Is HDHomeRun still a good choice

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nigelj

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#81699 16-Apr-2011 17:28

Okay, to say I'm only a bit curious is likely an understatement I've read about the Homerun in the past but put it aside without realising that it did have official/proper support for non-MCE type setups. Unfortunately everything from a New Zealand standpoint seems to be rather quiet since the launch in 2009.

It seems the price has dropped & shrunk, which is nice, but even so, are these devices worth the $200, or would I be better off just putting a Hauppauge WinTV-HVR-1200 or similar (one that supports MythTV/etc) into a computer and be done with that?

freitasm

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#459479 16-Apr-2011 18:01

Worth everything - I have a Dell Zino as my HTPC and it's very small, so there's no way to add a card inside it. Could do with a USB DVB-T but the HomeRun makes it easier for us to watch news and other programs on my laptop in the office as well - everything is "on the network"...

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nigelj

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#459515 16-Apr-2011 19:47

freitasm: Worth everything - I have a Dell Zino as my HTPC and it's very small, so there's no way to add a card inside it. Could do with a USB DVB-T but the HomeRun makes it easier for us to watch news and other programs on my laptop in the office as well - everything is "on the network"...

Hmmm, I can certainly see the logic there, I don't have any HTPC type setup at the moment, and likely never will (but I guess I should never say never). Primarily at the moment, my thinking is just as a DVR type setup to record programs that I don't want to watch immediately, or not sure if I'd be interested in etc etc), just utterly confusing what way to go about doing it.

sbiddle

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#459521 16-Apr-2011 19:59

One of the only disadvantage of the HDHomeRun is that it can introduce bottlenecks into your network if you want the ability to record multiple channels on the same MUX and don't have a Gigabit switch. Since this means the entire MUX is transmitted over your LAN you're looking at around 60Mbps of traffic if you're using both tuners at the same time.

mail2mm

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#459561 16-Apr-2011 21:56

I am a bit curious about where you buy the HDHomeRun units in NZ. I have sent several enquiries to Digital Pride, www.digitalpride.co.nz, who say they are the NZ distributor. I get replies saying the newer version is now available and can be ordered online. Their web site continues to show only the earlier and physically bigger SiliconDust Dual HDHomeRun DVB-T. The newer Dual model (hdhr3-dt), http://www.hdhomerun.co.nz/products/models/hdhr3-dt/, has only one RF, aerial input. The older model had two.

Does anyone know if the Dual is available? Where? Pricing? Thanks!

nigelj

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#459566 16-Apr-2011 22:06

mail2mm: The newer Dual model (hdhr3-dt), http://www.hdhomerun.co.nz/products/models/hdhr3-dt/, has only one RF, aerial input. The older model had two.

Does anyone know if the Dual is available? Where? Pricing? Thanks!

From what I've read on http://www.hdhomerun.co.nz it's still the dual, but a mini-me version, and the ordering is at http://shop.hdhomerun.co.nz/buy-online/. DigitalPride just seems to be the distribution company for NZ.

mail2mm

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#459589 17-Apr-2011 07:20

Thanks. Their DigitalPride web site appears not to have been updated but the www.hdhomerun.co.nz site does have the newer Dual available. Now to decide if my needs justify $199.

browned

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#460078 18-Apr-2011 12:37

There is always another option. This was mentioned here a few months back but not sure anyone has tried it. States USB on the webpage but it seems to be a network attached device.

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nigelj

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#460596 19-Apr-2011 18:27

Quick update here, I decided yesterday to bite the bullet and get it, ordered around 3pm and it arrived this morning.

Plugged it in, working out of the box w/ VLC etc with 0 effort, and got it working with MythTV etc in a couple of hours (mainly due to my in-experience).

Also, the picture on the Silicon Dust site doesn't do it justice, it's smaller than my fist.

sDew

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#463510 28-Apr-2011 21:21

Just looking at network usage using HDhomerun Recording TV3 and watching TV1 network usage was around 25%, about 10-15 Mbps per channel, non HD channels use about half that.

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#464164 1-May-2011 13:26

Does anyone know if an apple tv (the new small black one) would be able to stream from a hdhomerun?

sbiddle

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#464167 1-May-2011 13:33

nickb800: Does anyone know if an apple tv (the new small black one) would be able to stream from a hdhomerun?

Lots of info on the SiliconDust forums about this, that or Google should be the first place to look. You can to an extent using XBMC.