Recent Comments:
Netflix Watch Instantly comes to Vista Media Center, not Extenders {Engadget}
May 20th 2009 12:15PM again... read many comments above...
for use in VMC with a remote, in a TV watching like setting.
please, people, pay attention.
Linksys discontinues Media Center Extenders, hardly anyone notices {Engadget}
May 19th 2009 9:55AM we have a DMA2100 in the kitchen. if I start a [live TV] show in the den on the main VMC and I need to go cook dinner in the middle of that show (for example) I can go to the kitchen and turn on that same show and have access to the rewind cache for the same show in the den, or vice versa, starting in the kitchen. I can resume playback on either with a recorded show where I left off. ALL IN HD. we have 4 tuners in the VMC and occasionally have 3 shows recording and 1 show playing on the linksys and 1 in the den and never a hiccup. instead of running coax to the kitchen, I ran CAT5, I think that makes the difference.
there is nothing else that will do this and when I demonstrate this to people who have never seen full VMC in action. usually they are jealous because their cable co. DVRs can't do it.
then I tell them that I can't get all the digital cable channels and they're not jealous anymore. it's just a shame that Cablelabs made/makes it so difficult and expensive to have real cable on a VMC. this is supposed to be changing for W7 and new cable hardware standards, but until then my solution just doesn't work for most other people.
I'm hoping the extender concept stays alive and am keeping my eye out for one of those HP TVs with the Media Smart built in on deep discount. fortunately, W7 supports the Linksys units even better than Vista, so I might be tempted to pick up a DMA2200 I saw for only $100, a bargain for an upscaling DVD player + extender.
Linksys discontinues Media Center Extenders, hardly anyone notices {Engadget}
May 19th 2009 9:25AM does it play live TV?
Linksys discontinues Media Center Extenders, hardly anyone notices {Engadget}
May 19th 2009 9:25AM does the Popcorn hour receive streamed live TV?
Linksys discontinues Media Center Extenders, hardly anyone notices {Engadget}
May 19th 2009 9:20AM can you watch live HD TV on it from another room? can you watch the DVR recordings from your main DVR?
Linksys discontinues Media Center Extenders, hardly anyone notices {Engadget}
May 19th 2009 9:13AM you're not paying attention. and missing the point.
1) with the exception of the XBox 360, extenders are silent and about the size of a router.
2) it duplicates almost everything on a Media Center pc, thus, you put it in another room away from your Media Center, like a den or kitchen and watch everything main MC does. like the same DVR stream and rewind cache, the same recorded TV, music, photos libraries but just in another room in HD. it extends the MC. you can even make Netflix work on them.
so if you're concerned about codec support and your library of bittorrented DVDs, this is not the device for you and you don't understand what it does.
@Jeff, @Josh below: EXACTLY!
Linksys discontinues Media Center Extenders, hardly anyone notices {Engadget}
May 19th 2009 8:55AM not only will Vista and W7 media centers do this but if you want a whole house server you can pretty easily add onto a Windows Home Server to do this as well.
Ask Engadget: Best 4.3-inch GPS unit? {Engadget}
May 1st 2009 10:14AM we have settled on a Tom Tom 720. can be found for - $200. as soon as you hook it up with the computer software it upgrades itself to the current 730/930 firmware with all the current features. what sold us was the excellent voice recognition when choosing a destination (my wife can't be fooling around with typing on a touchscreen when she's in a hurry) and the new lane zoom-in feature. auto lane zoom-in rules when you're navigating 6 lane highways with lots of exchanges, like say, HWY 85 going through downtown Atlanta.
@ larry
we knew about the no hyphen and no letters in street numbers deal but we haven't encountered it yet. when all else fails we look up the POI instead or trust Google Maps on the cell to cross ref the location.
best advice: when the GPS goes on, don't turn off your brain.
Time Warner Cable to axe DOCSIS 3.0 trials without tiered billing? {Engadget}
Apr 21st 2009 10:04PM I happen to live in one of these trial regions. so this is kind of a bummer because competition is good.
however, there was huge outrage (relatively, considering it's not war or politics) and protesting outside the TWC office in town. so maybe they're not killing DOCSIS 3.0 totally, just killing the trials until they find a more grateful (and more captive) audience.
meanwhile, the AT&T trucks are winding through our streets daily bringing Uverse closer and closer. I talked to a TWC corp phone installer last month who said the inside word was that they actually were quaking in their boots over Uverse. but you wouldn't know it from this news. Clearwire (also rolling out better tech here) is continuing to make a strong showing too.
it really sounds counter-intuitive.
How would you change HP's MediaSmart Server ex485 / ex487? {Engadget}
Apr 11th 2009 10:34AM they did.
http://www.engadget.com/2008/01/03/hp-announces-media-vault-pro-mv2100-mv5100-nas-boxes-/
however, it's gone now. can't find it as a product on their site, only support. was it a fail?
also didn't have all the drive bays of the MediaSmart, another reason for fail.
