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Sony VAIO RA920G on top of right speaker |
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Of course, I also have a Linksys Media Center Extender (MCX) which "wirelessly" extends the PC to allow me to have the PC and the TV located in different rooms in my home, thus negating the concern about noise from the PC. Media Center Extenders (MCXs) transmit the audio/video over 802.11a or 802.11g wireless networks. Essentially, you use your Microsoft Media Center Edition PC (MCE) as the central repository for all of your media, and then use a Media Center Extender (MCX) as an access device placed wherever in your home you want to enjoy that content. Thus, your PC can reside in the den or computer room, but you can watch your recorded TV shows in the family room. You simply point the included remote at the Linksys MCX and the familiar Microsoft MCE 2005 interface appears. Then you choose the function you want (live TV, recorded TV, music, photos, etc.), and the content is streamed wirelessly (or via an Ethernet cable) to the Linksys MCX which is connected to your TV. Depending on the horsepower of your Media Center PC, it can host up to five Media Center Extender devices. I wasn't sure if MCE 2005 (within the MCE interface not the Windows desktop) or the LinkSys MCX could support VoIP applications or not, so I looked at that as well. Here's the contents of the LinkSys Media Extender box sprawled out on my kitchen floor.
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LinkSys Media Center Extender to scale |
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LinkSys Media Center Extender Back Panel |
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LinkSys Media Center Extender Front Panel |
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LinkSys Media Center in Cabinet |
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LinkSys Media Center Extender Setup Screen |
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MCX Wireless Signal Strength |
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MCE 2005 Main Menu Screen |
Play DVD & Play CD
What I noticed right off the bat was that the "Play CD" and "Play DVD" options were missing from the menu options. Apparently, the MCX respects and enforces digital rights management (DRM), so DVDs and CDs can be played only on the host PC. Yeah, like I'm going to wirelessly share my CD music or DVD movie collection with all my neighbors - c'mon, gimme a break! First of all, my neighbors would need a $299 MCX as well. Secondly, they would have to be within a 100 foot range or so of the WiFi access point. And lastly, they would have to watch the SAME DVD I was watching. Can you imagine the neighbor feuds? For instance, suppose I am sharing Star Wars and I need to take a bathroom break and pause the DVD? All the neighbors would have to wait for my return to "unpause" it. Not only that, but you'd have to call all your neighbors just to inform them which DVD you plan to play. It's just too much of a pain to go through all that effort. It would be easier to just lend your neighbor the DVD or have them over to watch it. So I just don't see wirelessly sharing DVD or TV content with your neighbors as an issue.I hope Hollywood can see the folly of locking down a short-range wireless multimedia transmitter as stupid and let technology proceed unhampered. Further, I should point out that some premium content providers such as HBO have marked their content with a CGMS-A (Copy Generation Management System-Analog) flag which Microsoft respects and therefore limits the playing of premium content, including Video on Demand (VoD) to the host Media Center PC. Thus, I was not able to view HBO on my Media Center Extender. However, I've been told that a software update to be released in late December for the Media Center Extender will allow MCX's to view this "flagged" content.
Additionally, I was a bit surprised and disappointed that the Media Center Extender does not support transmitting the PC's Windows desktop GUI, only the MCE 2005's media interface (My Pictures, My Videos, Live TV, etc.) is supported. Thus, using MCE I can not surf the Internet, or even initiate a VoIP call using Vonage's softphone client or Skype - which I had planned to do in my testing. It did seem odd that the Media Center Extender can transmit fast moving, high frame-rate television pictures -- but it can't stream a simple 1024x768 resolution desktop that barely moves? What gives? My only theory is that if the Media Center Extender lets you access the Windows Desktop, then you will be able to launch other applications, such as WinDVD or PowerDVD and be able to wirelessly stream your DVDs thus bypassing copyright protections. Also, by using a $299 MCX and Fast User Switching technology, you can essentially build "inexpensive" Terminal Server clients, which may be why Microsoft doesn't want it.
Nevertheless, the advantages and benefits of an Media Center Extender far outweighs the disadvantages. In my tests using the Sony Media Center 2005 PC, I was able to record TV while simultaneously playing music or viewing photos - all streaming the signal over a 802.11g wireless connection. I temporarily moved the MCX to an upstairs TV to test the effect of distance on the wireless connection (and thus the video quality) and I did not notice any degradation in the video quality. I should point out that I only had a single-tuner, so I wasn't able to test recording a TV show while simultaneously watching a separate TV program, however I have seen this work on other Media Center 2005 PCs.
