SiliconDust HDHomeRun PRIME - Three Digital Tuners, Anywhere on Your Network HDHR3-CC Ethernet Interface

Pros: This works great with every tv in my house running Windows 7 MCE. Works well with Time Warner in Austin, Texas.

Cons: Here is where it gets dicey. This is not a Time Warner issue but a cable card situation. Cable companies use the broadcast tag "copyonce" on their digital broadcasts that are not on clear QAM. This limits your viewiing equipment to ony hardwar/software that complied with the HDCP standard. The only platforms that work as of this writing is Windows media center and the PS3. Also, you must have a monitor/TV that complies with HDCP and your video cable must be compatible as well. It took quite a bit of studying on the SiliconDust forums and other locations to figure this all out.

This is why only 4 eggs (I really believe it is worth 5 but, setting up HTPCs is my hobby).

This system does have a couple of minor issues but it kind of depends on the computer set up at the viewing end.

Other Thoughts: Once you get everything set up with Windows 7 Media Center and it's plugins to enhance the user experience, all works great. I have tested with Windows 8, and it works but, I recommend Windows 7 as Microsoft has done a better job with that version (and you don't have to pay extra for it).

If you don't mind spending the time to set this up, it will save you a bundle of cash over the lifetime of the equipment and give you the most flexibility with your home entertainment.

Have been through this, I would easily do it again and I am offering my help to the people I work with if they want to do it.

Also, the SiliconDust forum is extremely helpful.

Do your homework with this.

Pros: It arrived quickly, but it will not tune in an over-the-air antenna. So it doesn't have much value for me, but I am not sure if I have all the packing stuff necessary to return it, or even if it qualifies for a return since it is my own fault for not reading thoroughly.

Cons: This does not work with an over-the-air antenna, so now I am stuck with it. I have other Silicon Dust products and I'm happy with them but this one requires a cable card to be of any use to me. I only use over-the-air reception for TV.

Other Thoughts: So it doesn't have much value for me, but I am not sure if I have all the packing stuff necessary to return it, or even if it qualifies for a return. Although it doesn't claim to tune in OTA signals, all the other Silicon Dust devices I have (3 of them) tune ATSC signals just fine. Shame on me for making the assumption.

Pros: Decryption!! Awesome. And the fact that you have 3 tuners available over your home network is just freaking awesome. I snuck it into an order for a PSU for my HTPC(read: OCZ PSUs suck)

Newegg has a great way of making me round orders up to $250 just so I don't pay interest. Anyhoo I installed it after some minor struggles with Windows and was watching static free HD channels!

Cons: Cons with the HD Homerun Prime? Absolutely 0.

Cons with Cox Cable? Lots.
The tech support for the card activation was flawless. I told them it was a Tivo and that sped up the process tremendously. A week later I saw a charge on my bill for $20 labled "Self installation charge" So yes, Cox actually charged me, for me to do my own work. So I called them up and asked when I would be paid $20 for my services. The operator was confused. I told her I installed a cable card and got charged $20 for my services, obviously I should get paid the $20 right? She refused. I also stated I took a dump the other day and would like $5 for that as well. I mean we are charging for things I do on my own in my own home right? That didn't go over well...

She stated that even with self installation they had to send a tech out to my house to "turn on the tap"

Considering I made NO change to my service I had for over 2 years, there is no justifiable reason for a tech to drive out. I demanded to see proof that he came out and the outcome of the maintenance. They have since submitted a remission to the $20 fee. Will be checking back to see if it actually got cleared.

Now for the HDCP issue. Obviously being an avid computer builder I have a nice set-up. At the time I had Crossfired a 5970 with a 5870. Because I'm running an Eyefinity setup with 3 monitors, I had to use 1x miniDisplayport to get the 3rd monitor working. Even though displayport is HDCP compliant, Media Center doesn't consider it a secure connection between my HDCP compliant GPU and my monitor so it won't allow the encrypted HD Homerun Signal to function in Media Center. It's a simple update that Microsoft won't do because of the minute percentage of power users that use CableCard ready TV Tuners w/ a displayport adapter. Thanks Micro$oft...

Other Thoughts: System specs:
i5-2500k
MSI P67-GD80 B3
8 GB DDR3-1600 C7
MSI Twin Forzr 7970 3GB
Samsung 830 series 128GB SSD
Antec 1200
Seasonic X750 GOLD
etc etc awesomeness

Pros: I would highly recommend this product to anyone who would like to save money on equipment fees through there cable provider. I have Comcast as my provider and I ran into a few small issues when calling the Comcast support number. Note: Most support technicians on the main number are not sure how to setup M-Cards. If you have Comcast do a search for the M-Card activation phone number. If you have or don't have Comcast and the person on the phone don't ask for the pairing numbers on the HDHomeRun Prime they are not activating the card properly.

Device Size/Picture Quality: The device is not really big and can be hidden or installed in a small location. It is not much larger than a modem or router. The picture quality is great. HD channels look really nice watching on a 55” TV and a 14” laptop.

