Linksys DMA2200

 

I was on Slickdeals.net a number of weeks ago and they linked to a deal on Newegg.com for the Linksys DMA2200.  As you may know, I’ve been trying to enjoy Vista Media Center for a while now.  When I saw this deal for $94.99, I immediately Googled for any reviews that I could find.

 

I found a number of them.  Many complained about the price.  Others complained about the performance.  Some complained about the lack of ability to play XVid and other codecs not built-in to Media Center.  So, then I hunted for reasons to rule out those complaints.

 

	Price:	The list price for this was originally $349.99.  Ok.  That is pricey.  So, I double-checked what these went for on eBay.com.  You couldn’t get it for less than $100… even used devices went for a starting price of $75.  Therefore, this price was right.
	Performance:	Screen navigation was slow.  Other than that, people did not complain about the speed of the streamed data.  Seemed like a minor issue.  I ignored it.
	Playback:	There was inconsistent reviews about being able to play a variety of video formats.  I applied my rule of thumb for this type of complaint.  Anytime I come across an issue that seems fixable with a little technical know-how and some people claim it can work, I rule out the naysayers (unless they provide compelling evidence).

 

After that research, I was convinced that the unit was worth it and didn’t have any deal breaker reasons to not purchase it.  Did I need it?  That’s always a tough one to answer.  I knew that I wanted to stay committed to Media Center.  And, I watch TV on weekend mornings and weekday nights while in bed.  This device would increase my available content and add a DVD player in my bedroom.  ‘Nough said.

Another bonus is that this device is capable of better video and network than when compared to my current setup.  The best input my bedroom TV can take is component video and analog stereo audio.  This device has those outputs, but also has digital audio and an HDMI port sitting unused on the back.  That means I need to save up some cash and keep my eyes peeled for a replacement TV. 

Also, I only have a wireless-G network at home.  I didn’t care about my bandwidth in the past.  The DMA-2200 supports dual-band draft-N.  That sounds like another fun home project.  I did try out the wireless video streaming on the G network, and the stream was choppy and inconsistent, probably due to everything else going on over my network.  Since my bedroom is near my network switch, I just ran a cable between the rooms for now.

After unboxing it, I found it very easy to setup.  As stated above, I initially configured it on my wireless network, but switched it to a wired network with a simple settings change.  Connecting it to my host Media Center PC was also wizard driven and I didn’t run into any snags.  I did have to copy down a key value and type that into my host Media Center PC.  After doing this, a menu option suggested running a network tuning process.   I tried this both on my wireless and wired connections… but neither attempts worked.  I assume this may have to do with either my Vista firewall or my router blocking ports.  I need to revisit this issue at some time.

The performance issues mentioned in reviews were evident immediately.  The Extender menuing feels like it is a slow Remote Desktop connection to the host PC.  But once you start up a video, the stream looks as expected on my TV.  I don’t understand why the menu couldn’t look crisper and be more fluid.  That would add some polish onto Extender hardware devices that are nothing more than just dumb terminals that can stream video.

Also, I haven’t come across a video format that the Extender wouldn’t at least wouldn’t start playing.  However, my experience video playback results is my biggest complaint.

 

Here are my thoughts after using the unit for a number of weeks…

The Problems:

• The remote control is useless as a “universal” remote.  It is supposed to have the ability to learn your current remote.  But it only learns 4 commands… power, volume up/down, and mute.  I could only get it to learn power from my old remote.  The other commands it wouldn’t learn.  And even worse, when it replays the power command, it takes about 3-5 seconds before it allows me to send another command.

• I’m also upset the remote won’t learn other commands.  Since I use this extender on my bedroom TV, I would like it to learn the Sleep command so I don’t have to maintain two remotes.  But these remote issues can be resolved with the purchase of a Logitech Harmony remote (mentally add another one of those to my wish list).

• Crashing.  All of my Media Center recorded TV content locks up.  And that’s the content I would’ve thought would work the smoothest with an Extender.  I’ve had the least trouble with XVid and other videos downloaded from the internet.  I have read some articles online that claim that this could be due to a bad install of codecs and/or FFDShow on my HTPC.  This could be… but I don’t get the same problems on my main HTPC.  I did try uninstalling my Vista codecs on my main VMC PC, but I had the same problem with DVR-MS format videos.

The Cool Stuff:

• There is a DVD player built in.  It’s not Blu-ray, but it still is a DVD drive which every TV should have.

• I have full access to all videos on my main Media Center PC.  This is my HTPC and it records TV over the airwaves.  It also consolidates all my other media content.  To have full access to all of this content on two TVs without much setup or ongoing maintenance is intense.  I can also use the MCE add-ins, like SecondRunTV, and access LiveTV so I only need a high quality antenna on my main HTPC.

• Media Center remembers where I left off on my recorded shows so I can resume it on my extender.  Most nights, I start watching the 10 o’clock news on my living room TV and then go to bed and resume where I paused it.  Unfortunately, as I mentioned above, playback is not flawless with recorded content.  Most of the time, it will lock up after playing back for a few minutes.

 

Other Stuff:

Just a couple of things I ran into using Media Center in general.  I’ve been creating extra folders to keep different sets of videos together.  Recently I downloaded all of the MIX09 sessions for offline viewing.  I dropped these all in their own folder.  I could see all of these on my main Media Center PC, but my extender did not display them.  I sensed that it had something to do with permissions.  Sure enough, setting the correct permissions gave me access to adding these on my Extender.  I followed the steps on an XBox website:  http://support.xbox.com/support/en/us/xbox360/kb.aspx?id=932306&lcid=1033&category=gamesandmedia

 

Also I have to wonder if my video playback issues are due to my Vista 64-bit VMC.  I am starting to dislike my choice of Vista 64, since it seems like everything I want to do with my HTPC requires extra steps.