Here is my video review of the Linksys DMA 2100 Media Center Extender. The Linksys DMA 2100 does everything I expected it to do, but there are a few things I didn’t really think were that great. First, the included remote — it’s garbage. The included Linksys remote is a learning remote, you can program the power, volume and mute buttons however, I couldn’t get it to work with a sharp LCD TV. I highly recommend a Harmony Remote if you plan on using this extender a lot.

I really thought the V2 extenders would boot up faster… the Linksys DMA 2100 takes about 26 seconds, which is a bit faster than the Xbox 360, that took about 30 seconds to get to the main screen. Your numbers may vary due to network traffic and set up.

The other issue I’m still trying to figure out how to the unit from going to standby after 2 hours of no use… I think it’s a power saver feature, but there is no way to turn it off… I would like to have the unit always on so I don’t have to wait the 30 seconds for the unit to boot everytime I want to watch something.

Update: I think I figured out a way to keep if from going to stand by. One way is to keep it playing a live TV channel… another way is to turn on the “screensaver” that seems to keep it on as well.

Overall, I highly recommend the Linksys DMA 2100. At $249, it’s the same price as a XBOX 360 arcade, but the DMA 2100 is targeted for people that want a small, quiet media extender in a bedroom, bathroom or kitchen. I can’t wait to see the Samsung Extender which is reported even smaller.

Order now from Amazon.com — Linksys Media Extender