Linksys DMA2200 Media Center extender

Linksys, a division of Cisco Systems – the supplier of just about everything technical at Jack Bauer’s CTU (and don’t we know it) – has released the first official Media Center extenders in the UK (Xbox 360-excepted) and the DMA2200 is unique in that it also contains an upscaling DVD player.

By including it somewhere in the chain of your home network, via wi-fi or Ethernet, the media receiver hooks up with your computer (as long as it’s running Media Center on Vista – Windows XP isn't supported) and, using exactly the same front-end as MCE, can access all of the same files, functions and digital television controls.

You can record TV, watch video, look at pictures, play music, even stream high-definition content, such as WMV HD files, essentially do anything that your media centre PC can do, with the same fantastic graphical user interface. However, there’s no hard drive, so all of the content is stored on the separate computer – this kit is for a second room.

To read the rest of this review on TechRadar click here.