D-Link DSM-320 Wireless Media Player, Audio/Photo/Video, 802.11g Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)My expectations were fairly low after having read all the other reviews, but I really liked the option that you get from adding a home media drive from D-Link to this set-up (DSM 602H/4H). I've been waiting for a media server that doesn't require me to keep my PC running in my bedroom 24/7. The network drive from D-Link and this media server looked like an awesome combination.
In an effort not to repeat everything that's already been said ... here are the things I believe haven't been mentioned yet ... first and foremost, don't expect to spend any less than a solid weekend getting this up and running .. and even after you do I expect multiple hours will be spent updating firmware etc. over the next few months (at least I hope there are firmware updates coming)
The physical connection was easy and intuitive, but getting the player up and running and connected to my wireless network was a royal pain. I tried to use my media drive as it is advertised by D-link, but apparantly that's not possible without a firmware update. Of course, that firmware update is still in beta release ... do I need to say more. It actually royally p*sses me off that D-Link advertise the combination of the media home drive and the media server, before they can actually deliver that option. I wrote a glowing review of the home media drive, but that was before I updated the firmware to enable use with the media server ... after the firmware was updated, I can't access the management interface for the drive for more than one or two pages before the device has to be restarted (read pull power plug and re-insert) .. the drive doesn't seem to stream the media evenly, so every single song comes across with large gaps where nothing is playing ... pictures don't come across in the right format and shows up on the screen in some oddly twisted aspect ratio ... the media server software that's resident in the media drive firmware update apparantly doesn't read ID3 tags correctly either; it doesn't pick up genres, and artist and album data isn't alphabitized
On a slight possitive note, the media server software running off my PC works much better. It streams evenly, ID3 tags seem correct and pictures are correctly formatted. I still haven't been able to stream a single movie across the media server, but that's personally less of an issue for me personally.
Oh, and although I didn't want to repeat other reviewers .. I have to say this ... THE REMOTE CONTROL ABSOLUTELY STINKS ... worst piece of hardware I've ever held in my hand ... period ... and that includes all those awefull Sony-Ericson phones I've tried over the years ;-)

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D-Link's DSM-320 Wireless Media Adapter is a next generation multimedia product that streams all your favorite media files to your home entertainment center.It supports 802.11g wireless standards with transfer speeds up to 54Mbps. The DSM-320 supports all popular media formats including MP3, WAV, and WMA for audio files, MPEG1/2/4, AVI, and DivX4/5 for video, and JPEG, GIF, BMP, and PNG for images. Plug the DSM-320 directly into your TV to easily access all your media content through the user-friendly TV interface with the included remote control.Experience your digital media like never before with the DSM-320 Wireless Media Adapter.

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Cisco-Linksys Dual-Band Wireless A/G Media Center Extender WMCE54AG Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I really like this product. I really like Media Center 2005. But more than anything else, I LOVE the IDEA of this product -- a networked device that helps unite the living room to the home office, giving you one place to put your pictures, videos, and music. This is a great generation one product. I can't wait to see what the next couple of generations bring.
That said, here are the things to be aware of when purchasing:
1) You need to know (or find someone to help you who knows) the basic fundamentals of home networking and Windows. This is not a completely plug and play installation.
2) You must have a very strong network connection between your Media Center 2005 device and your Media Center Extender. Ideally, you would have a wired connection (i.e., using old fashion cables). But I use the Wireless-G option and it works great now -- but I had to spend a good deal of time tuning the placement of my wireless router to ensure optimal connectivity between PC and Extender.
3) Be aware: TV content labeled as Copy Protected will not play on the Media Center Extender. For me, this means one very bad thing -- I can't watch 99% of the shows on HBO on the Extender. This is very disappointing for our family, because we enjoy HBO and actually use the Extender on our main TV in the house (with the Media Center 2005 PC in our home office). Pay TV channels are the only area we have had problems with this, though, so if you don't need to watch these channels on the TV where you are putting the extender, don't worry about it.
4) There are a few other things you can do on the Media Center PC that you can't do on the extender. Mainly for me--the extender can't play content on your Media Center PC DVD drive (I get around this by first burning the DVD to my hard-drive using a product called Pocket DVD -- a perfect solution to put my son's frequently watched kid movies in a place that's easily accessible).
Overall, if you already have Media Center 2005 -- buy this product--it's really cool to have a central hub for all this content with multiple TVs hanging off it.
If you don't already have Media Center 2005, and are considering it -- I recommend it. But be forewarned that it's still what I would call an "early adopter" solution. Be prepared for a few stumbles and bumps -- but it's sure to wow your techie buddies.

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Bring your Windows Media Center PC's digital movies, live and recorded TV, pictures and music out into the living room! The Linksys Dual-Band Wireless A/G Media Center Extender lets you bring the digital entertainment available through and stored on your Windows Media Center PC to your Home Entertainment Center, without running cables through the house.Using a Wireless-A, Wireless-G, or wired Ethernet connection, the Media Center Extender displays home-made or downloaded digital movies and your digital photographs on the TV for the whole family to enjoy.And your digital music collection is finally freed from those little computer speakers and can play in full glory through your stereo system.You can also watch and pause live TV shows, or record them digitally for later viewing.Finding something to watch is easy with the free on-screen program guide.

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