SiliconDust HDHomeRun HDHR-US Dual Networked High Definition Digital Tuner Device (White)
by SiliconDust USA, Inc
|
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 |
|---|
Customers in the UK,
Buy this product at amazon.co.uk
for British Pounds
Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of SiliconDust HDHomeRun HDHR-US Dual Networked High Definition Digital Tuner Device (White)
Customer Review: As advertised
Summary: 5 Stars
Having gotten fed up with my cable bill, I decided to ditch it and set my own HTPC. I ended up using a MacMini and the options for tuners seemed limited to EyeTV products. Most of the EyeTv products seemed to have quite a few bugs. The hardware apparently die, out of the blue, and worse they were single tuners. I got spoiled using Tivo and a dual tuner. So I hunted down for another option. This is the better option.
It's dual tuner and installation on a mac was very easy. I got the whole system running in a snap. Now I can watch TV on one channel and record on the other.
The downside of this tuner is that you have to have you're own software. In the Mac realm, you're severely limited. EyeTV software is your only option, so I ended up buying the software separately, which is an added expense (the EyeTV hardware comes bundled with the software). As an aside, the EyeTV software isn't that great; it's buggy; it's not so easy to set up season passes; and sometimes programs aren't recorded entirely. It's basically a C- (but that's the best option for Macs!). Of course, I'm comparing EyeTV to Tivo, which might not be fair.
Anyway, this tuner has worked without a single problem and I have it tucked away so I don't even see it, with a cable running in each of its tunes.
Customer Review: I was skeptical, but this thing rocks!
Summary: 5 Stars
I am a very technology oriented person and have built several PCs. I just built my first Media Center PC and came across the HD HomeRun product. I was skeptical about how well a tuner would really work, and whether my 100Mbit wired network could handle high definition signals. Wow! This thing was simple to setup and worked right off with Vista Media Center Edition. It is so much simpler than having to install PCI cards and run coaxial cable to your PC, you can install this thing anywhere you have a cable outlet (or antenna) and a network jack!
I am using this with Time Warner Cable in Cincinnati and it detects and picks up the ClearQAM stations perfectly. I was a little surprised because I have read other tuner reviews where the tuner could receive a station but wasn't able to detect the station on channel scan. For the record I have digital cable, but my understanding is that ClearQAM comes through even if you only have analog cable.
This isn't a fault of the product, as it is clearly explained, but my only wish is that this thing could pickup analog too. I have one Hauppauge MCE 150 PCI card in the PC to get the analog cable stations (kids can't live without Nick and Disney).
Buy it - you will be happy!
Customer Review: Best Linux HDTV solution to date
Summary: 5 Stars
I use this for watching OTA HDTV channels on my Gentoo Linux workstation. It does that job admirably and with none of the driver issues that plague other Linux TV solutions. It consumes about 15-20% of my 3GHz quad-core processor when the real-time HDTV stream is being displayed on the desktop.
It comes with a single CD that contains no manual, and almost no software. You have to go to the SiliconDust website to get information on how to install and run it. It's really fairly simple if you already have a DHCP server running on your network, and an application capable of streaming video (ala VLC on Linux). There's an ebuild for Gentoo available on the http://bugs.gentoo.org bugzilla that installs the config program and the config GUI. Then plug the HDHomeRun into your network and the DHCP server assigns it an address. Attach the antenna or cable input. Then run the config GUI, and it will find the device on the network and allow you to scan the channels and open a VLC window to watch the stream. When you're not actively streaming the box shuts down automatically to avoid wasting network bandwidth.
Took me about 10 minutes to go from out-of-the-box to watching 1080p HDTV on my Gentoo box. That's amazing.
Customer Review: Great for streaming antenna signals to the whole house
Summary: 5 Stars
This is a really cool product. I've used this for several months now, and finally canceled my dish satellite service. I'm using a windows 7 RC, media center PC for my main entertainment box. I get all my local channels with a roof mounted ClearStream 4 antenna Antennas Direct CLEARSTREAM4 Antenna, and catch up on other shows using hulu desktop. See my build here [...]
Pros:
1. Beautiful 1080i HD picture and 5.1 surround with my rooftop antenna
2. Hassle free hardware/ software install, and drivers work flawlessly
3. Has dual tuners so one can watch and record at the same time
4. Tuners are automatically shared across different PCs and even laptops. So I can watch my TV on the patio with a laptop.
5. Reduces clutter in the living room, and no hardware to install in the pc itself
6. Windows, linux & mac support
Cons:
1. Only works with ATSC(antenna) or unencrypted QAM for cable. Comcast seems to be getting rid of all QAM channels except locals.
2. Pricey for a dual tuner
3. Require gigabit ethernet or wireless-n connections in all the rooms
Customer Review: This thing rocks!
Summary: 5 Stars
This thing rocks. Plug in your cable or antenna, attach it to your network, and this thing works. There is Windows software included. Personally, I am using MythTV for Linux, and the installation took me 2 minutes total.
Comcast in Pennsylvania encrypts most channels, and your cable provider may do this too. There is no reason they should do this, other than to ensure that non Comcast boxes will not work. Instead, an old UHF television antenna is ideal for watching HDTV television from your local broadcast television networks.
This device is not designed to pick-up analog television stations. Some cable providers will rebroadcast analog stations digitally, which will allow you to tune them in -- if they are not encrypted.
None of these problems are related to the functionality of this device, which has been FLAWLESS, and the thing never needs to be reset. The company also releases updated drivers and firmware often, and they also support their products pretty well, even replacing defective power adaptors for free (and in 5 days!).
If you're on the fence with this unit, just get it -- two tuners, multiplatform operation, and the unit not does not crash.