Can't decide on what extender to buy

[BBB3000]

I have been going back and forth b/w the Linksys DMA2100/2200 and an xbox 360 4GB Slim. The price seems to be much higher on the Linksys. Can someone just help make this decision for me? What should I use as my extenders? Cost is a primary concern here. I also have no idea if performance is impacted by the type of extender.

I can have a wired set up but might do wireless N to stream live TV.

[tomtoth]

I just bought an Xbox 360 4GB with Kinect for 299$ + $100 back best buy gift card.. then used $100 gift card for new Samsung LCD. This is my first extender foray and after 2 days. Its working out very well. Added a Harmony 650 remote for the xbox/tv combo and all is good.

[BBB3000]

Are you playing TV wireless or wired?

[tomtoth]

Wired. Have gigabit WMC7 with ceton, to a cisco 5 port gigabit switch. From that, hardwired Cat5 to the xbox directly.

[meoge]

Amazon has the 4GB slim for $199 with a $50 gift card. I just bought one for our bedroom extender.

[newfiend]

Just got a Xbox myself, had a Linksys DMA 2100. In short...get the Xbox you will be much happier! Plus it does a lot more than the Linksys will w/o having to hack things to get them working, like Netflix, Zune etc...

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[BBB3000]

consider me convinced. thanks guys.

[jerryj26]

HEY!! Save your money and try to get a used Xbox 360 on eBay. I got one for around $100 plus another $75 for a wireless N adapter. I use it as an extender in our bedroom and it works GREAT!!!

[barnabas1969]

I don't have an XBox 360 to compare, but I have to say that I'm happy with my HP X280N and Linksys DMA2200 extenders. There are pro's and con's both ways:

I've read that the XBox makes the Media Center menus work smoother than the other extenders, but I think the smoothness of the menus is more affected by how fast your HTPC is at serving them up to the extender than by the extender itself. My X280N extenders are almost as smooth as using the HTPC directly, so I don't see a problem here. I also have a Linksys DMA2200. It's about as responsive and smooth as the HP X280N. I'd call this a tie, but I don't have an XBox to use as a comparison.

The Linksys is pretty slow on boot-up (about 60 seconds). The HP is pretty quick (about 20 seconds). How long does it take an XBox to boot into the Media Center menu?

The XBox is the only one that is compatible with certain video codecs and containers (MKV). I didn't start with a library of video files, so I didn't have to worry about codec support and such. If you're like me, you could be fine with a non-XBox extender. If you want to watch video files, just make sure to download ones that are compatible with the extender (or, if you rip your DVD's, make sure to rip them in a format that is compatible). The non-XBox extenders work fine with recorded TV. So, this could be a Pro for the XBox, depending on how you plan to use the extender... or it could be a tie. If you just want to watch recorded TV, the HP or Linksys extenders could be fine for you.

The HP extenders have some other quirks though. The X280N extenders get an HDCP error when playing DRM content via the HDMI output and trying to FFWD or RWD. The solution was simply to use the component output instead. The X280N's also randomly turn themselves ON, but that's not a big deal. I used a smart power strip to turn off the power to the extender when the TV is turned off. This could be a Con for the HP extender, depending on whether or not you mind using Component cables... and the extra few watts of power that could be consumed by the extender being powered on all the time (about 20 watts). Component cables deliver exactly the same 720p or 1080i image that you get from HDMI... the only difference is the size of the cable. I have actually compared the image using both HDMI and component on a 61" TV and could not tell the difference in image quality at 720p or 1080i. You won't get 1080p from any extender anyway, so either cable works fine.

Only the XBox will send a WOL packet to your HTPC... but that can be solved by loading DD-WRT on your router and using the WOL script that I posted on the DD-WRT forum. This doesn't make any difference if you don't put your HTPC to sleep. I wanted to maximize the energy savings, so mine sleeps most of the time. My WOL script wakes the HTPC when any of my extenders is first powered on. This could be a Con for the non-Xbox extenders for you. It depends on whether or not you like to put your HTPC to sleep... and whether or not you're willing to load DD-WRT and a small script on your router (or a simple program could be installed on another computer on the network, if you have a computer that is always on).

My main objections to using an XBox were:
1) Cost (I got my extenders on e-bay for around $100 USD each. They can be had for as low as $50 if you're patient).
2) Reliability (Red Rings of Death, anyone? EVERY version of the XBox has had this problem, and I wasn't confident that M$ had fixed the problem in their latest version.).
3) Noise (The Linksys and HP extenders are silent).
4) Heat output (A bedroom can be significantly heated by an XBox).
5) Energy usage (and hence, heat output).