The video quality was very good. I did find that it tended to be darker with more saturation and more contrast than when I used a direct composite video connector from the MCE 2005 PC to the TV. Thus, skin tones for example seemed a bit redder and slightly darker, but in some ways this has a "warming" effect. I then tried an S-Video connector, which in theory would have higher video quality. The video still seemed to contain more red tonality. Next, I tried the component video connectors (3 video cables), which in theory would have the best video quality. Unfortunately, the "red" component connector port on the MCX wasn't working, so everything on my TV screen had a bluish tint to it, so I couldn't gauge the quality of the component video output on the MCX. (I know the component cables were OK, since I just pulled them from my DVD player.)
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MCX TV Guide |
My TV
I tested both Live TV and Recorded TV on the MCX and played around with the various playback controls for both, i.e. pause, fast forward, rewind, etc. It performed very well, however, I did notice that when I first clicked the fast forward button when watching a recorded program, the TV screen would go black for a split second. It was almost as if the MPEG encoder in the MCX needed time to catch up, or it missed a "key frame". I'd rather see the unit simply "freeze" on the last frame rather than "blacking out" for a split second. I'm sure this is a simple firmware fix to do. Also, when navigating recorded shows, specifically when skipping through commercials it was a bit trickier using the MCX than using MCE 2005. For example, in MCE 2005, pressing the Skip button (30 second fast forward) 5-7 times will quickly skip through all the commercials and if you overshoot it, you simply hit the rewind button. Using MCX you can also do this, but since there is a slight delay in response time, between clicks and seeing the resulting video on screen, it can make finding the right spot a bit more difficult.Regarding "Live TV" in MCX, it is streamed from the MCE PC's tuner card. In a scenario where you have either another MCX trying to change the channel or someone sitting at the MCE 2005 PC changes the channel, and thus are in "conflict" with one another for the same tuner, you will be notified. You can then choose which channel "wins" the channel fight. The notification is "key" since you may be recording something or watching something and don't want it accidentally interrupted. If the kids, husband, wife, etc. decide to override the channel anyway, they can't blame an accidental key press since it required a confirmation key press on the remote control (or mouse-click on the PC). One neat feature of MCE 2005 and supported on the Linksys MCX is the ability to receive instant messages (via MSN Messenger) while watching TV. Of course, if you plan on watching a movie and don't want to be interrupted, you can simply logoff.
Playing Videos
The MCX unit actually decodes video locally, and as such is limited to the formats that it recognizes. MPEG-1, MPEG-2, and WMV video are supported. However, don't plan on watching your Divx or Xvid video files on the MCX unless you transcode the file first to the aforementioned file formats. (See Update below for a cool on-the-fly transcode method) One really cool feature is that if you are playing a video file and decide to watch Live TV, surf the Web, or any other task that requires you to stop the video, you can actually resume the video where you left off - it remembers. Even if you play other video files and stop them, it remembers the last view point in each video file, so you don't have to worry about remembering where you left off. This is also true for recorded TV video files as well. Many times I would be playing a recorded TV program, see that something else on live TV was about to start, I stopped the video and then played it after the show or even a few days later. |
MSN TV on Online Spotlight |
Online Spotlight
If you upgrade from MCE 2004 to MCE 2005 you will notice a new feature called Online Spotlight, which presents third-party content including Napster, CinemaNow, MSN TV, and more. This content includes digital on-demand movies, digital music distribution services, and games. Some of it is free, some subscriber-based, and much of it comes from third-party developers. The photo to the left is of MSN TV, which normally required a paid subscription. Apparently Microsoft decided to be generous and grant all MCE 2005 users "free" access to MSN TV. Or maybe my "free" MSN TV will prompt me in a few months to start paying? We shall see. Nevertheless, I did find myself enjoying MSN TV's videos which include "Play Top Videos", a smorgasbord of the hottest videos covering everything from news to technology. |
My Pictures |
My Pictures
