As the Extenders for Windows Media Center have finally started shipping Ed Bott has got his hands on one. Ed’s first impressions seem very positive especially for things like startup time and quietness. The unit Ed got is the diskless DMA2100 which looks incredibly small and neat. I am looking forward to seeing the Extenders at CES
Performance on menus is fast, very fast. It takes about 10-12 seconds to go from a cold start to the Media Center interface. By contrast, the Xbox 360 had to first load its own interface, then log me in, and then finally connect to the remote system, a process that could easily take a minute or more. In operation, the system is faster as well. I’m using a Logitech Harmony remote to control the extender, and response to each button press is instantaneous. That wasn’t always the case with the Xbox 360.
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