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[quote=”jennyfur”]
How much do those run these days? Just wondering cuz the xbox 360 arcade is only $150 now. And it can also play DVDs, unlike some of the other extenders. I also recall people complaining about the sluggish performance of some of the other extenders, but can’t comment directly as I have never used one.
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I just picked up an open box Linksys DMA2200 on ebay for $99 sans cables.  I’m seeing new ones listed higher with Buy it Now options, but I don’t see many of them actually selling at those asking prices.  Any that are listed at a lower price tend to sell below $100.

The only other ones I’ve looked for on ebay are the HP x280n’s.  There are some used ones listed for $89.

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[quote=”jennyfur”]
How much do those run these days? Just wondering cuz the xbox 360 arcade is only $150 now. And it can also play DVDs, unlike some of the other extenders. I also recall people complaining about the sluggish performance of some of the other extenders, but can’t comment directly as I have never used one.
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I just picked up an open box Linksys DMA2200 on ebay for $99 sans cables.  I’m seeing new ones listed higher with Buy it Now options, but I don’t see many of them actually selling at those asking prices.  Any that are listed at a lower price tend to sell below $100.

The only other ones I’ve looked for on ebay are the HP x280n’s.  There are some used ones listed for $89.

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Quadrophonic sound and current surround systems couldn’t be further apart.  It’s an apples to bricks comparison.  Quad sound was an audio only format that required special hardware and software that was both expensive and did not always live up to the hype.  Couple that with the multitude of quad formats that were being marketed and it was a real cluster f*ck.

Surround sound only became viable with the introduction of home video and didn’t really flourish until digital media became the mainstream.  Even today there is very little audio only material recorded for playback with surround systems.  It was the perfect marriage of audio and video on DVD that brought it to life and into the average household.

Right now, 3D is nothing more than a curiosity.  I think with the current state of the economy and the lack of source material plus the fact that HDTV is still relatively young in the grand scheme of things, it’s going to take a lot of marketing skill and major support from the movie and TV studios for it to hit even a minor level of market saturation.  I’ve seen 3DTV demoed in the stores and thought it was OK, but it didn’t have enough of a wow factor to make me want to own one.  In fact, the thought of being tethered to my TV with a pair of 3D glasses was a major turnoff.  I have a feeling that most people will feel the same way about 3DTV and will prefer to wait until a better method of displaying 3D images comes along.

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Quadrophonic sound and current surround systems couldn’t be further apart.  It’s an apples to bricks comparison.  Quad sound was an audio only format that required special hardware and software that was both expensive and did not always live up to the hype.  Couple that with the multitude of quad formats that were being marketed and it was a real cluster f*ck.

Surround sound only became viable with the introduction of home video and didn’t really flourish until digital media became the mainstream.  Even today there is very little audio only material recorded for playback with surround systems.  It was the perfect marriage of audio and video on DVD that brought it to life and into the average household.

Right now, 3D is nothing more than a curiosity.  I think with the current state of the economy and the lack of source material plus the fact that HDTV is still relatively young in the grand scheme of things, it’s going to take a lot of marketing skill and major support from the movie and TV studios for it to hit even a minor level of market saturation.  I’ve seen 3DTV demoed in the stores and thought it was OK, but it didn’t have enough of a wow factor to make me want to own one.  In fact, the thought of being tethered to my TV with a pair of 3D glasses was a major turnoff.  I have a feeling that most people will feel the same way about 3DTV and will prefer to wait until a better method of displaying 3D images comes along.