The My Pictures feature worked very well from the MCX with superb picture quality. The only caveat was that the "transitions" (various effects when switching to the next picture) do not function on the MCX. But since transitions are only "icing" on the cake of picture viewing, I didn't have a problem not having them. I have to say watching all my digital photos from my digital camera on a 65" TV screen has become a family experience. This is not like breaking out the photo albums and boring family members to death showing them photos. Watching photos on the TV is a whole other experience that other MCE users have also commented on. For instance, I read one MCE 2005 user saying his kids enjoy watching vacation photos on the TV when in the past they could careless about looking at photo albums. That in itself may be worth considering a MCE 2005 operating system over Windows XP Professional or Home Edition! (MCE 2005 is only nominally more expensive than XP.) |
My Music with Album Art |
My Music
This feature also worked equally as well from the Linksys MCX as from the MCE PC directly, but again with one caveat - you can't use the visualizations feature. So no psychedelic colors warping around on my 65" TV screen! Yet another feature I don't particularly miss, but still worth noting since many people enjoy the music visualizations. What you do get is the default album cover art, track info, and the big background "elapsed time". Surprisingly, you can't fast forward or rewind songs using the remote control, however you can skip tracks using the remote's forward or backward buttons.Conclusion
Overall, I loved the LinkSys Media Center Extender - not only was it easy to use, but it allowed me to extend my Media Center 2005 PC multimedia content to any TV in my house without having to drill holes in the walls to snake Ethernet cabling. Not drilling holes in the walls and snaking wires no doubt saved me a few days in my wife's doghouse as well. There is a Microsoft SDK to add other software programs to the MCE 2005 menu interface (which the Linksys MCX will also display). In fact, I added one popular add-on to the menu called "Weather" and it worked flawlessly on the MCX interface as well.
However, I'd like to see some native support for VoIP applications on MCE 2005 & supported by the MCX, such as the Vonage softclient or Skype. Although this would require wearing a microphone or headset connected to the PC's sound card. If you sit far from your TV and PC, you'd need a pretty lengthy headset cord. For the truly tech savvy you could have a Polycom audioconferencing unit (excellent audio acoustics even at a distance) in your TV room and connected to your PC. Then you'd be able to make and receive VoIP calls using MCE/MCX headset-free! Or you could just use a Bluetooth headset as well. Now imagine being able to receive SIP-based video calls on your plasma television set. Ah yes, a guy can only dream
Also, since the wireless MCX unit could be fairly far from the main TV room, maybe the MCX unit itself could embed a high quality microphone in the unit itself or even in the MCX's remote control. Again, this is part of my wish list for a future Media Extender. I should state that it took a few days for the WAF (Wife Acceptance Factor) to truly kick in, but now she's just as addicted to Tivo-like functionality as me, especially the ability to fast forward through commercials, as well as the ability to show our photo album to family and friends. In fact, we've become so addicted to the MCE 2005 PC and Linksys MCX, it is not uncommon for her to say to me "Can you fast forward this?" when a commercial comes on. My response is often a chuckle followed by, "Sorry, this is live TV. Can't fast forward this." Enough said.
UPDATED! 01/06/2005
Just got an important email from Linksys / Cisco, which states: Microsoft has released a new version of the firmware for the WMCE54AG. The firmware can be found here: http://www.microsoft.com/mcxsupport for the firmware.
This firmware fixes:
- Allows viewing and playback of protected TV content (e.g., Premium movie channels such as HBO, Cinemax, etc.)
- Fixes issue where some audio or video files do not play correctly.
- Fixes issue where pressing skip on recorded TV sometimes causes screen to go black.
- Fixes issue where waking from standby causes video errors.
- Fixes issue where watching video over wireless for extended periods of time will cause video glitches. This firmware is also be posted on Linksys's website shortly.
You can also click here for the Linksys MCX firmware update:
Microsoft MCX Support for Linksys and HP
Update:
There is now a software solution that enables the playback of unsupported video over Xbox 360 and Media Center Extender devices, including DiVx. So now you CAN play DiVx videos on Media Extenders. The transcoding software is called Transcode 360.
I use it - works great. You just have to right-click a video from the MCE Extender interface and choose the transcode option and voila! It will transcode it on-the-fly. IF you want the ability to fast-forward, rewind, etc. you have to give the transcoding time to transcode more of the file. You can simply pause the video and let it transcode for awhile and then you'll be able to fast-forward up to the part where it has finished transcoding. Or you can wait for it to transcode the entire file, so you can fast-forward to any part of the video, but that can take awhile. In most cases you'll just want to watch it through, in which case transcode360 works just great.
