Ceton InfiniTV 4 vs Silicondust HDHomeRun DUAL

[borntworide]

For month i been stuck on the Ceton card.. Now i am not sure I came across the HDHomeRun DUAL - High Definition Digital TV Tuner (Network Attached) HDHR3-US (Black) by SiliconDust for 99.00 bucks. Its not a matter of price. i will try to explain what on my mind see if some one can help.
Have 3 other pc in home possible going to 4..
Ceton card.. 4 tunes which might not ever use, can stream to other extenders which i do no.t have will have to buy... I have a WII .. I can only watch record shows on original pc.. Hmm

HDhome run .. very unfamiliar with says. DHomeRun is an Ethernet attached TV tuner that turns each of your networked computers into a full-featured digital DVR. No need to open your computer case to install a PCI card or tie to a USB dongle; the HDHomeRun connects to your home router enabling you to watch and record TV from any computer on your home network. Similar to how a network printer is available to all computers, the HDHomeRun serves high quality digital TV to your family room, bedrooms, kitchen, home office, even your backyard or garage - anywhere you have a computer. Also say and use on ipads too.

I am confused what would be my best option now?? Do i need to run more Ethernet lines? can i still watch and record at same time? Window 7 will have no problem playing ?

[Scallica]

I'm a fan of the HDHR Prime, however, the DUAL is not a CableCard tuner, so you will be limited to ClearQAM or OTA. If you want CableCard (premium channels) you need the HDHR Prime which is available as a 3 or 6 tuner model.

The Ceton InfiniTV supports tuner sharing via network bridging. However, once a tuner is shared to another computer, it cannot be used by any other computer including the host computer.

[borntworide]

Thanks I did not realize i needed a tuner .. I thought it was included.. So i need the prime then the dual to get over network??

Ceton bridging question. I can share a tuner with another pc then its locked to that pc.. that is what you are saying. when bridging that pc that is accepting the tuner can watch record and play all record content? but just off that pc??

[Scallica]

Thanks I did not realize i needed a tuner .. I thought it was included.. So i need the prime then the dual to get over network??

Both the HDHR Dual and HDHR Prime are network tuners. However, the Dual can only tune ClearQAM or OTA channels. If you want to tune any channels beyond local broadcast, you need the HDHR Prime which supports CableCard.

Ceton bridging question. I can share a tuner with another pc then its locked to that pc.. that is what you are saying. when bridging that pc that is accepting the tuner can watch record and play all record content? but just off that pc??

Yes, you can watch and play recorded content from another system, as long as the recorded tv folder is shared.

[richard1980]

Ceton bridging question. I can share a tuner with another pc then its locked to that pc.. that is what you are saying. when bridging that pc that is accepting the tuner can watch record and play all record content? but just off that pc??

Yes, you can watch and play recorded content from another system, as long as the recorded tv folder is shared.

Clarification: Sharing a tuner with a 2nd PC locks that tuner to the 2nd PC. No other PC can use that tuner. The 2nd PC can then use the tuner to watch live TV or make recordings. You can share the recordings with other computers, but only if the recordings are not copy protected. Copy protected recordings can only be played on the PC that made the recording. For any recordings that are not copy protected, they can be watched on any PC.

[sherr]

Interesting conversation, thanks.

i have used a Ceton for a long time. The four channels are great. I can assign one to another TV if necessary. I can un-assign it and re-assign later. Four v. three channels is an advantage. It take two cable cards to get to six channels with SD. Ceton will have this later with one card. They are also talking about some serious extension options in the not to distant future.

i like the reliability of the Ceton. Guess you can say,I'm biased.

[mcewinter]

Except to assign and un-assign you have to re-run TV set up on all of the pertinent PCs...not as convenient as it sounds.

[qbus]

Can the Silicondust Prime (the cable card version) get the OTA broadcasts too?

[Scallica]

Can the Silicondust Prime (the cable card version) get the OTA broadcasts too?

No, ClearQAM or CableCard only.

[barnabas1969]

Can the Silicondust Prime (the cable card version) get the OTA broadcasts too?

No, the Prime does not have ATSC tuners in it. Why would you buy an HDHR Prime for OTA anyway? You can get two HDHR3-US (total of four ATSC/ClearQAM tuners) for the same price as one HDHR Prime (3 CableCARD tuners).

[TheReaper]

Can the Silicondust Prime (the cable card version) get the OTA broadcasts too?

That is a trick question. As stated by the others, the Silicondust Prime does not have an ATSC tuner, so it cannot receive OTA broadcasts.

But, if you have cable tv (the only reason to get an HDHR Prime), most cable operators re-broadcast the local OTA channels on their cable as QAM which the HDHR Prime can receive.

[qbus]

Thats to bad. I was going to put it in the summer house were we only have a cable a few months were it gets heavy use. It would have been nice to be able to just unplug the cable in the fall and plug in the ota antenna and rescan.

[mcewinter]

You can easily add a QAM/ATSC tuner to the mix to get the same result...as I'm sure you're aware. The benefit is more tuners

[barnabas1969]

Agreed. Install an ATSC tuner like the HDHR-3, or one of the several Hauppauge tuners on the market, then you can even merge the tuners and make the ATSC highest priority. This gives you the advantage that your local channels that are received on both cable and antenna have the same channel number, and the ATSC is the highest priority. No unplugging any cables, and Media Center automatically figures out which tuner to use (cable or antenna). I do this now. It works great.

[makryger]

... with the one caveat that the reliability of over-the-air (ATSC) signals is greatly dependent on your location. It's possible you won't receive all the channels, depending on how close you are to an antenna, whether there are tall buildings, etc.

... and the caveat that some cable providers have the nasty habit of changing the frequency of their clearQAM channels without alerting customers, resulting in the need to occasionally remap channels, and possible lost recordings.

[barnabas1969]

For help with over-the-air reception, regardless of whether you're using Media Center or a plain-old TV, go to tvfool.com. There are plenty of people there who can help you.