Tuesday
Oct252011
Review: HD HomeRun Prime TV Tuner - Watch Live TV on Your Computer
Joshua Massre | Tuesday, October 25, 2011 at 10:15AM
Watching television on your computer can be a pain in the ass. When we say television, we don’t mean going to Hulu and watching a show streaming. We mean watching actual, live television. Microsoft has made great strides in this area with their Windows Media Center software.
In short, Windows Media Center is a program that allows you to watch live television on your computer if you have a tuner installed in your computer. Microsoft originally shipped the product in 2002 as a special version of Windows XP that was only available on computers that came with it preinstalled. Starting with Windows Vista, it came as part of the operating system, meaning that anyone with Windows Vista or 7 just has to plug in a television tuner and they can watch live television. The problem is that if you want to watch television on the computer, it must be near the cable jack. What if you want to watch television on your laptop? It’s a big problem with these types of cards.
A surprisingly large number of desktop computers come with basic television tuners included in them (most $600 computers at Best Buy include them). People just don’t know about them. The problem with these tuners is that they can only capture basic channels like ABC and CBS. Some can capture cable channels (think AMC and FX), but they are rarely in HD. The reason for that is that cable providers encrypt most HD broadcasts and pay channels like HBO so that people can’t just record an HD copy of a show and upload it to BitTorrent (obviously, they haven’t quite succeeded). That’s where CableCard comes in.
CableCard is a special little device that is about the size of a credit card provided by the cable company. It plugs into specially designed tuners and allows you to access all of the premium and HD channels that are encrypted. Think of it as a middle man between the cable company and your device.
The HD HomeRum Prime, made by veteran tuner manufacturer SiliconDust, aims to fix both these problems. First, it is compatible with CableCards and second, it works over your home network. The way it works is this: you connect it to your wireless router and then attach a coaxial cable from the wall. After that, any computer that is on your home network can access the tuner and watch or record television.
Setting up the HD HomeRun Prime is a mess, but it’s not SiliconDust’s fault. It’s the cable company’s issues. In order to set up a CableCard device, a cable company technician must come to your house and install it. It took two different visits from Comcast and five hours of work before our tuner was up and running.
Once it was up and running, however, it worked like a dream. We were able to stream HBO HD to our laptop without any problems or stuttering. Granted, we were using a 5GHz wireless N network, which is as fast as you can get. People using an older wireless network might have issues, but perhaps they aren't the prime audience for this product in the first place.
Recording a program was easy as well. Since the HD HomeRun Prime includes two tuners, you can record one program while watching another (or record two programs while watching a third, already recorded program). The only downside is that your computer must be turned on in order to record a program. That means you have to leave it on over night if you want to record a program at 3 AM.
After using the HD HomeRun Prime for a few days, we forgot it was even there. That’s the highest compliment you can pay a piece of technology like this. It is supposed to be invisible. You shouldn't have to worry if it will record your program for you; it should just work. The HD HomeRun Prime succeeds at this. In our testing, there wasn’t a single missed recording.
Set up is a hassle, but if you aren’t a fan of your cable company’s DVR and want something that is a bit more elegant and customizable, the HD HomeRun Prime is worth the money.
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In short, Windows Media Center is a program that allows you to watch live television on your computer if you have a tuner installed in your computer. Microsoft originally shipped the product in 2002 as a special version of Windows XP that was only available on computers that came with it preinstalled. Starting with Windows Vista, it came as part of the operating system, meaning that anyone with Windows Vista or 7 just has to plug in a television tuner and they can watch live television. The problem is that if you want to watch television on the computer, it must be near the cable jack. What if you want to watch television on your laptop? It’s a big problem with these types of cards.
A surprisingly large number of desktop computers come with basic television tuners included in them (most $600 computers at Best Buy include them). People just don’t know about them. The problem with these tuners is that they can only capture basic channels like ABC and CBS. Some can capture cable channels (think AMC and FX), but they are rarely in HD. The reason for that is that cable providers encrypt most HD broadcasts and pay channels like HBO so that people can’t just record an HD copy of a show and upload it to BitTorrent (obviously, they haven’t quite succeeded). That’s where CableCard comes in.
CableCard is a special little device that is about the size of a credit card provided by the cable company. It plugs into specially designed tuners and allows you to access all of the premium and HD channels that are encrypted. Think of it as a middle man between the cable company and your device.
So...what the hell does all this mean for you? Well, it means that watching premium channels on anything that isn’t a cable company approved tuner (such as a DVR) needs one of these cards. The problem is that tuners that are compatible with computers were almost non-existent until recently and if you could get a hold of one, it was usually preinstalled on a custom-designed machine that was certified by the cable company as compatible with CableCards.
The HD HomeRum Prime, made by veteran tuner manufacturer SiliconDust, aims to fix both these problems. First, it is compatible with CableCards and second, it works over your home network. The way it works is this: you connect it to your wireless router and then attach a coaxial cable from the wall. After that, any computer that is on your home network can access the tuner and watch or record television.
Setting up the HD HomeRun Prime is a mess, but it’s not SiliconDust’s fault. It’s the cable company’s issues. In order to set up a CableCard device, a cable company technician must come to your house and install it. It took two different visits from Comcast and five hours of work before our tuner was up and running.Any computer that is on your home network can access the tuner and watch or record television.
Once it was up and running, however, it worked like a dream. We were able to stream HBO HD to our laptop without any problems or stuttering. Granted, we were using a 5GHz wireless N network, which is as fast as you can get. People using an older wireless network might have issues, but perhaps they aren't the prime audience for this product in the first place.
Recording a program was easy as well. Since the HD HomeRun Prime includes two tuners, you can record one program while watching another (or record two programs while watching a third, already recorded program). The only downside is that your computer must be turned on in order to record a program. That means you have to leave it on over night if you want to record a program at 3 AM.
After using the HD HomeRun Prime for a few days, we forgot it was even there. That’s the highest compliment you can pay a piece of technology like this. It is supposed to be invisible. You shouldn't have to worry if it will record your program for you; it should just work. The HD HomeRun Prime succeeds at this. In our testing, there wasn’t a single missed recording.Set up is a hassle, but if you aren’t a fan of your cable company’s DVR and want something that is a bit more elegant and customizable, the HD HomeRun Prime is worth the money.
RATING: 4/5
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You can get the HD HomeRun Prime from Silicon Dust for $249.99.
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