Two sites have come out with reviews of Silicon Dust's HDHomeRun, a network-attached HDTV tuner.
The HDHomeRun is a dual ATSC tuner box, and according to the product website, it's compatible with VLC, MythTV, SageTV, and support for Windows Media Center and BeyondTV are on the way (both are in currently in beta testing).
According to a DVR Playground review, the device is easy to set up, although there are no instructions in the box, only a sheet of paper that directs you to the Silicon Dust forums. Their review unit did a fine job of streaming a high-definition television signal using VLC and MythTV -- provided you use the ethernet cable. There was noticeable stuttering when using the 802.11b/g connection.
Missing Remote largely agrees that the HDHomeRun has an amazing feature set for the price ($170), but the setup is a bit cumbersome. While the HDHomeRun software automatically configures and updates the device to work with various software packages, you need to have Microsoft's .NET package installed, and you need to update the firmware from the company's website. This may not seem like the most user-friendly approach, but it allows for frequent firmware and software updates to be issued. And I'm guessing most customers in the market for this device are already pretty tech-savvy.
1. Nice post - please note, its Silicon Dust, NOT Silicone Dust. That is a different type of product... :-)
Posted at 6:51PM on Dec 12th 2006 by Lou Jacob