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Samsung MediaLive Digital Media Adapter review
One of the reasons why Microsoft's Media Center is so attractive is because of the extender functionality. It allows you to enjoy just about all the same content in every room of your house, without the need to buy more than one HTPC. But with variety sometimes brings hard choices, so this motivated us to start a quest to find the best Media Center Extender. While the Xbox 360 is the obvious choice for most, it isn't the best solution for everyone. So we started out by comparing it to every extender out there. But since our initial shoot out, a few more Extenders have made their way to market, and the most recent addition is the Samsung MediaLive Media Adapter. At first glance it seems that this is the perfect solution for anyone with a Samsung TV, and while the tight integration, great price, and diminutive size is attractive, you'll have to click though to find out why we're still on the hunt for the perfect Windows Media Center Extender. %Gallery-38727%
The Samsung MediaLive Digital Media Adapter gets a date
We hate to admit it, but the longer we have to wait for something, the more anxious we get. So it should be no surprise that after nine months, we can't wait to check out Samsung's new Media Center Extender. We got word last week that the little guy was available for pre-order on Best Buy, but the lack of expected release date left us hanging. Now Amazon also has it available for pre-order, but this time with a release date of October 15th. That leaves just over two weeks before we can all find out if this thing is all it's cracked up to be -- you know, made to mount on the back of the latest Samsung TVs, and HDMI-CEC for seamless one remote operation.
Samsung's MediaLive Digital Media Adapter really coming soon?
Hey, Sammy -- bet you thought we forgot about that little MediaLive Digital Media Adapter of yours, huh? For everyone that had, let us bring you back up to speed. After launching under a different name at CES 2008, this puppy was officially revealed in the summer. Unfortunately, the supposed August ship date has come and gone, and it doesn't seem like too many folks are up in arms about it. Nevertheless, the obviously delayed Media Center Extender has finally found itself a holding page over at Best Buy, where's it's listed in detail for $199.99. The "Coming Soon" bit doesn't really give us much to go on, but we'd suspect Samsung would want to get this out before the holiday shopping season kicks into high gear. Now would also be a wonderful time to shave $50+ off of the MSRP in order to make folks care once more -- just sayin', is all.[Thanks, Lindsay]
Samsung reveals $200 MediaLive Media Center Extender
Ever since we got our hands on Samsung's Media Center Extender at CES last year, we've wondered how the CE giant's rendition would stack up against the rest. Rather than build the Media Center Extender functionality into a TV the way HP has, or make a completely separate set-top-box like Linksys or D-Link, the $200 MediaLive Media Center Extender is designed to be a companion product for Samsung HDTVs. It can be mounted to the back of certain Samsung sets, and with the help of HDMI-CEC, the TV's remote will control the box even while it's out of sight -- of course, this begs the question of whether or not it will work with other TVs, but we'll just have to wait and try it ourselves when it launches next month. Oh, and in case you don't know already, Media Center Extenders are not just another media streamer, because it will allow you to have the full (almost) Vista Media Center experience -- including the ability to watch live HD from CableCARD tuner -- on any TV (connected wired or wirelessly) in your house.
