Review of the HDHomeRun Prime Cablecard Tuner

Reviewed Winter, 2011

• Ethernet connected, tuners can be shared with all networked PC's
• Can record/display up to 3 regular and/or premium cable channels at once using only one cardcard
• Tunes and records all High Definition digital channels
• No cable box or cable DVR needed or required
• Works will all U.S. cable providers
• Simple to install

• Cablecard activation can be a pain, because cable company coordination required
• Works only with Windows 7 Media Center
• Price
• Does not tune analog cable channels

Get the HDHomeRun Prime Cablecard Tuner

for $209.00 with free shipping!

Like all cablecard tuners, the biggest issue is getting the cable company to setup the cablecard correctly. After you run the Digital Cable Advisor in Windows 7 Media Center, which you can do at any time, you just attach the HDHR to your network, download the HDHR software, install the cablecard (with the help of your cable company) and your ready. You will also need to set it up in Media Center.

This three tuner box can be used with any networked Windows 7 PC in the house. The tuners can be shared or all used by one computer at any given time. You can also use an Xbox 360 as a Media Extender off of a PC.

The HDHR Prime will not work with over-the-air signals.

There were intially issues with the firmware, but thet have been resolved and now it just works. I like that.

• Dual Core PC
• Windows 7
• 2GB RAM
• 4-8GB disk space per hour of HD recording, 1-2GB per hour of SD recording
• 100 or 1000Mbit Ethernet network
• Subscription to digital cable service
• CableCARD (M-Card) from your cable provider
• Video card with support for hardware decoding and HDCP (NVIDIA 9500 or newer, ATI HD3000 or newer, or Intel HD Graphics). ATI cards prior to the HD5000 series may have problems decoding some content including premium channels like HBO.
• Display device that supports HDCP
• DVI or HDMI connection between the video card and display
• Note: VGA connections can also be used between the video card and display, but Windows Media Center may limit the resolutionHDHomeRun PRIME is not compatible with satellite TV or IPTV services such as U-Verse

Specifications

• Three QAM 64/256 tuners
• US Digital Cable
• M-Card CableCARD interface
• USB Tuning Resolver interface
• 1000baseT (gigabit Ethernet) network interface (compatible with 100baseTX networks)
• 1 year warranty

• HDHomeRun Prime Cablcard Tuner
• Quick Start Guide
• ethernet cable
• coax cable
• Power adpator