Linksys Dual-Band Wireless A/G Media Center Extender WMCE54AG

Rating:
Summary: Good first effort but has problems
Review: I have the Linksys Media Extender and overall I like it, but it has some problems which folks should be aware of. First I am running this with a Dell with Windows Media Edition 2005 (older versions aren't supported) and a Linksys dual A/G wireless router. The reason to use a dual band router is so that you can keep your general computer use on the G band and dedicate A to the extender. This works pretty well as long as you have the source computer fairly close since the range of A isn't as good as G. For my setup the A router is about 30 feet away with 2 walls and I am getting enough bandwidth to watch video OK.

Here are the pros:
- it is really great to have all your photos available on your TV and accessible via a remote control
- same for music. I now have a jukebox that can access my entire CD catalog since I have converted it to MP3 format and they are on my Dell
- also good to have access to home movies that I've converted to windows media format

Here are the cons:
- for TV viewing, I have Comcast analog cable hooked up to my dell and for some reason low channels (e.g. 2,4 5, etc) look visibly degraded. There is no problem with higher cable channels (e.g. 40, 50, etc). This really isn't a problem for me since I watch TV via a Tivo that I have next to my TV, but anyone that wants to watch TV via the extender should be aware of this.
- the extender has crashed/frozen several times forcing me to do a hard reboot of the box. This is somewhat time consuming because you have to reenter the WiFi network setting again.
- you can delete files and even directories from the remote control on your PC hard drive! I would expect this for recorded TV shows, but you can also do it for pictures, home movies, and even files in My Documents (if the directory is listed in the Exteder as having media files in it). There are probably some things you can do on the Dell to prevent this, but out of the box it is set up to do this. This can be a problem if someone who might accidentally delete content has access to the remote.

So overall I really like the extender and I think this is the future for how people will access digital content on their TVs. But as many new cutting edge products, there are some rough spots and patience is required to deal with them.

Rating:
Summary: Good execution on great vision
Review: I really like this product. I really like Media Center 2005. But more than anything else, I LOVE the IDEA of this product -- a networked device that helps unite the living room to the home office, giving you one place to put your pictures, videos, and music. This is a great generation one product. I can't wait to see what the next couple of generations bring.

That said, here are the things to be aware of when purchasing:

1) You need to know (or find someone to help you who knows) the basic fundamentals of home networking and Windows. This is not a completely plug and play installation.

2) You must have a very strong network connection between your Media Center 2005 device and your Media Center Extender. Ideally, you would have a wired connection (i.e., using old fashion cables). But I use the Wireless-G option and it works great now -- but I had to spend a good deal of time tuning the placement of my wireless router to ensure optimal connectivity between PC and Extender.

3) Be aware: TV content labeled as Copy Protected will not play on the Media Center Extender. For me, this means one very bad thing -- I can't watch 99% of the shows on HBO on the Extender. This is very disappointing for our family, because we enjoy HBO and actually use the Extender on our main TV in the house (with the Media Center 2005 PC in our home office). Pay TV channels are the only area we have had problems with this, though, so if you don't need to watch these channels on the TV where you are putting the extender, don't worry about it.

4) There are a few other things you can do on the Media Center PC that you can't do on the extender. Mainly for me--the extender can't play content on your Media Center PC DVD drive (I get around this by first burning the DVD to my hard-drive using a product called Pocket DVD -- a perfect solution to put my son's frequently watched kid movies in a place that's easily accessible).

Overall, if you already have Media Center 2005 -- buy this product--it's really cool to have a central hub for all this content with multiple TVs hanging off it.

If you don't already have Media Center 2005, and are considering it -- I recommend it. But be forewarned that it's still what I would call an "early adopter" solution. Be prepared for a few stumbles and bumps -- but it's sure to wow your techie buddies.

Rating:
Summary: Needs XP Media Edition 2005
Review: This product will not work with any other OS except Windows XP Media Edition 2005. It won't even work with Windows XP Pro SP2 with the Media Connect patch. I'm taking it back.