Windows Weekly dismisses the Linksys Extenders, while I sit happily watching TV on mine

I agree with you.  I've been using my DMA2200 full time for nearly a month, and generally have been very pleased with it.  I was a (UK) TiVo user before, but now, after 7 years happy usage, have  finally got rid of the TiVo, the old DVD player, the Satellite box and the MP3 player from under the TV.  All that sits there now is an Amp, and the Extender.

All my TV, without exception, goes via the Extender.  I don’t even have an aerial plugged into my TV.  VMC is, for me, very stable and I have no issues regarding performance.  My only wish is that it was easier to archive recorded TV, but that of course is a VMC issue, not an extender one.

I can't belive that Paul Thurrott dismissed the Linksys extenders like that! Has he actually tried them or just looked at the spec?

The performance of my DMA2100 over the past month that I've been using it has been excellent. I watch live and recorded TV and listen to music over a wireless connection and have had no performance issues whatsoever.

Yes, I agree, they are not cheap and I could have bought an XBox for about the same price, but I wanted a silent unit and I'm not interested in palying games so the arrival of the Linksys unit was a godsend!

I just bought a DMA2100 from Amazon taking advantage of the $150 deal they had.  I think the performance is great.  I have it on a small 19" LCD in my bedroom and my wife loves it.  I turned off the animations and its very responsive.  HDTV looks great, MyMovies plugin works great, my caller id shows up as expected and Internet TV streams perfectly.  I do have it wired and connected to the TV via HDMI.  Not sure if that makes a HUGE difference.  So far I am very satisfied.

I just recently got a DMA2100 for the bedroom and I do have some complaints about it. I've been so used the smooth menu transitions on the 360 in my living room that it really annoys me that the Linksys extender has this problem. Also, the Media Center GUI looks considerably worse to me than the PC or 360. That being said, I haven't noticed any drop in quality when watching TV and that is the most important thing. I can deal with choppy transitions and a washed out GUI.

That being said, if I hadn't got in on the deal with Amazon.com for $150 and I had paid $250 for this thing I would be totally unhappy. I think the regular price on these things is ridiculous. I would rather buy a 360 Arcade for $30 more and have smooth everything and the ability to play games. Since I was able to get the extender for $150 I'm happy with it overall. Very small and quiet which is perfect for my bedroom!

Paul has always been an idiot.  If you read some of his articles, he acts like he's THE definitive source on all things Windows.  He also likes to throw around the term "exclusive", even when someone else has obviously beaten him to the punch with news, etc.

I must admit I thought the preview was terribly incorrect too, I made a post on my blog about this also as after listening it made me feel I had to give a full post on my reasons for disagreeing. You can ready my full blog post over on my MCML blog.

http://thedigitallifestyle.com/cs/blogs/mcml/archive/2008/03/21/paul-thurrot-s-non-review-of-linksys-extenders-on-his-windows-weekly-show.aspx