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Thanks for the info.  Here’s a list of version 2 extenders I found on Wikipedia:

    * HP MediaSmart Connect – x280n
    * Xbox 360 (Works in MCE 2005, Vista, and Windows 7)
    * Linksys DMA2100
    * Linksys DMA2200 (Integrated DVD Player)
    * D-Link DSM-750
    * Niveus Media Extender – EDGE
    * HP MediaSmart HDTV (With software update from April 2008)
    * Samsung MediaLive Digital Media Extender MR-00EA1

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Thanks for the info.  Here’s a list of version 2 extenders I found on Wikipedia:

    * HP MediaSmart Connect – x280n
    * Xbox 360 (Works in MCE 2005, Vista, and Windows 7)
    * Linksys DMA2100
    * Linksys DMA2200 (Integrated DVD Player)
    * D-Link DSM-750
    * Niveus Media Extender – EDGE
    * HP MediaSmart HDTV (With software update from April 2008)
    * Samsung MediaLive Digital Media Extender MR-00EA1

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Until I read the review I had never been concerned about sharing the tuners with other PCs throughout the house.  I’m on FIOS and I have STBs connected to my other TVs as well as a couple of S3 Tivos.  I’m starting to think that I may want to get rid one or more STBs and install media extenders instead.  I like the idea of saving money by replacing my Tivos with the InfiniTV 4, but the thought of saving money by dumping the additional STB rentals could be icing on the cake. 

The only thing that concerns me is that I record a lot of prime time TV shows and it may be difficult to share tuners with the extenders if they’re all in use for recording purposes.  OTOH, I also have four ATSC tuners to record my network OTA shows in HD and I rarely record more than two cable programs simultaneously so it may be a non-issue.  It looks like I’ll be shopping for some media extenders.

Am I correct in assuming that the X-Box 360 is currently the only Windows Media Center extender still being marketed?  Is there a specific model that is better suited as a media extender or are they all equal in this application?  What are some of the makes and models of extenders that have been discontinued?  I seem to recall that Linksys made one a while back.  Is it safe to assume that any Windows Media Center extender will work with Windows 7 Media Center?

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Until I read the review I had never been concerned about sharing the tuners with other PCs throughout the house.  I’m on FIOS and I have STBs connected to my other TVs as well as a couple of S3 Tivos.  I’m starting to think that I may want to get rid one or more STBs and install media extenders instead.  I like the idea of saving money by replacing my Tivos with the InfiniTV 4, but the thought of saving money by dumping the additional STB rentals could be icing on the cake. 

The only thing that concerns me is that I record a lot of prime time TV shows and it may be difficult to share tuners with the extenders if they’re all in use for recording purposes.  OTOH, I also have four ATSC tuners to record my network OTA shows in HD and I rarely record more than two cable programs simultaneously so it may be a non-issue.  It looks like I’ll be shopping for some media extenders.

Am I correct in assuming that the X-Box 360 is currently the only Windows Media Center extender still being marketed?  Is there a specific model that is better suited as a media extender or are they all equal in this application?  What are some of the makes and models of extenders that have been discontinued?  I seem to recall that Linksys made one a while back.  Is it safe to assume that any Windows Media Center extender will work with Windows 7 Media Center?

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Define “reasonable” in Blockbuster’s rental pricing.  I’ve belonged to both Blockbuster Online and NetFlix and I came back to NetFlix for the better prices and selection.  Blockbuster was nice for a while but they just didn’t havr the same selections as NetFlix.  I like forein films and some off-the-wall titles and NetFlix has them in abundance.  I rarely found any of these titles from Blockbuster.

I was once attracted to Blockbuster because they offered free in-store rentals when you returned rental discs to the store that you got in the mail.  When they stopped the promotion it took away the only advantage they held over NetFlix.  I ended up with NetFlix again and never regretted it.

FWIW, the 28-day rule doesn’t bother me in the least.  Unless I get a new release the day it comes out I’m usually on a long waiting list anyway, so what’s another 28 days in the grand scheme of things?

I don’t bother with RedBox because they don’t carry Blu-Ray titles.  I can get Blu-Ray rentals from NetFlix for about the same price as standard DVDs from RedBox and I never have to leave my home to pick up or drop them off when I’m done.  I already get more rental movies than I’ll ever have time to watch so it’s a matter of quality vs. quantity for me.  Guess which one wins out every time?

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