HD Homerun Prime - $89.99

[TastesLikeChicken]

http://www.woot.com/offers/silicondust-hdhomerun-prime-3-tuners-17

10 hours left. Seems to be a hot price if you're in the market for a cablecard tuner.

 

[lupi]

Everytime I see these I just wonder why no news in so long about the 4/6 tuner version.

 

[TastesLikeChicken]

Silicon Dust probably saw how Ceton got screwed over by Microsoft with Windows 8/Media Center, saw the writing on the wall, and dropped development of any new products.

 

[aman74]

Silicon Dust probably saw how Ceton got screwed over by Microsoft with Windows 8/Media Center, saw the writing on the wall, and dropped development of any new products.

Can you enlighten me...does Windows 8 make these products less viable?

I'm on Apple right now, but doing a Hackintosh and might check out Windows again and am curious about HT and wondering what the story is.

 

[Elixer]

Can you enlighten me...does Windows 8 make these products less viable?

I'm on Apple right now, but doing a Hackintosh and might check out Windows again and am curious about HT and wondering what the story is.

The only problem with Centon was there echo device. Basically, MS with win 8 only allows the Xbox to be a media extender, nothing else.

However this has nothing to do with silicondust and their reason for not making a unit with more tuners than the 3 they have now.

I am betting it has to do with cost + signal issues.

In any case, the Homerun Prime works great with windows 8 & 10, and linux.
DRM channels only work with mediacenter though, and no linux.

 

[ivwshane]

The biggest set back I experienced with my prime was software related. The only thing that worked worth a damn was windows media center and IMO wmc is way passed it's prime. Mobile support on ios was garbage and Silicondust didn't even have their own app to use. You had to buy some shitty third party app that I never got working.

If you don't mind using wmc and that's it then it's fine. Ever since dscaler stopped working with digital tuners, everything else looks like crap anyway.



I didn't mean to thread crap, I was just super excited to get one of these after having used analog tuners for 10 years and the disappointment led me to seek alternatives (legal or not).

 

[Elixer]

I assume you are talking about analog streams, since with digital (Cablecard support) are all MPEG2 streams from the cable company, and quality is the same as what your TV shows. 1080 source, 1080 MPEG2 files.
NPVR, mythTV all work fine with the prime, and don't cost you anything. (No DRM channels.)
They also now make HDHomeRun View for mobile devices ($2 fee for the license), and windows (free).

 

[ivwshane]

I assume you are talking about analog streams, since with digital (Cablecard support) are all MPEG2 streams from the cable company, and quality is the same as what your TV shows. 1080 source, 1080 MPEG2 files.
NPVR, mythTV all work fine with the prime, and don't cost you anything. (No DRM channels.)
They also now make HDHomeRun View for mobile devices ($2 fee for the license), and windows (free).

Well that's the catch, DRM. I couldn't get any of the HD channels to show up and my tv's can view them fine (no box needed).


I'm curious about the app though, what's the name of it?

 

[TastesLikeChicken]

The only problem with Centon was there echo device. Basically, MS with win 8 only allows the Xbox to be a media extender, nothing else.

However this has nothing to do with silicondust and their reason for not making a unit with more tuners than the 3 they have now.

I am betting it has to do with cost + signal issues.

In any case, the Homerun Prime works great with windows 8 & 10, and linux.
DRM channels only work with mediacenter though, and no linux.

It wasn't just the problem with the Echo. MS also dropped WMC from Windows 8 embedded, effectively ending the Ceton Q (If anyone else remembers that product?). They also disbanded the WMC development team indicating that there was no real future for WMC. Why develop products that rely on software that has no future?

As far as cost and signal issues, Ceton has 6-tuner versions so there is no reason SD couldn't do it as well.