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I set up the MCE2005 this weekend (hardwired). Overall, I think it's a good first effort. If I have one complaint, it's the delay between hitting a button on the remote and the actual command being executed. Sometimes, the MCE2005 doesn't respond at all and you have to press the remote multiple times. Looking forward to software upgrades.
Just an observation - it appears that it stores some items locally on the MCE2005. Pictures for example. After pulling up pictures for the first time on the MCE2005, I went to my PC and deleted several dozen. Suprisingly, they were still viewable on the MCE2005. I had to use my remote to delete them from the MCE2005. This didn't appear to be the case for videos. I didn't test music files.
I set up the MCE2005 this weekend (hardwired). Overall, I think it's a good first effort. If I have one complaint, it's the delay between hitting a button on the remote and the actual command being executed. Sometimes, the MCE2005 doesn't respond at all and you have to press the remote multiple times. Looking forward to software upgrades.
Just an observation - it appears that it stores some items locally on the MCE2005. Pictures for example. After pulling up pictures for the first time on the MCE2005, I went to my PC and deleted several dozen. Suprisingly, they were still viewable on the MCE2005. I had to use my remote to delete them from the MCE2005. This didn't appear to be the case for videos. I didn't test music files.
I'm glad you are pleased with your purchase of the linksys media extender, I'm not pleased with mine. I have the device wireless. The signal strentgh is "EXCELLENT" and it works o.k. but for not being able to view photos, although it has the photo folders available it says that the folders are empty. I talked with the linksys technologist, but only got more confused. She wanted me to copy my photos over to the mcx file under administrator documents. I thought all this was automatic, but I guess not. On a scale of 1-10 I give this device 4.5 or a waste of money!!!!!!!!!
If you have separate profiles, it does get a little tricky.
Why not just move your My Pictures & My Videos to the Shared Documents folder (which has My Pictures & My Videos) in it?
That's why I did and I can see the pictures just fine.
This is not the LinkSys MCX's fault - it's the security of Windows XP.
I just got my setup so I haven't tested this yet, However I plan to really increase my WAF when I install the Media Center Plugin for HomeSeer so that not only can she watch her recorded TV but turn the lights on/off, fan on/off, check the status of the security system all form the MCX in the bedroom....
Here's something odd: I have the exact same problem with the "red" Component Video output on my extender box as is noted here, and my extender is manufactured by HP! This seems to indicate that all the extenders are OEM-manufactured (which given the rear photo of the LinkSys box, I was ready to conclude anyway) _and_ that at least several of them have the component video output defect. Can anyone else comment on this?
Also, I have the same copy protection issue with HBO and Cinemax -- including all the digital cable multiple-premium channels they supply. Anyone know if this firmware upgrade (that would "correct" the problem) is for real?
The firmware update to solve the CGMS-A (HBO and Cinemax copy protection) issue for Media Center Extenders _is_ available. I downloaded and installed it and the problem is basically solved. The only trace of the problem that remains is that live or recorded media that is CGMS-A-encoded "stutters" for about 5 seconds before it starts playing normally.
Links for the update are as follows:
Hewlett Packard
http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=39612&clcid=0x409
Linksys
http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=39613&clcid=0x409
Hi! I just ready your review and it was great! I have an older version of Media Center and I am thinking of getting a new system with Media Center
2005 and the Linksys MCX. My question to you is do you think the video quality on TV is good enough to replace my Tivo? I am not happy with the television playback on my current system but I suspect that is because I am viewing it on a Sony 17” LCD monitor and not a TV. I am OK spending the money but I do not want to be disappointed with the video quality of the TV. I am also OK running Ethernet cable if I need to.
Thanks!
Daniel
I use MCE 2005 downstairs hooked up to a 65" TV and it does everything TIVO does and more. I did have some issues with the processor reaching 100% utilization after leaving the PC on for a week. The ehshell.exe process (part of MCE 2005) and explorer.exe was sucking up almost all the CPU tme.
I couldn't figure out why since it was a new PC with barely any software installed. If I didn't notice the slowdown right away, it would make the PC so slow I couldn't get from Live TV to the Desktop to get to Task Manager and kill the processes.
I posted stuff in various forums asking if anyone was able to leave their MCE PC on for longer than 7 days without it crashing and several responded they had no problems.
