Tuner and DVR Recommendation
 

I'm looking for thoughts & experience using stand-alone HDTV tuners and DVR units. My Living Room TV is mounted to the wall with in-wall cabling that connects it to my AV Receiver. I have no speakers on the TV - all audio and video flows through the AV Receiver to the TV so I need a Tuner/DVR between the antenna and the AV/Receiver.

Although a combo Tuner/DVR is preferred, I'm not objectionable to buying a separate Tuner and DVR if it will result in the best quality.

Thanks!

I use the TIVO OTA DVR. Has problems with it for a few weeks, where it would go into a re-boot and stay in re-boot mode pretty much every day. I would have to unplug it, let it sit a minute and then plug back in for it to work, but haven't had a problem with it in over a month. I think it is exclusive to Best Buy, and costs only about $50.

Thanks. I should have clarified that I am looking for a stand-alone solution (not a monthly subscription service like TiVo).

The Silicon Dust HDHR tuners integrate with virtually all the HTPC platforms. You can even write your own scripts and record direct to your hard drive or high performance flash card.

http://forum.tvfool.com/showthread.php?t=820

For a ridiculously inexpensive solution, look at the HomeWorx HW-150PVR. http://www.amazon.com/Mediasonic-HW-.../dp/B00I2ZBD1U

I have the Channelmaster DVR+. Have had it since mid-December with no issues. Works great. Very simple to use. My wife easily adapted from the DirecTV DVR to the Channelmaster DVR+. It includes a program guide with no monthly fee.

I was thinking about buying that tuner but $399 seems expensive. Is it worth the money?

I agree, it does seem a little pricey. You can find a much better price on Amazon. I suppose part of the price includes the subscription free program guide which was important for me because I do not want the ongoing monthly payment of Tivo. For me, the ease of setup and the ease of use for other family members were selling points--it really helped me sell my wife on going OTA and dropping satellite. I find the DVR+ tuners to be just as sensitive as those built into any of my TV sets.

I looked at the Channel master tuner, it looks really nice. But instead I put a $100 Hauppauge dual tuner card in a PC. I use Windows Media Center as the DVR and to tune live TV. I already had the PC so no extra expense there.

It works great, records 2 channels at once, or watch one record another, free guide with the PC connected to the internet. I use the PC to watch Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, and any web site that streams shows.

Teaching the wife how to use it on the other hand, :rolleyes:

How does the Happauge tuner perform compared to the HD Homerun? I have the latter, and it picks up fewer stations than my Sony Bravia TV. I like the HDHR though, since I can watch TV at my desk while I'm working. And it only misses stations that are only sporadically watchable (early morning hours are best for these stations, somehow).

I've never used a HD Home run so can't compare to that. The PC tuner card does seem to be slightly better than the tuner in the TV, Samusung 46" Smart TV, just a couple of years old. It gets a few channels that the TV struggles with, and clear picture on channels that the TV has drop outs on. If that helps any.

The PC does a much better job at Netflix and other online streaming than the built in apps in the smart TV, much better. So I guess it shouldn't be a suprise that the tuner is not steller either.

Edited to add;

The software that comes with the card also has a meda server function, so you can watch OTA channels on any web browser, phone, tablet, etc on your home subnet. Even has a link to the manufactures web site so you can setup viewing over the internet from anywhere. But WMC does a better job with the guide and channel changing, etc. IMHO