 

[SimMike2]

The first two years I had my cable card with the HD Prime, I received all channels, including HBO just fine, but it did take trying three different cable cards. Then all of a sudden a bunch of channels like Comedy Network and other stopped working. So I got a couple of other cards and everything works except HBO and Encore. I blame Comcast. But even without HBO, which means I rent a Comcast DVR anyway, I still prefer this device over the Comcast DVR. The reason is more record channels, three instead of two, and basically unlimited storage space. I currently have a 1TB, 3TB, 3TB and my current 4TB external as storage space. So I can save a ton of shows for literally years and years. Given the future of WMC, I would probably be more leery about purchasing now, but I still might do it for this price. If you can get Comcast to fully initialize it so it receives all the channels, including HBO, it can literally pay for itself in a few months with no more DVR rentals. Mine paid for itself years ago, so even now that I choose to rent a DVR and don't get the savings every month, I still prefer this.

 

[lupi]

SD was working on a 4 tuner version, but it seems that went away in favor of a 6 tuner/1 card version. People really thought we'd finally get an update at the expos last year but now with them occuring a year later...

And not sure why you'd think they were ditching them. They've been releasing new non-card versions as well as apps for all versions.

 

[mikeford]

Cable was doing everything it could to make the devices hard to use, which may have killed mainstream use.

 

[TastesLikeChicken]

SD was working on a 4 tuner version, but it seems that went away in favor of a 6 tuner/1 card version. People really thought we'd finally get an update at the expos last year but now with them occuring a year later...

SD was allegedly developing the 4- and 6-tuner version at the same time.

And not sure why you'd think they were ditching them. They've been releasing new non-card versions as well as apps for all versions.

It based on a simple rule of business - You don't develop a product for a shrinking market and WMC/cablecard users have become a shrinking market. The non-cable card versions are still popular because cord-cutting has become fashionable and SD arguably has the best product for that market, a currently expanding one and one that will be around for a long time to come.

 

[Muse]

Can you use this with no cable, just rooftop antennas (I have two antennas)?

 

[Raincity]

Can you use this with no cable, just rooftop antennas (I have two antennas)?

No, but the HD Homerun extend has a dual ATSC /QAM tuner http://www.amazon.com/SiliconDust-H...1426435599&sr=8-1&keywords=hd+home+run+extend

I bought two on separate occasions when Amazon had them on sale twice for $99 this year.

 

[Muse]

No, but the HD Homerun extend has a dual ATSC /QAM tuner http://www.amazon.com/SiliconDust-H...1426435599&sr=8-1&keywords=hd+home+run+extend

I bought two on separate occasions when Amazon had them on sale twice for $99 this year.

That looks pretty good. I just put it in my cart in anticipation of a price drop (I do that at Amazon a lot), have scores of things on my Wish List.

So, I could watch two different programs (or record them) with this, both by antenna? Would I use two antennas for that or could I use the signal from just one? I suppose one. Does this come with DVR software? Right now I'm using two different MyHD HDTV cards (130 and 120) in two different desktops. They are PCI, and you need a separate machine to run a 2nd card. It's a little cumbersome, but I do that once in a while (including yesterday). The MyHD cards come with an application you can use for DVR, and it includes the ability to timeshift, so that I could come into a two hour program after 1/2 hour and watch it from the beginning (of course, also allowing FF through commercials, and customizable incremental FF/REW settings).

 

[SimMike2]

That looks pretty good. I just put it in my cart in anticipation of a price drop (I do that at Amazon a lot), have scores of things on my Wish List.

So, I could watch two different programs (or record them) with this, both by antenna? Would I use two antennas for that or could I use the signal from just one? I suppose one. Does this come with DVR software? Right now I'm using two different MyHD HDTV cards (130 and 120) in two different desktops. They are PCI, and you need a separate machine to run a 2nd card. It's a little cumbersome, but I do that once in a while (including yesterday). The MyHD cards come with an application you can use for DVR, and it includes the ability to timeshift, so that I could come into a two hour program after 1/2 hour and watch it from the beginning (of course, also allowing FF through commercials, and customizable incremental FF/REW settings).