So then I decided to go with my #1 tip for solving PC problems (other than reboot or reinstall) - upgrade the video driver. I would have figured Sony installed the latest driver for my ATI Radeon, but alas I was wrong. I went to ATI, downloaded the latest driver and voila, my PC hasn't slowed down or crashed at all. So now it has the dependability of a Tivo.
I'm actually typing this email using a Logitech wireless keyboard and mouse on my 65" TV while VPNing to my work's PC! So in addition to Tivo functionality, you get WebTV functionality.
The fact that you can get a MCE 2005 PC with 250gb or even 500GB hard drives means you can store tons of video plus software, games, etc.
I even played Risk II with some friends yesterday on my 65" TV which was pretty cool.
As to the LinkSys MCX - I'm pretty pleased with it. I use it in the bedroom hooked up wirelessly and using a RCA cable to a small 17" TV. The video quality looks pretty good. Of course this is a small TV so you won't see any artifacts.
In my initial test setup I used my 65" TV with S-video. If I recall the image seemed a little bit darker with more red tones. Interestingly, I did not notice that with the bedroom TV. It could be that I used RCA instead of S-video or it could be that when I used the S-video cable I routed it to my Denon receiver audio/video receiver first then to the 65" TV. Perhaps the Denon receiver degraded the signal?
Also, bear in mind that there are known issues with the red component output with the 3 component outputs on the Linksys MCX. Make sure if you want to use component video that you get a "fixed" model.
Also, if you plan on doing 'wired', you will get the best quality, but honestly I could not tell the different using wireless to the bedroom TV.
I did notice one other hiccup when using MCX. THe MCX logs onto the MCE 2005 PC using an account called MCX. It spawns a second ehshell.exe process (responsible for the menu interface and TV video I think). Since the first ehshell.exe process uses 15-22% on my P4 3.2Ghz, the second one also uses 15-22% CPU time. So make sure to go high-end with the fastest processor you can get.
Even though both processes often use 30-44% total, my PC is still very fast, but I did encounter one occasion when I tried to change channels and it took 10 seconds to transmit the signal to my IR Blaster. I just rebooted and it was fine. Only happened 1 time so far.
I could use XP's Scheduled Tasks to reboot the PC every night at 4am using the shutdown.exe command just to make sure I don't have any memory leaks or anything, but I haven't yet needed to resort to this. But I'd be willing to do that to gain all the functionality I do have. I think Tivo plans on displaying its own ADS when you click the Skip forward button to go past commercials. I read some controversy regarding that. So beware Tivo! I suggest you Google "tivo upsets users" or click here: http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&c2coff=1&q=tivo+upsets+users
Other things to keep in mind with MCE which I mentioned in the review or comments section:
- you can't play DVDs remotely on the MCX
- you can't play DIVX XVID video files - only AVI with standard MPEG codecs. (I list specifics in the review above)
Other than that it's pretty cool. I wish I had a dual tuner setup so both my wife and I can watch separate TVs and still have the ability to pause/rewind live TV from both TVs.
Hope this helps.
Love the review, got my own!
Anybody have a problem logging into Napster through the extender?
Using the remote, I input my user name and password, and click sign-in. It then tells me the "server has timed out, try again". I am able to get into Napster via Media Center on the PC, but not with the extender. Called both napster and linksys, no help.
One problem I had with the Linksys MCx was that the VNC host process was interfering with MCx. I disabled the VNC service on my PC. The MCx was able to connect to it afterward.
hi
looking to play DIVX or XVID .
will it work in the fucher ?
shay
hi
looking to play DIVX or XVID .
will it work in the fucher ?
shay
hi
looking to play DIVX or XVID .
will it work in the fucher ?
shay
Has anyone tried using multiple MCX's simultaneously?
I am curious if A) you can watch the same 'My Video' program on different tv's at the same time.
And
if you have dual tuner - how does it know which tuner you are looking to use? For example if in bedroom 1 you want to watch channel 4, while in bedroom 2 you want to watch channel 5?
Very nice write up. I'm considering one, but was wondering if it works with DirecTV (satellite)? Thank you!
Yes, it will work with satellite - but with a caveat. You'll have to use your digital satellite receiver's video output (S-video or RCA) connected to the MCE 2005 PC's video input. You can't use the coax tuner card in the MCE 2005 PC. There are no direct digital-to-digital connections for satellite to PC - YET!
