A lot of companies are playing fast and loose with the term HTDV, and sadly Linksys is no exception with its DMA 2100. While we find the DMA 2100 innovative as an extender box, the unit does have its faults and quirks, caused both by the hardware and the software.

On the hardware side, the biggest blunders are certainly the choice of decoder chip as well as the use of the HDMI port. The latter only supports the outdated HDMI 1.1 standard and should no longer be used in current devices. The current firmware of the DMA 2100 does not support the DivX format, and Linksys does not intend to change this in future versions either. It seems as if the development team behind the DMA 2100 live on another planet. Support for DivX and other container formats such as Matroska should be a given on an extender belonging to this price bracket. This is not too much to expect for a device costing €250.

That’s not to say that the DMA 2100 doesn’t have its bright sides as well. It allows you to watch, record and play back TV shows at your convenience without having to sit in front of the PC. If your PC is equipped with several tuners, you can also record several shows simultaneously. Additionally, the big brother of the DMA 2100, called the DMA 2200, comes with a DVD drive. A Blu-ray drive would have been the modern choice in our opinion, but perhaps Linksys will switch to the new format in a future version of their device.

Microsoft’s Xbox is an alternative to the DMA 2100, as it also doubles as a Media Center extender. However, it does not support HDTV yet.