I've used both and ended up sticking with the Hauppauge 2250. If you need additional ATSC tuners I highly recommend the HP USB tuner. You can usually find them on ebay or other online vendors for about $50. It's basically a rebadged Hauppauge 950Q USB tuner.

The dual tuner SiliconDust HDHomeRun has a huge fan base and I didn't really give it a thorough checkout when I tried it. I was a bit concerned about network throughput using the tuners via ethernet, mainly because I have several computers on my network and I was a bit nervous about bandwidth limitations that might screw with any recordings. I was having a lot of network issues at the time that were unrelated to the HDHR, but it forced me in the direction of the 2250 vs. the HDHR as a result. A combination of the two might be just what you're looking for if you have a stable network.

 

The network is hard-wired and really stable, but I had concerns about bandwidth too. Four 5-7Mb streams shouldn't stress it but the downstairs 8-port Intel switch by my TV/TiVos/PC is only 100Mb (the PC has 2 Gb ports). If I go with more than 1 SiliconDust tuner I would probably throw them both (and the PC) on a separate gigabit switch and give it a 100Mb link to the rest of the network for Netflix etc.

A post that I found on another forum said that the new version of the SD tuner was even more sensitive than the Hauppage card but I don't believe everything I read on the internet - thus this post.

Hoping to get some real world feedback. Thanks for the input!

 

You might want to refer to this forum for more input on your question:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/forumdisplay.php?f=26

Some folks here at the TCF tend to turn their noses up at you when you discuss home theater computers. Some believe that Tivo is the only game in town worth consideration. I used to think that way, but I'm much better now.

 

The network is hard-wired and really stable, but I had concerns about bandwidth too. Four 5-7Mb streams shouldn't stress it but the downstairs 8-port Intel switch by my TV/TiVos/PC is only 100Mb (the PC has 2 Gb ports). If I go with more than 1 SiliconDust tuner I would probably throw them both (and the PC) on a separate gigabit switch and give it a 100Mb link to the rest of the network for Netflix etc.

I bet you would be ok with the HDHomerun. I have one. The HDHomerun and PC are connected to the network via powerline adapters and I'm OK with 2 streams on it.

 

Some folks here at the TCF tend to turn their noses up at you when you discuss home theater computers. Some believe that Tivo is the only game in town worth consideration. I used to think that way, but I'm much better now.

Rest assured that I am NOT replacing my stack of S2 lifetime TiVos. I just want to add the ability to record my local channels in HD.

 

This question has probably been asked here somewhere, but I haven't found the answer, and I have been waiting for years t upgrade 4 of my Tivo units.

Given that Hauppage and others can take HD video from a composite source and record and timeshift into 720P, why has Tivo not made a unit that is not dependant on cablecards or special deals with satellite providers, like the old series 2 units that could go from cable to satellite to OTA and any combination, all with the same unit?

I thought this thread might have a few people that could tell me if Tivo will ever make another all in one HD recording unit that I can buy 4 of?

 

Because it would make Tivos EVEN MORE expensive than they already are.

Digitizing an external source is kind of funky. Don't get me wrong, I've said I wish that Tivos could optionally record from the analog stations too (all except the Elite have analog tuners too), but recording from an external box, e.g. another cable box, is just hokey.

(and I say that as someone who VERY often manually records from my Tivo to my XS32, but that's me doing it manually, not with IR blasters.)

 

I ask because the Hauppage is almost a Tivo, except for the interface and that it does what an all in one unit should do; record HD from the component inputs.

I've been a tivo bigot since the S1 and have bought lifetime on all of my units, but for the last several years, Tivo has left me disappointed and thinking about moving on to something else or hacking together some HTPC alternative to get my shows in HD, how I want them.

I get HD tv on my direct TV, but my Tivo wants to record it in low def. I refuse to get a directv unit that I don't own and can't upgrade on my own and that I can't put a lifetime service on. I hate comcast, so my only HD tivo unit is stuck recording OTA stuff only.

I can see no real reason why tivo can't do this, outside of industry anti-piracy concerns, but even there, if Hauppage can do it, why can't Tivo. It seems to me that it would increase sales because the unit is transportable to almost any service that outputs through component. It would be cheaper because it would not need sspecialized and different technology for cable and satellite. It would be the same as the series 1 and 2, but using component inputs to record in HD.

 

Because it would make Tivos EVEN MORE expensive than they already are.

Digitizing an external source is kind of funky...

What's the difference between digitizing a NTSC TV channel and an external source? Aside from the need to extract the baseband video from the RF carrier, separate the luma and chroma, and convert the Y'IQ color space to something more suitable for MPEG-2 encoding? Aside from 25 cents worth of RCA jacks, isn't everything that's needed already there? Am I missing something?

I don't want to beat a dead horse, but maybe it's necessary. The way I see it, if TiVo can afford to replace inexpensive commodity parts with expensive proprietary parts, cost might not be the real issue here. Couldn't this be yet another example of the New American Dream? The one where a large corporation totally ignores the fact that it got successful by offering good value, and starts obsessing over "protecting" its products from being used by the "thieving" customer?

/just sayin'...

 

Yeah. I've been wanting a TiVo that could take the component outputs of my cable DVR and use that.

In Canada, NO providers support CableCARDs, and some begrudgingly will activate a CableCARD as a regular DVR box. But all are more than happy to sell you THEIR boxes, stuck to THEIR service.

I have a Hauppage HD-PVR connected to the DVR to my Windows Media Center PC so I can have a USABLE interface to watch TV.

Hell, our cable providers love to show you guide listings for channels you don't have, in the hopes you'll call them up to add it to your service (cha-ching).

I do have an old Series 2 DT hooked to another cablebox, too, but it's only SD.

Edit: And let's not forget stuff like MRV and such. No cable DVR supports that.