So, as you can see, there are trade-offs for using any of the extenders. It all depends on what's important to you and how you plan to use the extender. The five problems I listed with the XBox were enough for me to choose NOT to use XBox as an extender. You may choose to use an XBox in spite of this if you have a large library of MKV's though.

[barnabas1969]

Oh, and to add something else... Although none of the non-XBox extenders will play Netflix natively, it can be done if you use PlayOn and the vmcPlayIt plugin (or the TubeCore plugin). It's not a perfect solution, but it does work.

I will soon have a BluRay player in each of the rooms where there is an extender anyway... and all of the BluRay players I've purchased will play Netflix... so this isn't much of an issue either. XBox won't play BluRay, so you might end up buying a BluRay player to put next to your XBox extender anyway.

[adam1991]

A new XBox doesn't put out NEARLY the heat and noise of the old ones.

[barnabas1969]

Adam,

That's what I've heard, but they still use 3-4 times as much power and put out 3-4 times as much heat as an HP or Linksys extender... and I'm not convinced that the reliability has improved on the new version. I also wouldn't want to pay for an XBox Live account in order to watch Netflix.

[adam1991]

yeah, that whole Netflix thing honks me off. I'll buy a Roku before I pay MS a subscription fee to watch Netflix.

[barnabas1969]

Might as well buy a BluRay player with Netflix built-in instead (of a Roku)... then you get the functionality of both in one box.

[newfiend]

A new XBox doesn't put out NEARLY the heat and noise of the old ones.

I can vouch for this also, new XBOX is much improved. I have a DMA 2100 and so far prefer the XBOX as an extender.. It's all a matter of opinion really on what fits "you" best.
I am currently using both the XBOX and DMA 2100 in my home. I don't have near as many issues playing back .MKV's on the XBOX compared to the DMA 2100. Plus I don't have to do all kinds of hacks and workarounds and plug-ins to get things working on the XBOX like I did the DMA 2100. Now with the NEW dashboard and Kinect the voice search is kinda cool too..
It's all in what you like.. Any of the soulutions will work. Some will just be easier to set up than others. On a side note.. support for the older extenders is dead. They are no longer supported as far as updates go. The XBOX is and will continue to be updated.
newfiend~

[BBB3000]

A new XBox doesn't put out NEARLY the heat and noise of the old ones.

I can vouch for this also, new XBOX is much improved. I have a DMA 2100 and so far prefer the XBOX as an extender.. It's all a matter of opinion really on what fits "you" best.
I am currently using both the XBOX and DMA 2100 in my home. I don't have near as many issues playing back .MKV's on the XBOX compared to the DMA 2100. Plus I don't have to do all kinds of hacks and workarounds and plug-ins to get things working on the XBOX like I did the DMA 2100. Now with the NEW dashboard and Kinect the voice search is kinda cool too..
It's all in what you like.. Any of the soulutions will work. Some will just be easier to set up than others. On a side note.. support for the older extenders is dead. They are no longer supported as far as updates go. The XBOX is and will continue to be updated.
newfiend~

great info newfiend - thanks!

[BBB3000]

Here's a different angle at the same question. What are peoples thoughts on using a lower power, small form factor HTPC as the 'extender' hooked up directly to my main TV? I only have 2 TVs, so this way I have one computer as the extender, and I just buy an old xbox as the 2nd extender.

The way I was considering it originally was to do a regular honker of a desktop (mid tower) and using two extenders (xboxes). But then I got to thinking, and was like why not just use the htpc hooked up straight to one tv, and then only one other extender.

Question is, is the htpc better or worse than an xbox for my main TV?

[adam1991]

Oh, by all means hook your main HTPC directly to your TV.

In fact, you'll get some extra functionality out of that--Netflix comes to mind.

[Tracer]

You can do more with having the HTPC connected directly to the TV vs having a box hidden away somewhere. I have the HTPC connected directly to the main TV in the living room with Total Media Theater for playing blu-rays. The rest of the TVs in the house are connected using Xboxes.

[newfiend]

Agree with Tracer, my HTPC is hooked to the main TV and I use the XBOX and a DMA2100 in the bedrooms. I would hook the htpc to the tv you use most. It will have more viewing options than the extenders will.

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