For full DVR functionality, you really need Windows Media Center, which is included for free with Windows 7. The MyHD card I had a few years ago never got drivers beyond Windows XP, so I don't use it anymore.

 

[Raincity]

That looks pretty good. I just put it in my cart in anticipation of a price drop (I do that at Amazon a lot), have scores of things on my Wish List.

So, I could watch two different programs (or record them) with this, both by antenna? Would I use two antennas for that or could I use the signal from just one? I suppose one. Does this come with DVR software? Right now I'm using two different MyHD HDTV cards (130 and 120) in two different desktops. They are PCI, and you need a separate machine to run a 2nd card. It's a little cumbersome, but I do that once in a while (including yesterday). The MyHD cards come with an application you can use for DVR, and it includes the ability to timeshift, so that I could come into a two hour program after 1/2 hour and watch it from the beginning (of course, also allowing FF through commercials, and customizable incremental FF/REW settings).

The antenna input works for both tuners so only one antenna is needed. As already posted there is no PVR software included. If you don't want to use Windows WMC. Running Argus or Next PVR as TV server and using Kodi or Media Browser on the front end will also work with the HD Home Run extend.

 

[Muse]

For full DVR functionality, you really need Windows Media Center, which is included for free with Windows 7. The MyHD card I had a few years ago never got drivers beyond Windows XP, so I don't use it anymore.

You have a MyHD card? Which one? I use my MyHD 130 with XP Pro and the MyHD 120 with Windows 2000 Pro! Are you sure you can't use yours with Win7? AFAIK, people at the MyHD support threads at AVS Forums didn't report problems running on Windows 7. AVS Forums threads on the MyHD HDTV cards:

MyHD MDP-130

UnOfficial MyHD MDP-120/DVI card thread - part 2

UnOfficial MyHD MDP-120/DVI card thread - (the first thread)

MyHD MDP-130 Meta FAQ

OFFICIAL MyHD MDP-120/DVI card thread

The MyHD cards aren't the most sensitive, but they have a lot going for them. The software's not bad and the processing is done on the cards, uses very little system resources.

 

[SimMike2]

MyHD 120 doesn't have DVI, just VGA. Never could find drivers that worked with Windows 7. I moved to a place without OTA, so no big loss. Until recently my brother used it, but I had a dual boot in his computer with his main drive running Window 7 and the secondary drive running XP with the MyHD. What I did like is you didn't have to loop the video through your main display screen, which deteriorated quality, but could connect the VGA out of the MyHD directly to your HDTV or projector. Worked good while it worked. Just downloaded the last driver update and inside the zip file the file says it was last modified in 2010. Maybe I'll put it in my test computer with Windows 7 and try just for the heck of it.

 

[Muse]

MyHD 120 doesn't have DVI, just VGA. Never could find drivers that worked with Windows 7. I moved to a place without OTA, so no big loss. Until recently my brother used it, but I had a dual boot in his computer with his main drive running Window 7 and the secondary drive running XP with the MyHD.

Can probably get the DVI daughterboard for that MyHD 120 pretty cheap nowadays on the used market. AVS Forums for sale or ebay, for example.

 

[Muse]

What I did like is you didn't have to loop the video through your main display screen, which deteriorated quality, but could connect the VGA out of the MyHD directly to your HDTV or projector. Worked good while it worked. Just downloaded the last driver update and inside the zip file the file says it was last modified in 2010. Maybe I'll put it in my test computer with Windows 7 and try just for the heck of it.

Yeah, worth a try, they upgraded the drivers several times, the DVR app too. At least some of the threads I linked are still active, those guys will help you out, it's really a geek's card and there's lots of cool geeks that participate in those threads.

 

[you2]

Can the hdhomerun prime be hooked up to a tv as well as a comptuer ?

 

[sep]

So no WMC in Win 10?

 

[Elixer]

So no WMC in Win 10?

Who said that? It is still in the win 10 preview builds.