You then use what's called an IR Blaster which changes the channel on your digital satellite receiver and via USB tells the MCE 2005 PC (and the Media Center Extender) which channel you are viewing. Only bad thing about using an IR blaster is channel surfing is a little slower since the IR blaster actually transmits the entire channel number when pressing Channel Up/Down. This is necessary to keep the PC and the satellite receiver in "sync".
Let me know if you have any other questions.
I get an intermittent error "An error occured while the media center tried to communicate with the MC PC...", error code 00020b08. I'm running a totally wired system. Linksys Tech support recommended reloading the MCE software but the system died again with a couple of hours. I'm running a Sony 825 PC. Any ideas?
i'm running MCX on wireless and i'm getting poor signal. how do i extend its range?
Has anyone noticed that the volume on the extender resets itself to the level of the first song played in My Music? For example, if you play a song with a volume of 5 then increase the volume to 10, when the next song plays it is back down to 5. It happens infrequently but Linksys has had a few reports but have not solution. Very frustrating. Secondly, while the extender has an optical out Linksys techs say that it isn't 5.1 surround! I have no way of testing this since my TV is old. I thought the reason for optical out was for things like surround sound otherwise why not just use regular RCA? Thoughts?
I was having the same problem with component video on my HP x5400 Media Center Extender where the screen would display in blue. The solution that I found from another site was to unplug the Extender after switching the video signal. It worked for me.
I want to buy a device like this badly. My only caveat is that it can play DVD's over the network. It sounds like this solution cannot. Is there a way to trick MCE to play the dvd? Rip the DVD to AVI?? How is the sound quality? I guess this means it cannot stream DVD-Audio or SACD either which is a major issue since I want all of my media on one box!
Someone asked a very good question and no one asnwered.
Will divx/xvid be supported and should it be.
I am in fav. scine i have ton and back ups of movies and tv shows in divx to save space. i aslo download free anime fansub (anime shows in jp that are not liscense to anyone hence the workd free) so i have a very legit reason for having divx its much smaller than mpeg with all the quality one can expect. and if you have a hard drive a 4gb move or show adds up really quich where as the same show is only 700mb a big diffrence if you ask me. aslo i have gotten windows meida center pc to play divx with ffshadow but it wont stream to the extender? odd
I also had the same problem with the RED jack on the component video not working. After spending much wasted time trying to debug the system, I discovered that cycling the power off, using the switch on the back of the unit located by the power cord, made it start working. When I had previously contacted LinkSys technical support they did not even suggest this step! I was almost about to return the "defective" unit when I discovered the fix.
By the way, the video output looks much better with an HDTV connected to the component outputs (once they are properly working). Otherwise, the text is very blurry and hard to read (even on the best regular TV).
I just read a comment from off microsoft blogs page. where divx is planned for support windows media extender vista (no word on x360 supporting). I think that was a sham to have to wait for vista extenders for divx support and not on the current models (even thought the current models are 2 years old now even thought its just now catching on). i bet you after vista comes on and M$$$$ makes there money they will write a patch for the current mcx. tisk tisk tisk. so so uncoool. well i guess i am going to have to just write my own hack (cough) i mean patch ;P
I just hooked up a MCE and although the MCE indicates it has an "Excellent" signal strength on a connected network the software will not finish loading - indicates a MCE cannot be found on the network. Check your network connections.
Not sure what connections to check since the network is operational with other laptops connecting and the MCE indicates it can see the network.
I called Linksys and they say it is Windows problem - called Microsoft and they say it is a Linksys problem - either way it is my problem now - any suggestions.
Try turning off your PC's Firewall.
I was looking for information about IR Blasters and see that some are not compatible with MCE 2005...How can I find which ones work? Anyone having success?
I want too switch to digital cable, but want to allow MCE 2005 control the channels of the Digital Box for recording TV...Any info would be helpful. Thanks!
It would appear from the Cisco web-site that the Linksys Media Center Extender is no longer available. Does anyone know of any other manufacturers / or products which will work as MCExtenders? I live in the uk and the hp product is not available here. I do not want to shell out for an xbox as they are not cheap and i play few games. Any bright ideas?
This product is still on the Linksys website. I hope they don't stop making it. It's the only TRUE extender other than the XBox 360.
Linksys MCX on Linksys website
BTW, The Xbox 360 Core system acts as an extender and lists at the same retail price as the Linksys. The only difference is that the XBox 360 is not wireless.
