Media Center Extenders

By ryan.tollefson - Posted on April 12th, 2008

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Media Center Extender

Intro

A Media Center Extender is a device that gives you access to your Media Center computer from another location. Extenders can take many shapes including the Xbox 360; products by Linksys, D-Link, and Niveus; and several TVs by HP.

Setup

This needs to be added.

Model Specific:

Xbox 360

High performance
Can play games (it's still an Xbox)
Can play DVDs
Smooth transitions in Media Center, all zoom modes supported
Very loud

Linksys DMA-2100

Silent
No menu transitions/animations supported
Zoom 4 mode is not supported

Linksys DMA-2200

Same as the DMA-2100, but with a DVD player built in

Limitations

As great as extenders are, there are several limitations. Including:

Unable to stream movies from a DVD changer (or ripped folder) directly to the extender.
No way to rip music or copy pictures to your Media Center from an extender.
No way to burn CDs or DVDs directly from an extender.
You can not use another computer as an extender.

Here is Microsoft's official site for Media Center Extenders: http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/winfamily/mediacenter/features/extender.mspx

Search

Navigation

User login

Quick Tip

Press "Clear" on the remote to delete the media that is currently highlighted (works for Recorded TV, Videos, Music, and Pictures).

While in the guide press the Record button on the remote twice to do a series recording.

With a picture on screen, press "Info" (or "More") on the remote and select "Rotate" to rotate it.

You can enhance your Media Center experience through 3rd party applications. Click here to see some.

In the Guide, press FF/REW on the remote to skip forward/back 3 hours at a time.

Use the channel +/- buttons on the remote to browse the guide a page at a time.

Almost any menu strip can be hidden with a simple registry tweak. Click here for details.

In the picture library, highlight the folder or tag you want, then press "Play" on the remote to start a slideshow.

With an album, video, or recorded show highlighted, simply hit "Play" on the remote to start it playing immediately - faster than pressing "OK" and then selecting "Play" on the menu.

In the Guide, press Skip/Replay on the remote to skip forward/back 12 hours at a time.

Pressing "OK" on the remote while watching Live TV will go to the previous channel.