I have a Windows Media Center Edition PC that I use as my full-time machine, and have a Linksys Media Center Extender out in the lounge room that connects back to my box. It is a beefy PC (dual core 3.0GHz, 1GB RAM etc.) so this doesn’t have much of a performance hit for me when someone is watching TV and I’m trying to work. Overall, I was satisfied with the experience, until I got my Xbox 360.

The Xbox 360 has Media Extender functionality built in, and it absolutely trumps Linksys’ effort. Not only do you get the full MCE experience, including transitions, effects, and sounds, which the Linksys box did not (the interface was the same, but was just static - none of MCE’s niceties), but gone are any stutter problems I was having, and the video quality is much better.

In short, if you are thinking of getting a Media Center Extender and like gaming as well, the Xbox 360 is a great way of doing it.