The SiliconDust HD Homerun is similar to USB TV tuners in that it allows you to watch over the air and cable or satellite TV on your computer but it works differently and that is what makes this the BEST COMPUTER TV TUNER ON THE MARKET.
The SiliconDust HD Homerun is a network based tuner. Rather than plugging into a computer, this tuner connects to your home network and can used by all computers on your home network to watch live or recorded TV. This is one of those that products that once you have it you will wonder how you ever did without it or why you used a different tuner, especially for the price. It really is THAT GOOD.
Newest model
SiliconDust HD Homerun HDHR3 is the newest model and was released in March 2011. There were minor changes to the previous model, including changing the color from black to white (the Mac version remains white) and the shape – it now has a sleeker appearance.
One noticeable change is the HDHR3 has one coaxial input whereas the previous version had two. With two inputs you could connect one to a cable TV source and the other to an over the air source. I guess SiliconDust felt that not many people used this feature and they are probably correct. If it is important to you, you can probably find previous versions still for sale. Users have reported improved tuner performance with the HDHR3.
Product highlights
- Watch, pause, rewind and record live TV or watch previously recorded programing
- Accessible by any network enabled device
- Dual tuners
- Full HD compatible (up to 1080i)
- Compatible with Windows, Mac & Linux
- Compatible with over the air HD signals
- Compatible with Clear QAM signals (unencrypted cable channels)
Devices it works with
- Any computer on your home network
- Any TV connected a Media Center extender… such as an XBox 360
- Apple iPhone and iPad (requires the EyeTV app)
- Projectors
- Works over wired or wireless networks
How it works
The SiliconDust HD Homerun sits between your TV signal (over the air (ATSC) or unencrypted digital cable (Clear QAM) television signal) and your home network. Once you install the software on a computer, you can easily access the tuner to watch, pause or record live TV on that computer.
Although the SiliconDust HD Homerun works over wired and wireless networks performance is best over a wired network as you performance will not be affected by other wireless network traffic like your kids downloading iTunes while you watching the game. If you want to use a wireless network, a wireless N router (under $100 at Amazon) provides the best performance.
If your signal is weak you may need to boost it with a powered amplifier. They cost about $30 at Amazon. If you install more than one HD Homerun you will almost certainly need an amplifier due to signal degradation from splitting for 4+ tuners. Some users have said the HD Homerun’s tuner is less sensitive (meaning it has a harder time recognizing available signals) than other tuners or TV’s in their house but after adding an amplifier that it was the best tuner in their house.
Download the SiliconDust HD Homerun product information flyer here.
The benefits of dual tuners
One of the limitations of typical USB tuners and PCI tuner cards is they only have one tuner. This is the biggest difference between typical tuners and a DVR.
The dual tuners in the SiliconDust HD Homerun allow you to:
- Watch live TV while recording another channel
- Record two channels simultaneously
- Watch two channels simultaneously on different computers
- Use one tuner for over the air signals and one for cable signals
If you want or need more tuners just add additional units to your network.
NOTE: Some other tuners have dual tuners, but unless they are powered, performance is often lacking and the cost is comparable to the SiliconDust HD Homerun but without all the extras of the HDHomerun.
What others say about the SiliconDust HD HomeRun
When they say this box is easy to install and set up, “they” aren’t kidding! Astonishing simple to get rolling and connected to Windows Media Center……THANK YOU for a phenom of a product at a super price point. – J. Cochinni from Amazon.com
I have been using this device for over a year now and feel safe suggesting that is a great product for OTA recording via Windows Media Center. I tried a TV tuner card, but that didn’t work with my hardware…… – M. Frank from Amazon.com
HD Homerun is great. The ease to which it was setup and connect via any computer in the house was nice. Works great with Media Center and Myth. I was surprised at how easy it was to setup with both Media Center and Myth. I have a 2nd one on order already so I can record up to 4 shows simultaneously I hope. – Cristov from Amazon.com
If you have always envisioned cutting the cord to expensive cable or satellite TV services this is the ticket you have been waiting for. We have now spent the past month without any of those expensive bills and haven’t regretted it for a moment……It should be mentioned the the signal sent to the TV is of a far higher quality that that associated with Netflix or ESPN3 streaming via Xbox Live. It appears to be pure HD broadcasting,(720p or 1080i) regardless of whether its live TV or recorded. We did try the streaming using a Wireless G router and that would occasionally stumble or stutter. We then tried it with a Wireless N router is it worked flawlessly. We were truly impressed! I would highly recommend the HD Homerun to anyone interested in cutting the Cable or Satellite cord. – carplips from Amazon.com
We cannot say enough about this product. It’s better than the cards you install into the boxes, both by price and easy of scaling. – R. Poulton from Amazon.com
I own three of these. I am very pleased with them. Outstanding sound and video clarity. They connected very easily to my Windows Media Center Machines (Windows 7 and Vista). – J. Richards from Amazon.com
Read more reviews of the HDHR3 and the previous HD Homerun at Amazon.
Additional notes
If you are curious what channels are available in your area that you can watch on the SiliconDust HD Homerun checkout SiliconDust’s channel guide.
Since the SiliconDust HD Homerun works over your home network, its performance is dependent on your network and factors such as how much other traffic is on the network and its speed (a Wireless N router is optimal for wireless networks).
Because it is so easy to record all your favorite TV shows and you can watch recorded shows from any computer or TV (if network enabled) in your house you may find yourself recording a lot of TV. You may also want to start a digital movie library since you can now watch movies anywhere in the house. Recording shows in Hi-Def can use up 5GB per half-hour so you can fill up a hard drive pretty quick. To be sure you have enough room to record any show or movie you want and keep it as long as you want you may want to get an external hard drive.
Compatible with the following Media software programs
- Windows Media Center
- Myth TV – DVR for Linux
- Elgato Eye – DVR for Mac
- SnapStream Beyond TV – DVR for Windows
- SageTV – DVR forWindows, Linux & Mac
- MediaPortal – DVR for Windows
- VLC
- TSReader
Countries it is known to work in
- Australia
- Canada
- Denmark
- France
- Germany
- Italy
- Netherlands
- New Zealand
- Spain
- Sweden
- United Kingdom
- United States
Requirements
- Dual core processor recommended for HD playback
- 1 GB of RAM (2 GB if you are using with a Mac)
- An antenna if you want to watch over the air signals (the Terk Flat Omni Directional antenna is a great indoor antenna)
Pros
- Great picture and sound quality
- Crisp switching between channels
- Comes with software that shows the signal strength in bars for all channels so you can fine tune your antenna position
- Easy installation – no opening your computer case to install it
- Easy set up
Cons
- Not portable like a USB TV tuner
- Does not work with encrypted cable or satellite channels (premium channels)
Summary
The SiliconDust HD Homerun beats out any other TV tuner for computers on a number of fronts including: picture and sound quality, value, functionality and coolness factor – any computer in your house becomes an HDTV and a DVR. This is truly the future of TV, having one tuner in your house that lets you stream live and recorded to TV to any network enabled device – computer, TV, iPhone and iPad.
Best Place to Buy the SiliconDust HD Homerun
- Amazon has the best prices, great return policy and free shipping.
SiliconDust HD HomeRun Reviews
SiliconDust HD HomeRun for Mac – using Elgato Eye TV
(including iPhone app)
Installing the SiliconDust HD Homerun
