DISQUS

Bryan H. Bell · 2 years ago

That $350 price tag for the Linksys DMA2200 doesn't seem competitive with the Xbox 360, also $350, which can already be used as an “Extender for Media Center” device and can even stream HD content using a wireless-a router (such as the Linksys WRT55AG).

Plus, I hear you can use your Xbox 360 to play some games :)
Steve O'Hear (editor) · 2 years ago

@Bryan fair point. Although, one thing the new extenders have over the XBox 360 is that they claim to run a lot quieter. I don't have a 360, but reports of how noisy they run, does put me off buying one as a media center.

What's your experience?
Bryan H. Bell · 2 years ago

@Steve

Good point: the 360 is pretty loud. My wife and I have it set up with an HDTV in our upstairs bedroom (our Media Center hub is my PC in our downstairs living room). The noise doesn't interrupt our bedroom viewing experience because the 360 is drowned out by the program's audio. Sometimes, when I'm downloading an HD movie from Xbox Live Video Marketplace and need to leave the 360 on overnight we notice the noise, but it doesn't actually keep us awake.

I do wish the 360 ran more quietly, but it wouldn't be a significant enough factor to affect my future purchasing decisions.
David Mackey · 2 years ago

Sounds like things are getting better, but the industry still has a long way to go.