SiliconDust HDHomeRun HDHR-US Dual Networked High Definition Digital Tuner Device (White)
by SiliconDust USA, Inc
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List Price: Our Price: $69.00 You Save: $100.99 (59%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Category: CE See more product details |
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of SiliconDust HDHomeRun HDHR-US Dual Networked High Definition Digital Tuner Device (White)
Customer Review: Wonderful network tuner with some limitations.
Summary: 5 Stars
OK, let's get the cons out of the way first: This box does not have a slot for CableCards, which means that you are not going to use it to record anything except either OTA digital TV (from an antenna) or the major networks on clear QAM from your cable. That's just the way it is, that's what this box was designed to do, and that cannot be changed. It will not pick up analog or encrypted-digital cable channels. It does not interact with your television at all, unless you are using your TV as a computer monitor. This is NOT the way to convert your old TV to receive digital TV.
So what good is it? You can use it to pick up digital TV from an antenna or unencrypted QAM (usually network) cable signals, and stream to your computer for watching or recording.
I have two of these on my local network. I use them to stream Fox, NBC, ABC, and CBS to my MythTV box, where I record everything broadcast by the Big 4 in primetime onto 2 750GB disks, which hold about 2 weeks of the programming I record. I have demoted my TiVos to cable-channel and backup network use.
If your computer is not dual-core, it's not powerful enough to watch HDTV with (though it will do OK recording, if you have something else to watch with/on).
This unit also has a builtin infrared port that will transmit the codes from your remote control to your computer after you configure it.
It does come with some software, but I don't know what it does, I already had my older HDHomerun hooked up, and just added this one in MythTVSetup. As another reviewer mentioned, there is not a toll-free number to call for support, they use the internet and forums at silicondust. It's worth some time poking around those forums to see what people are doing, and what problems people are having, to see if this item is really what you are looking for.
It does exactly what I want, and I'm considering adding a third one for PBS and CW recording, and to experiment with building a Gray-Hoverman HDTV antenna.
LAST BUT NOT LEAST It is very important to use only RG6 coax cables and 2MHz-rated splitters for most cable HDTV. 1 foot of RG58 between my splitter and my HDHomerun completely destroyed the signal to that input. Don't convince yourself yours is broken until you know your cables are good.
Customer Review: Brings extensive HDTV/DVR functionality into Media Center
Summary: 5 Stars
The HDHomeRun networked tuner is at the heart of our plan to cut cable TV in favor of over-the-air (OTA) broadcast television supplemented by streaming Netflix and other sources of streaming internet TV content.
We are running two HDHomeRun Duals for a total of four OTA tuners. We use Media Center on a Windows 7 laptop to drive several Media Center Extenders (a.k.a. Xbox 360 game consoles) over gigabit wired ethernet in our home. While I don't want to use this space to review the Media Center experience, suffice it to say that using the beautiful interactive Guide to watch/pause live TV, and to record and later watch recorded TV, is exceptional. If you are used to slow, boring, and ugly able compaby HD-DVR interfaces, you will be blown away by Media Center.
The HDHomeRun tuners are extremely simple to install and set up. I would highly recommend at least a 4-way distribution amplifier ahead of these tuners, because these tuners are not as sensitive as what you find in most HDTVs. Splitting the antenna signal 4 ways passively knocked down the signal enough that the tuners couldn't pick up all the channels reliably. I ended up buying an 8-port PCT-MA2-8P from right here on Amazon. I used it to amplify and split the signal six ways: four signals to the two HDHomeRun tuners, and signals directly to HDTVs in other parts of the house. Be sure to properly cap unused ports with the proper terminating resistors (also available on Amazon).
You'll need to strategize about the best place to physically locate the tuners. We decided to put them in our home theater equipment rack, so that we could keep an eye on the LEDs on the front. Their wired ethernet connections are plugged into a gigabit ethernet switch, which then has a wired connection back to our central internet router. I would recommend using wired connections as much as possible, to avoid performance issues and also to avoid hogging up your wireless bandwidth that would be better used for portables, laptops, and other devices that would benefit more from being wireless.
We are very happy with these tuners, and are very happy to be saving $100 a month that we used to spend on cable TV.
Customer Review: Off the grid and loving it!
Summary: 5 Stars
If you have always envisioned cutting the cord to expensive cable or satellite TV services this is the ticket you have been waiting for. We have now spent the past month without any of those expensive bills and haven't regretted it for a moment. This unit has worked flawlessly out of the box. Initially we fed this system with OTA feed using a Terk indoor digital antenna. Although this worked fine enough, the antenna could not attain the signal for the local ABC station. With that in mind, I contacted out internet cable provider (Comcast) to see how much a basic cable subscription would be (termed Clear QAM), and I was told only an extra $1.27 per month ($16.27 a month actually - $15.00 internet discount). That was well worth the price since not only do you get your local stations (in HD), but others as well including WGN HD, The Weather Channel, and Discovery. Plenty to tide you over.
