I just got the new HP Extender through Newegg.  I have been using Extenders for quite a while now.  I started out with MCE2005 using the original X-Box as an extender.  I then started using the 360 and, eventually, Windows Vista.

The HP extender is the first stand alone extender that I have tried and so far I like it a lot. 

The unit itself is very attractive and fairly small and clean at 8.5 inches wide and deep and about 2.5 inches tall with no external antennas.  The only two cables I needed to connect were the power and the included HDMI cable/  In operation it is completely silent and generates very little heat.  I picked it up after several hours of use and the unit was barely warm.

The set up was extremely easy.  It connected to both my D-Link 11n and my Linksys 11a networks with no fuss.  It then just took a few minutes to add the extender to my media center.  The process is nearly identical to setting up a 360.

Obviously, the 360's raw power means that menu animations are simply smoother.  Browsing recorded TV shows, Music, and the guide, however, is pretty snappy.  The only performance difference that I can see was when using the main media center menu.

The Mediasmart extender can also be used to stream content when not being used as an extender.  To get it to work was easy enough.  I just connected it to my wireless network and it just worked with my existing WMP11 sharing.  The only thing I didn't like about this feature is that it will find all servers and display media from all active machines.  In my case, I have a dedicated media center and a primary workstation.  My workstation contains all my music and I maintain a synced copy of my library on the media center.  When browsing music it listed every song twice since there were two servers.  The solution was to simply turn off media sharing on my desktop, though I would have preferred the ability to select a specific server in the device.

At $299, shipped, it was a bit pricey but I'm glad I got it.  The benefits of a silent extender with much lower power usage made it worth the price for me.

Can you tell me about the performance of recorded TV?

On my DMA2100, my biggest complaint is a slight latency when pressing skip forward or skip back.  I am hard wired and the issue is not so bad as to not use it, but I would prefer an instaneous response.  Its like the video freezes for a half-second while the audio seems to be instantaneous.

Thanks for the review.

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XPS420 w/ 2 ATI OCURs
HDHomerun
DMA2100 Extender x 2

There is a latency there.  I don't see a difference between it and my 360 though.  It's comparable to latency that my On Demand tuner for my Comcast service.

I setup my pc with a 1GB hub (PC already had a 1gb adapter installed but I was running 100mbs hub) and it solved all my issues. My extender now works flawlesly even though the extender is only 100mbs. I guess the 1Gb is a true full duplex adapter. I have a DMA2100, DMA2200 and an Xbox 360. Only the DMA2200 (Wireless Connection) has any latency in moving around or skipping forward.

balcius:

It connected to both my D-Link 11n and my Linksys 11a networks with no fuss.

This must mean the HP MediaSmart Extender has dual-band Wireless-N.  That was one of my main questions concerning this model as compared to the Linksys DMA2200/2100.  I have a Linksys dual-band Wireless-N router and want to connect on the 5GHz band (for streaming high-def video).

rbg08:

balcius:

It connected to both my D-Link 11n and my Linksys 11a networks with no fuss.

This must mean the HP MediaSmart Extender has dual-band Wireless-N.  That was one of my main questions concerning this model as compared to the Linksys DMA2200/2100.  I have a Linksys dual-band Wireless-N router and want to connect on the 5GHz band (for streaming high-def video).

Yes, the HP Connect supports 802.11 a, b, g, or n (dual band)

Does this play mp4 (containing h264) files in extender mode?  Does it support 5.1 AAC or just 2 channel?

HookedOnTV:

Does this play mp4 (containing h264) files in extender mode?  Does it support 5.1 AAC or just 2 channel?

All functionality in extender mode is specified by Microsoft, so if Microsoft does not expose .mp4 files there is nothing the extender can do.

It does play h.264 files in Mediasmart mode and AAC is available via the optical digital output.

What about zoom on Live TV? Is zoom 4 an option?

mattyv:

What about zoom on Live TV? Is zoom 4 an option?