The reason they are going to get rid of the mcx is cause Ci$co and M$ only care about making money and they are gearing up for vista that is why they dont have divx/xvid codecs cause they are going to put it in vista so you have to buy there new toy if you want to have those. Its all about the $,£,¤
thanks for your comments guys. I haven't been able to find a price for the linksys unit, even though it still appears on their site...i'll keep looking.
I guess the alternative for me is to look at another wireless streaming product which doesn't use Microsoft. I've seen a product from K!SS, a DivX dvd player which streams from the pc. Presumably i'd struggle to play microsoft formatted media recorded from media center - so i'd have to run my tv card with some different software and give up on media center. Unless anyone can answer this question - will the MS Media center recorded tv shows be viewable from another device - or will they need reformatting?
If you can't get an MCX you can always get an Xbox 360 and add a wireless 802.11b/g USB device to it - if you need wireless connectivity. I'm pretty sure there are wireless accessories for the Xbox 360.
It's probably around the same cost as an MCX so you get a gaming console to boot.
What is the limitation on the dvd streaming? It won't allow you to stream any dvd from the Media Center? Not even my family videos that are on my mini dvds? Yikes. Is that really the case?
I have 2 comps with mce2005 and someone ask if you could use 2 comps on 1 extender, well I dont think so, you have to marry the setup code that the extender will ask for from the tv screen. I would like to do the same think, my dlink media center does allow this, I can access everything on my 2 comps and servers.
as for the user ask about the dual tuner, well so far if I try to change chhannels while recording on 2 stations, a screen pops up and ask you which show you would like to stop, and it says that all tuners are being used.
I am using the adaptec avc-3610 dual tuner and I just live it, the picture quality is outstanding...I was totally shocked.
Its better than the hauppauge 150 and the dual 500. I never could get the dual 500 model to work with both tuners and gave up, thats why I installed a new mce2005 on another system of mine.
The dlink media center will play the drv-ms files, so I am using it as well for my comps, since I cant use the extender on both computers, at least I cant see how to do it...if anyone else has tried, please pass the info along to the rest of the group...
seeya'
Rick
I'm looking to get rid of my two Tivos by upgrading my machine to MCE2005. I have a cheapo CRT in the bedroom and an HDTV in the living room. I was considering getting the XBOX media center extender for the bedroom (480i) and the XBOX360 Extender (1080i) for the living room. I can pick up a used XBOX with the MCE Extender for about
Fixes issue where some audio or video files do not play correctly
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THIS REVIEW!
It is in part why I designed a ripping home media center network over a year ago. I have Roughly $12K so far. It inspired me to build the best MCE money could buy.
I was bewildered by the lack of DivX Support at first but decided to press forward and figure out the MCX as time went on.
This is going to get a little long as I want to describe my network and needs. PLEASE bear with me, there is a point I promise:
Network consists of:
DSL 6MBS/768KBS bandwidth
Linksys ABG Wireless router
Linksys Vonage IP Phone router
DGS 108 DLINK 8 port Gigabit switch
Buffalo Terastation 1TB Server
- 2 160GB external hard drives for pictures
and music via USB interface on server
Desktop 1:3.2GHZ Dual Core with Vista Pre RC1
( RC1 is in the mail)
Desktop 2: 2.1 GHZ Athlon with MCE 2005
Desktop 3: MAC Just for kicks and giggles
Desktop 4: Japanese Desktop for Japanese wife
Laptop 1: Sony Vaio PCG subnotebook
Laptop 2: Work HP Laptop
Linksys MCX
HP officejet 5510V
Logitech z5500(505 W RMS 5.1THX Audio system)
Desktop 1,2 and 3 as well as server are connected via CAT 6 to Gigabit switch.
All cables in network are cat 6.
Desktop 4, Laptop 1 and 2 are wireless G.
Desktop 2 is a dedicated MCE connected to a 32" Sony Bravia LCD TV. 80Gb for OS and 500GB SATA 16MB Cache Hitachi Deskstar just in case I fill the server...ATI HDTV Wonder TV Tuner, ATI X1600 Video card, Audigy Z2s sound card, 1GB RAM. 550 W power supply. Will connect via Netgear HD Ethernet Wall Plug (HDXB101) when I move in 3 weeks (200MBS bandwidth).
