Pros: Worked with a Comcast cable-card with no drama. Tech just called in the info and it worked straight away. Picture is perfect 1080p60 at all times. Can record HD including premium using Win7 Ultimate's media center. Good signal troubleshooting tool built in via web browser.

Cons: Have to jump through a few hoops in media center before it works, but the process is well documented at this point. Also, it works like a network card, so firewalls or similar programs can block the communications if you aren't careful. Only video issues I had were AMD display driver related, not the device itself. My remote has never worked, but I don't need it.

Other Thoughts: If you use Windows media center, look into moving your time-shift folder (TempSBE) to a RAM drive so you don't kill your SSD with writes.

Pros: Works... sometimes... When stars are aligned ..

Cons: A whole lot can be said about longevity, and the Hauppauge dcr-2650 is obviously missing the mark with this.
I got 2 of these, (Dec 2014) set up in 2 different locations (23 miles apart) and both have failed.
The first in May, and now the second one in Aug.
I expected much better for the price paid for these…

Other Thoughts: Getting WAY to familiar with the Hauppauge RMA process…

Strongly urge people to get extended warrantees for these..

Pros: When it worked it worked well.

Cons: What a frustrating experience. Issues started after approximately 6 months and continued off and on for 2 1/2 years.

Frequently "lost" channels then magically "recovered" them after several unplugging/repluggings. Found out the hard way there was a problem. Numerous shows didn't record due to "channel not found" errors.

Originally blamed the Charter cablecard but had 3 different cards with same results. Borrowed a different tuner from a colleague and the card worked fine.

The tuner finally refused to work at all last month. Rebuilt the Win7 box (again) several times, downloaded latest drivers and digital adviser extender, picked up yet another cablecard and even swapped USB cable and ports-- same result -- Windows Media Center didn't recognize or recognized only one tuner. WMC couldn't get the information necessary for Charter to pair the device.

Sent an email to Hauppauge support to see if there was anything I might be doing wrong or if they had any other suggestions. That was almost 2 weeks ago, no response.

Glad it was much cheaper back in 2013 or I'd really be mad. As it is I'm made at myself for putting up with this nonsense for so long.

Other Thoughts: This is the 3rd Hauppauge tuner I've owned. All three lasted a couple of years then died. Needless to say there won't be a 4th.

Bought an HDHomeRun Prime several months ago. It continues to work flawlessly.

Pros: The setup was not too daunting. The big thing is getting the Cable Card from Verizon and they tell you how to do that and Windows Media Center tells you what to do to activate it. I had the card in upside down at first but after flipping it over, everything went without a hitch. All the stations I get on the Verizon supplied DVR I can now get on the computer.

I really like the channel changer they supplied with it. Does everything I want. I wish there was better software than Windows Media Center. It's functional but not as nice as the DVR. Hauppauge does have their own client that you can use, maybe I'll give that a try. It's $10.

I'm sorry I waited so long to get one of these, they're a great convenience.

Cons: None really. I could have given it a five but I'd need some more time using it to be sure it's perfect.

Pros: Easy to use with Windows 8. Has two tuners so you can watch and record separately. Easy to watch a program that hasn't finished recording yet.

Cons: Very finnicky. Resets and requires one to go through set up again when you turn off your computer. Computer cannot be in "sleep" or "suspend" mode if you want to set it to record while you are not home.
Comes with no instructions other than how to physically set it up.

Other Thoughts: You really need to check if this is on your cable provider's approved list. It was not on mine, but worked fine for the first 6 - 8 months until the provider migrated more and more channels to switched-digital. At first, those channels were just finnicky and sometimes required a reset to get them to work. But on the most recent update, I lost access to all channels using that technology, I still had to pay for a cablecard, but could only access plain digital channels. I returned the cable card and disconnected the device since I couldn't watch most of the channels I frequented.
It would be great if the manufacturer could come up with a new driver that would do a better job with switch-digital technology.