 

Yes

balcius:

I just got the new HP Extender through Newegg.  I have been using Extenders for quite a while now.  I started out with MCE2005 using the original X-Box as an extender.  I then started using the 360 and, eventually, Windows Vista.

The HP extender is the first stand alone extender that I have tried and so far I like it a lot. 

The unit itself is very attractive and fairly small and clean at 8.5 inches wide and deep and about 2.5 inches tall with no external antennas.  The only two cables I needed to connect were the power and the included HDMI cable/  In operation it is completely silent and generates very little heat.  I picked it up after several hours of use and the unit was barely warm.

The set up was extremely easy.  It connected to both my D-Link 11n and my Linksys 11a networks with no fuss.  It then just took a few minutes to add the extender to my media center.  The process is nearly identical to setting up a 360.

Obviously, the 360's raw power means that menu animations are simply smoother.  Browsing recorded TV shows, Music, and the guide, however, is pretty snappy.  The only performance difference that I can see was when using the main media center menu.

The Mediasmart extender can also be used to stream content when not being used as an extender.  To get it to work was easy enough.  I just connected it to my wireless network and it just worked with my existing WMP11 sharing.  The only thing I didn't like about this feature is that it will find all servers and display media from all active machines.  In my case, I have a dedicated media center and a primary workstation.  My workstation contains all my music and I maintain a synced copy of my library on the media center.  When browsing music it listed every song twice since there were two servers.  The solution was to simply turn off media sharing on my desktop, though I would have preferred the ability to select a specific server in the device.

At $299, shipped, it was a bit pricey but I'm glad I got it.  The benefits of a silent extender with much lower power usage made it worth the price for me.

 I got one of these too, after evalutaing it I am quite pleased and plan on getting 3 more. I was able to get mine for 283.00 shipped from amazon, but still pricey

Lon

I heard there was (is?)  a special promotion for HP and Microsoft employees for a $100 discount. If you have any friends working there, check it out.

Just wanted to make an update...

I've been using this extender for a couple of months now.  I am extremely pleased so far.  It has been reliable and has been quirk free.  It has really been a, just turn on and use device since its configuration.

Given my experience with this and the Linksys extender I think I may buy another soon to replace the Linksys.

 

Are there any differences that you have noticed while using the HP Media Smart vs DMA-2100 in Media Center mode?

What does the HP do that is making you think of spending more money for it?

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1: Dimension 9200 - Vista Ult, 2.4GHz Q6600 Core2Quad, 4GB RAM, 160GB, 750GB, 500GB USB, Nvidia 8300GS, PVR-150, HDTV Wonder, Vbox 3560, X360, DMA2100

2: HP m376n - MCE 2005, 2.6 P4 w/HT, 1GB RAM, 250GB, 400GB USB HD, Nvidia 6200, Emuzed MAUI, X360

I have been running the MSC for about 3 months and it does just what it is advertised to do. I am please with it and compared to other network media players (I have 3 other brands) it is relatively quirk free.

I wish it could play DVD iso or VIDEO_TS folders and had SMB and NFS capability.

I currently use it mostly with UPnP software and occasionally I will use VMC. I do not have any TV capture devices in the PC running Vista yet. When I do, I will give it a try running my MSC as more of an extender.

I know that I will take some flak for this; but I am not overly impressed with VMC. The GUI is fine but there are so few options. It would be great to be able to browse video by Genre or by playlists for example. Yes you can do this using WMP11 but it would be much more integrated if it were in VMC.

Overall I think if you can get the MSC for $250 or less then it is one of the better network media player/extenders out there. Good build quality, does what is says and has the best remote hands down of any network media player out there.

 

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direstrates

1) Q9550/Vista Home Premium/GT9600/PVR150/FusionHD TV USB
2) P4 2.53/XP Pro/PVR250/BTV
3) 4+TB of unraided storage
a) Linkplayer2 + WIZD
b) Ziova CS615
c) MediaSmart Connect + WMP11/Tversity/VMC
d) MVP+GBPVR (low usage)