DivX file in a AVI extension and it played fine.


44 of 46 people found the following review helpful:
Lots of little problems...
  
This review is from: Cisco-Linksys Media Center Extender with DVD (Personal Computers)
I have always been a big fan of Linksys products and I was eagerly awaiting the release of the Linksys DMA 2200. Setup out of the box was pretty easy but when I started using the product I noticed a slew of little issues that, together, make this product not worth the investment. Below is a list of the issues I've experienced:

1) DVD playback freezes/skips slightly every once in a while. This is just infrequent enough to where you might be willing to live with it. It seems that when the wireless network connects or disconnects (due to range or signal strength issues) the DMA pauses for a split second to regain its bearings. There is a little on screen notfication that the network is disconnected (or reconnected as the case may be) and this causes the DVD playback to pause for a split second. I'm not sure why Linksys thought it was important to interrupt my movie to let me know that the wireless network was down especially when I'm not using the network at all, but they do and it's annoying.

2) Remote is terrible. First of all, it feels really cheap. Secondly, it doesn't have any "universal" capabilities that work. Based on reading documentation about this product before I bought I was hoping that this remote would enable me to consolidate at least two of the four remotes I have. No luck. It didn't work with my Samsung LCD TV, my Motorola set top box or my audio system. Looks like I'm going to have to shell out another $200 for a Harmony remote. :-(

3) DVD Playback options are scarce and system doesn't act intuitively. No option for slow motion, no frame advance, very limited fast forward or rewind options. No easy way to get back to the DVD menu. The logic of the DVD player is very confusing. It's clear that Linksys makes networking equipment and not entertainment devices. When trying to get to the DVD menu or the scene selection I often found myself stopping the movie altogether with no way to regain where I had left off. Lots of other little annoyances with DVD playback.

4) It's very slow to respond to commands. I haven't seen the tech specs for this product but I have to assume that in order to get it to the sub-$300 price point, they put a really slow processor and very limited memory into this product. With the device started and "ready" it takes a good 2-3 minutes to respond when you put a DVD into the drive. Interestingly, though, connecting to media using the extender works pretty well.

5) 802.11n is not ready for prime time yet. Despite some of the reviews I've read, I was not able to get Wireless N networking to work with my set up. I installed the top of the line Linksys WRT600n router into my network and, although I could get a signal, it was always weak and was never stable. The dissappointing thing was that the distance between the wireless router and the DMA was only about 40 feet.

In summary, I think Linksys' heart was in the right place with this product but they haven't had enough time to get all the details straight. Plus, let's be honest here, they are networking experts not home entertainment design pros. They should have partnered up with someone who knows how to make a good DVD player so they could give the best of both experiences.

Although there are too many small annoyances with this product for me to recommend it, I'm hopeful that much of what I've experienced will be fixed with firmware upgrades in the future. For now, I am returning this device while I can and will keep looking for a solution to retrieve my media from my PC.


22 of 25 people found the following review helpful:
Not Ready for Prime Time
  
This review is from: Cisco-Linksys Media Center Extender with DVD (Personal Computers)
I purchased the Linksys Media Center Extender with high hopes it would complete my home theatre. After many hours on line with Linksys tech support I reluctantly returned the item to Amazon. I could not get the Linksys MCE to work with my HP laptop running on 64bit Vista Ultimate. I even used two different draft N routers to no avail.

On the positive side, I found Linksys Tech Support to be readily available and very patient with my having to reboot and re-enter my WPA passphrase numerous time.

I will continue to look for an MCE that has Hi-Def capability.


Most Recent Customer Reviews

DO NOT WASTE YOUR $$$$'s
Be warned this device does not work well with Windows 7, I have spent hours trying to connect this and longer waiting for help from Lynsys support.
by Steven John Davis

Don't you do it...
There is a reason Linksys along with HP discontinued media extenders and that is there are so many conditions that have to be met before this crappy invention even begins to work...
by tundrawolf

It is a good idea, but poorly implemented

the product is not good, doesn't have current firmware updates, and don't let you use all functions from your windows media center.
So don't buy it!!!
by P. Orosz

works great if yiu use ethenet (CAT5)
The media center extender works fine if you hard wire it. It looks just like the Windows Media Center and thats what I'm use to. It would not find my wireless network.
by Tom Alexander

Happy with our Extenders
We have 2 of these extenders in our home using a wired connection. They have been wonderful for watching downloaded programs and the DVD players are region free which is an added...
by Maple Girl

Not Worth the Hassle
I was excited to finally get this product home. I had been looking for purchase it for a while but could not find a good excuse for it.
by R. Gonzalez

A good Solution..! but not Perfect
Es buen producto pero a veces es complicado que una pc lo reconozca y conecte en mi portatil no fue posible despues de 3 dias pero en mi desktop en menos de 15 minutos todo esta...

DMA 2200
Set up was easy enough. Pictures and some videos work fine. The DMA 2200 only works with Windows Media Center, so watching internet tv is very limited. If your apps.
by John W. Drong

Very Nice
I am enjoying this Extender very much. My only complaints are not with the extender, but with Microsoft. I have a Vista Media PC and a Windows Home Server.
by STEPHEN N WALKER

superb!!
Wonderful stuff... Why do you pay an expensive price for any XBOX ... if this extender do the same thing???
by Isabel Morales

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