Pros: Still going strong after 2 years.

Cons: Needs a cold boot every few months but I think the cable providers boxes do too so I shouldn't complain.

Other Thoughts: Overall I'm happy. Every channel works but on demand. However I'm told nothing works with on demand.

Pros: High definiton. Does play HD channels and HBO. Inexpensive when compare to other CableCard tuner manufacturers.

Cons: OK here goes. I have had this for about 2 years. Expect to cold reboot it evey other day. It causes my pc to freeze up at times. If you have a long event to record, don't count on it. (I am a NASCAR fan and rarely can I record an entire race). I don't know if it the USB interface or my computer. I have tried to reinstall the unit and lose old recordings whenWindows Media Center (WMC) wants to re-recognize the tuner. Many times I get subscription required blue screens and have to reboot the unit and do end program on all Windows Media Center services in Task Manager. Hauppauge blames Comcast and Comcast blames Hauppauge., I have had my coax rewired by Comcast and had multiple home visits from Comcast. They refused to do anymore trouble shooting with me. If you don't know the functionality of Windows, WMC and task manager you are in for hair pulling.

Other Thoughts: I am going to try Silicon Dust HD Homerun Prime for 3 turnes and it is connected to the router. I hope I have better luck..

Pros: works with comcast and windows media center

remote control works from across the room

record and pause live TV

Cons: This was slightly hard to setup with getting the hardware serial numbers through windows media GUI, calling comcast support for activation, and figuring out how to use the two tuners. One tuner seems to be HD, the other regular. The comcast tech gave me the impression they hate dealing with customers who have cable cards because they can be hard to setup and use. The technician told me to wait an hour before watching TV (probably so his shift would be over before I could call back). But, the card worked immediately.

the directions can really only take you so far. every cable company is different and hauppuage gives the customer a choice of media programs. if you are not good with computers, you may want to stick to a traditional cable box.

Other Thoughts: This device would take a long time to pay for itself. I have to pay $8 per month for the cable card which is $2 cheaper than the $10 monthly cable-box rental. This device offers the ability to pause and record live TV, though.

Looks like HD quality on my monitors.

Pros: Surprisingly easy to install. Comes with very good, step by step instructions.

Cons: None so far.

Other Thoughts: Having read some of the previous reviews, I was a little concerned about the installation and activation of this tuner. However, the entire process went very smoothly. My cable provider is Verizon FIOS in the Los Angeles area. I was able to go to their "Verizon Plus" store in the San Fernando Valley and pick up my cable card instead of paying $20 to have it mailed to me. Once I got home I just followed the very detailed step by step instructions that come with the DCR-2650. The instructions state you must use Windows Media Center on Windows 7. My computer is a self-built unit with a Gigabyte GA-MA78GM-US2H motherboard, Intel I5-2500K cpu, and 8 gb of Corsair 1600 memory, running on Windows 7 SP1. Once I got to the point of activation, Media Center provided me with 3 numbers: the cable card ID, the Host ID and the Data ID. These numbers are needed for activation. I called the number provided by Verizon and entered the activation number given to me when I picked up the cable card. I also entered the 3 numbers provided by Media Center. As it turns out, I could have used Verizon's activation web site and entered the numbers more easily using their web site instead of a phone keypad. After entering the numbers, I rebooted my machine and started Media Center. I was then able to set up the TV Guide to get my channels and set various storage options.

Pros: Windows Media Center is great interface for watching and recording. When this works it has a great picture.

Cons: Tuners often don't start up. Constantly restarting, and that isn't always successful. Was difficult to setup, and the cable company doesn't know what to do half the time - they rarely see these. By the time I was sure I had it setup correctly the warranty is out so I can't return something that doesn't work despite many hours of messing with it. Customer service is not helpful, they just tell you to reinstall the firmware.

Other Thoughts: really wish this thing wasn't such a piece. wish customer service was good enough to send out a new one when you get a dud.