Desktop 1 has 2GB RAM Dual Channel and a 7900GT KO Superclocked video card as well as 500 W power supply. Vista has MCE built in already, but I don't use it.
MCX is for the bedroom on a 32" CRT TV
OK, sorry about that...what I want to do is use transcode 360 for the MCX, update rollup 1 is already installed in Desktop 2 MCE.
How should I proceed, and to which computer, to install transcode 360 to maximize my network and view my stored movies off the server in the MCX room?
I heard there were issues with vista and Desktop 2 runs as quiet as a mouse even though it is a glorified HP (HP Pavillion a735w-b built up to be a media center).
Hey, you have to admit few have a system like this, so please forgive me for embelishing and please advise how I can play my TS files on the MCX.
Again, Thank you so much.
Sincerely,
Chris Hicks.
Pls email me for my contact info as I can give great insight on how to build a Media center from scratch.
The wife was about to kill me right before I made the MCE opperational, took a year and taught myself how to do it through sites like yours.
Thank you so much.
I am finally getting around to networking my home entertainment. I am looking for a media extender to support my Media Center 2005 machine. It seems linksys has discontinued their MCX. Any recommendations on alternative equipment. I am avoiding the purchase of an xbox if possible.
Thanks,
Mark
RE: Linksys Media Center Extender (MCX) Review
Faron Kolbe :
I HAVE DEFINITELY HAD A PROBLEM WITH THIS. Has anyone got a solution yet?
Chris
July 8, 2005 11:40 PM
Has anyone noticed that the volume on the extender resets itself to the level of the first song played in My Music? For example, if you play a song with a volume of 5 then increase the volume to 10, when the next song plays it is back down to 5. It happens infrequently but Linksys has had a few reports but have not solution. Very frustrating. Secondly, while the extender has an optical out Linksys techs say that it isn't 5.1 surround! I have no way of testing this since my TV is old. I thought the reason for optical out was for things like surround sound otherwise why not just use regular RCA? Thoughts
Hi - Im in the same boat as Mark (24JAN07 comment) . there must be a new hardware version out for Vista. Anyone?
thanks
Toke
Hi,
I am trying to get connected to the Kodak Gallery service (former Ofoto) via my Linksys extender. Kodak Gallery works fine on my MCE 2005 PC. But I can not configure it via my WMCE54AG. The problem looks very simple. I am being asked to enter my user name and password using the remote control. But there is no way to delete text "Enter your user name" from the user name field. I have two questions:
1) why the extender does not take my login info from the MCE PC?
2) If the first question's answer is "because", then my second question: how do I enter the user ID and password using the Remote Control? It just does not work! Especially for the password.
Thank you all for your help.
Alex
P.S. I spent hours searching Internet on this simple thing. I spent 2 hours on live chat with Linksys, and 1.5 hours on live chat wwith Kodak. They have no clue.
Hey guys,
My question is: Will MY MOVIES work with the extender? I have a 500GB hard drive loaded with movies. If I cannot watch my movies I won't even bother buying the extender.
Please let me know.
Thank you very much.
I have a d-link and am dismayed that I didn't know about the Linksys box. Unfortunately it is not Media Center, doesn't allow live streaming or many of the myriad other nice features mentioned in your great review.
D-link uses a terrible UI (server) which prevented me from using it for the first year. Now that I've returned my cable PVR I was motivated. Eventually I bailed on the d-link server program for TVersity's nice shareware which does stream all media types.
One reason I didn't use it was it had the same "RED" problem on component - turns out d-link is either s-vid OR component. Ran across the setting in one of the setup menu's. Haven't checked to see if that fixes it - but am happy running s-vid for now since the pvr is gone.
Anybody know if the new vista boxes also work with xp? Don't want to upgrade to vista.
I got the Lynksy Media extender. Now my problem is... i lost my cd sleeve. so i can`t find a code. How do i go about getting a new code? How much will the software cost me?
I really enjoyed reading this review you have made the "Linksys Media Center Extender" sound very useful.
I just wanted to comment on My personal favorite media center it is called Moovida.
Moovida is a great piece of software offering tons to the user.
It plays all file types no need to mess with codecs.
It arranges all your media files in to its easy to use database.
It adds useful information to your existing files, such as for movie files it will add fan art & a synopsis on the film.
It is free an avadible for download from:
www.moovida.com
Enjoy it