Using a splitter we now get two feeds going into the HD Homerun...and the wonderful ability to record two programs at once, something we have to do quite often. To control the recordings, we utilize Windows Media Player. The initial setup was probably the most difficult part of the switchover from expensive TV. This is not HD Homerun's fault, its more an issue of what Comcast calls their stations and matching that up with an online program guide. Once that was complete, the rest was quite easy. To get the signal from your Homerun/computer to a TV you will need some sort of Windows Media Extender. We use an XBOX 360 and its really quite easy. Sometimes, the signal to the XBOX lags or even freezes, but its nothing a XBOX reboot can't solve.
It should be mentioned the the signal sent to the TV is of a far higher quality that that associated with Netflix or ESPN3 streaming via Xbox Live. It appears to be pure HD broadcasting,(720p or 1080i) regardless of whether its live TV or recorded. We did try the streaming using a Wireless G router and that would occasionally stumble or stutter. We then tried it with a Wireless N router is it worked flawlessly. We were truly impressed! I would highly recommend the HD Homerun to anyone interested in cutting the Cable or Satellite cord.
Customer Review: Next Generation Of Digital Steaming Using Wireless "N" Networks
Summary: 5 Stars
This is a landmark digital product which finally shows you the bitrate of TV station broadcasts (cable must be much less!). Fox at 1280 has the lowest quality (12mb/sec) while most other stations were at 15-16(mb/sec). The higher bitrates now confirm the better quality which is easily observed. Further some station broadcast constant bitrate (higher quality) while others broadcast lower quality variable bitrates (CBS). Just use the Windows task manager networking tab to view.
Positioning of the antenna is handled superbly by the included installation software which has three signal quality meters. The Silicon Dust forum moderators are both concise and intelligent. For example:
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"There are three percentages reported by the HDHomeRun -
Signal Strength (ss)
- raw power level as measured by the receiver
Signal Quality (snq)
- how clearly defined the digital data is
Symbol Quality (seq)
- Amount of correct or corrected data over the last second
The above definitions can be confusing, so a much simpler definition is to imagine listening to the radio:
- Signal Strength represents the volume
- Signal Quality represents how clearly you can hear the lyrics
- Symbol Quality indicates the percentage of the lyrics you could hear or guess correctly
As it turns out, Signal Strength is somewhat irrelevant; if your antenna isn't pointed properly, it doesn't matter how loud you turn up the volume, the static will prevent you from hearing the lyrics correctly. Similarly, amplifying a weak HDTV signal can result in a high signal strength but too much noise to decode the digital data correctly."
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The reviews here at Amazon are embarrassing in that they are too superficial and don't educate potential users. For example how to integrate the tuners capability into your home's network. For example do you have to use a computer for even playback? Or can one stream directly to a media player?
A good source of information is provided at the Silicon Dust forums:
[...]
Customer Review: Good bye cable TV!
Summary: 5 Stars
I just set this thing up in my attic and I love it! The only thing that was a pain was running an ethernet cable in the walls that distance - but well worth it. I had first tried a Hauppauge card in an upstairs PC but it kept becoming disabled and a reboot was necessary. Not good when you're trying to schedule recordings. This is better because it's on your network and you put it away from all your other devices and where you'll get the best reception - in your attic.
I have great reception with a simple set of rabbit ears!
This works great with Windows 7 Media Center (64bit). Another good thing is that you can access the tuner from other computers on the network (which I probably wont use too much).
The install was fast. I hooked it up and then ran downstairs to the media center PC to run the install disk autorun exe. Brilliantly, it goes directly to the internet to download the latest software instead of installing outdated software off the disk and asking you to update. Once the install wizard comes up, it updates the device's firmware instantly. The wizard is short and sweet and it asks what app you're using (Windows Media Center, etc).
Word of caution: you'll need a splitter to hook this up to an antenna because there are two coax connections: one for each tuner. Don't run out and buy a super fancy splitter that will connect up to 2 ghz. Those are meant for satellite tv and will actually mess up the reception. You'll want a basic 50 - 900 or 50 - 1000 Mhz splitter. I ended up digging up a simple splitter I already owned and it worked like a dream. Too bad I bought the fancy one but oh well.
I have simple rabbit ears but I'm contemplating a bigger and badder antenna to get some stations from further away. But this is perfect for now. My wife can now record her favorite shows in HD which makes her happy (which makes me happy ;). The HD reception is like cable. So now I just get hi-speed internet with no cable TV - saving close to a hundred bucks a month... enough to pay for this device and then some!