Additional Helpful Notes: Windows 8 does not come with Windows Media Center installed by default. You have to purchase the Pro Pack to get Windows Media Center. Windows 7 included Windows Media Center with the installation for free. Using the QuickTV option on Windows 8 required the installation of codecs. If you are wanting to use a Media Center Extender with Windows 8, currently the Xbox 360 is you only option. With Windows 7 you have a few other options. If you are thinking about using other PVR solutions like MediaPortal, please note that some of these options may not work for the channels you want to view (certain encrypted channels). Windows Media Center will give you all the channels and provide a fully functional TV guide. QuickTV allows you to choose the channel and it works very well, but if you want to have a full TV guide with DVR, Windows Media Center is a good option.

I hope these hints help future customers.

Cons: None

Pros: Watch live cable tv on any Windows 7 computer with Windows Media Center that will pass the Windows Media Center Digital Cable Advisor or an Xbox 360. WiFi was not recommended, but works ok for me.

If your computer will not pass the Windows Media Center Digital Cable Advisor you can trick Windows Media Center into accepting your computer with a registry hack. Search for: OverrideDigitalCableAdvisor.cmd. If you do this, don't expect to stream HD without significant pixelation and dropouts. Streaming SD with the registry hack on a slow computer is usable, but not perfect.

Cons: If your cable system has restricted channels (copy protected, copy once or something like that) full functionality for those channels can only be achieved using an Xbox 360. You will not be able to watch recorded TV located on another computer for those channels without the Xbox, and you can't just copy the recorded tv file to another computer. It's locked down with DRM. You can't remote desktop to another computer to watch its recorded tv either. That is locked down too.

Windows XP Media Center Edition and Windows Media Center on Windows Vista are listed as being compatible. I found WMC on Vista to be less than fully functional and flakey.

Other Thoughts: Overall, a great device for the price. The cons are not Silicon Dust's fault it is a content provider and Microsoft DRM issue. Used Xbox 360s should be pretty inexpensive come October 2013 when they release the Xbox 720.

Pros: I had no problems getting this little box set up. I now have cable in the basement and in my upstairs bedroom...actually anywhere that I can connect to my network. No hiccups whatsoever. The box is very small especially compared to the behemoth dvr I will be returning. The instructions walked me through a very basic setup that had me watching TV in about 20-30 minutes.

Cons: My cable company required that I also attach a tuning adapter. Really not a big deal but some types of switched digital cable will require a tuning adapter/resolver. So instead of one small box, I have two small boxes. The included usb cable was not standard and did not fit my adapter...again, no biggie.

Other Thoughts: I originally bought this just to get the cable in my basement and upstairs bedroom. WMC and this worked so well together that I decided to return my DVR box and also use this on my main TV. As others have noted, you will need a computer (running windows 7) or some kind of media extender to run this through.

Pros: im sure it works, for cable.

Cons: Make sure to READ and do your research first. I did my own before purchasing but apparently I didn't do enough. This model (PRIME) does NOT accept OTA signals. This unit is for Digital CABLE ONLY.

Other Thoughts: I didnt see anywhere in the description that states this unit DOES NOT accept OTA signals. It clearly states it accepts cable but since the dual states it receives OTA I assumed this was the same only with one extra tuner. I was wrong. Package was delivered to me and the box was not even sealed. I opened it to look at it and read the manual and found out it will not work for OTA. I slid it back in the box, you couldn't even tell it had been opened. It practically was already open when I received it. Newegg charged my $30 bucks to return it as an OPEN BOX. absolutely ridiculous.

Pros: My setup is a bit complicated - one HTPC directly connected to a TV and an xBox360 extender connected to another, two laptops, and one PC all running Windows 7 with WMC and all sharing the same HDHomeRun PRIME flawlessly.

Setup was very easy once I got my CableCARD from Comcast. I get every channel I had with my provider supplied DVR without paying the $18 a month rental fee.

Cons: I wish it had more than 3 tuners. The obvious solution is to just buy 2 HDHomeRun PRIME boxes, but with my cable provider, the first CableCARD is free (with subscription) and extra cards are $10/month each.

Pros: Super Easy to setup with Comcast. Took about 20mins from unboxing until I was watching live tv. I am currently virtualizing a Windows8Pro VM w/ media-center installed for recording. Then I have multiple xboxs extended off the VM. Everything works as it should and now I have never ending DVR storage! I do have all of my devices wired (Gigabit) and I never see network lag or dropped streams. I WOULD HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS TO ANY HOME THEATER GEEK.

Cons: I still cant get my PS3 to actually play a stream. It will see the hdhomerun prime, and even list the channels but once I try to connect to a Channel it freezes up my PS3. Im sure they will fix this with future FIRMWARE releases.

Other Thoughts: Stop looking and just buy it! You wont regret it.

Pros: This tuner has more than paid for itself in a year. I have FIOS and got rid of the DVR and 2 HD set-top boxes. I purchased the HDHomeRun PRIME and 2 used Xbox 360 on Craig's list to use as Extenders.
It was easy to set up and took only minutes to start watching.

Cons: Haven't found a good WMC remote to use,

Other Thoughts: May get a 2nd unit to expand to 6 tuners.