Windows Media Extenders Experience

[twilo123]

I see a lot of media extenders popping up for media center lately. does anyone have any experience with any of these?

interested in info like

1. using 802.11n for HD streaming with and without other devices on the network/frequency.
2. ability to rip and distribute media through the extender - what file formats are supported on the extender? can i just play a .vob, .avi, xvid, divx, mpg, etc.
3. slideshow remotes that work well with a Windows HTPC - say i want to play music out my surround speakers without having to turn the t.v. on.
4. how quiet are the extenders? is there any hum or noise at all?
5. why is samsung's new extender proprietary to samsung t.v.'s and the others on the market are generally usable for all t.v.'s?
6. any good gadgets (aka widgets) made for slideshow remotes to control the HTPC better or when the t.v. is off.
7. cablecard and HD streaming/recording experiences on particular boxes which support them.
8. box comparison between different companies putting out windows media center boxes with cablecard support.
9. any other good info...

Thanks.

 

[IVB]

I'll answer the ones I know about personally.

I see a lot of media extenders popping up for media center lately. does anyone have any experience with any of these?

interested in info like

1. using 802.11n for HD streaming with and without other devices on the network/frequency.

I haven't used n, but I couldn't get g working via MVP wireless native fxnlty for even the SD distro. I've heard that folks have used wireless bridges with good success, check the SageTV extender subforum as folks talk about this stuff there

2. ability to rip and distribute media through the extender - what file formats are supported on the extender? can i just play a .vob, .avi, xvid, divx, mpg, etc.

I know you can playback IFO files (the chapter index for your .VOB's), as I just did it yesterday. I don't rip to divx, and I don't use sage for avi. Mpeg-2 is the default D* recording mode, so that's native.

4. how quiet are the extenders? is there any hum or noise at all?

For the MVP, absolutely no noise whatsoever. There's no fan, or if there is, it must be the slowest fan ever. I'm hoping that the HDExtender is back in stock in a few weeks, in which case i can tell you about that. TONS of threads in the SageTV Extender forum, IIRC it's only a 7W device so I can't imagine much noise as there's not that many parts to generate it.

6. any good gadgets (aka widgets) made for slideshow remotes to control the HTPC better or when the t.v. is off.

I'm not sure what the word slideshow remote means. Sage MVP's and Extenders are externally controllable through TCP or IE, so it's pretty easy to use a UMPC for that. Obviously usng TCP with a custom screen is best(ie, CQC) as it allows you to paint your own screen so you don't have tons of junk taking up real estate, but that's optional.

 

[bfisher]

IVB is right on his post. Just adding the Sage HD Extender makes no noise either.

 

[Michael McSharry]

The Microsoft MCE/Vista environment sucks for DVD - HD. Ripped DVDs need to be encoded in .wmv for playing on the X-Box extender and no X-Box extender support for HD-DVD other than the HD drive connected direclty to the X-Box. DVI output from a PC into the HDMI connector can only supply a single video stream so a PC's Video configured in Clone mode will only show HD on one of the two video outputs.