I've been following this product since it was first promised earlier this year. I read all the gotchas, problems, etc, and thought I would be able to use that knowledge to help when I finally got the product myself and installed it. I also have an HDHR so thought it would be similar. Here's my experience:I received it today (wonderful one-day shipping from Amazon), and had picked up my MCard (CableCard) at Cox yesterday. Hooked everything up, plugged everything in, and went through the install so far pretty straightforward. The setup did upgrade the firmware to 20110830, however, on SiliconDust's website they've released 20110920beta1, so I went ahead and upgraded to the latest. Finally get to the part where you call your cable company, and that's where things started getting interesting. The first call activated successfully, and I thought it was done, I said thank you and goodbye. But I only got basic channels, not extended (no ESPN, CNN, etc). So I called back, and she sent "hits" and "INITs", to no avail. Finally she had me unplug the Prime, pull out the CableCard, plug it back in and re-insert the CableCard. Then she re-paired it. But in my error, I gave her the wrong codes (you give them three ID codes). I didn't know that when you unplug, remove and reinsert the CableCard, it generates a new ID for the Data code. The other two codes are static. She couldn't get it to pair up again, but strangely, I started receiving all the channels! So we assumed everything was fine, even though it wasn't activated. Sure enough, in a few minutes I lost the channels again. A third call to Cox, and I gave him the correct codes (even though he was on the verge of saying he would just as soon send a tech out), and finally, it all worked!
My recommendations:
1. Get the setup and card activation done before even going into Windows Media Center. Use the SiliconDust Setup and QuickTV to verify things are working. Get familiar with the Prime setup web browser, so you can get the codes and see the status of the activation. Check the logs to see if the channels are subscribed or not.
2. Be prepared to give the cable company what they need the three (correct!) codes from a web browser pointing to the Prime. Cox didn't need any special instructions for this product. The last tech kept referring to my Tivo (I didn't correct him).
3. Once you've verified it all works from the Setup/QuickTV, close all of the HDHomeRun windows so you won't get tuner availability errors, then go into WMC and configure your TV Signal. This part actually worked great for me.
I've been watching TV for a few hours now, both on my computer and on my Windows Media Extender, with no glitches or hiccups. Will withhold final judgement until I've gone a few weeks.
(ETA, just want to say that Cox was very helpful, this was all done on a Saturday night, and the second tech even called me back after giving me some time to find the codes and so she could do some research on it.)
Update 3 1/2 weeks later: So I was missing a bunch of channels, and after several calls to Cox and an onsite visit, they said I needed a tuning adapter for Switched Digital Video (SDV) channels. The tech that came onsite didn't have any, so another trip to the Cox store, and then I hooked it up at home. The TA wouldn't lock on the signal, so a few more calls to Cox, and another onsite visit finally resulted in the SDV channels coming in, but no cable channels! Finally one more call to Cox, and now I'm getting all the channels I should be getting.
Other than the channel problem though, I have been recording several shows a week, sometimes two shows at a time, and have had zero problems! It has been very reliable.
I have tested it with Microsoft Media Center and have found that it works well streaming the content real time over the Ethernet. For those who do not have Microsoft you should be glad to know that they support a variety of TV watching applications (on Linux to boot). However their is one big thing to note. If a broadcast has been flagged on TV you cannot watch or record it on any program except Microsoft Media Center. Be sure to check to see if your TV provider flags all broadcasts or leaves it off by default. Comcast (which I have) leaves about 99% of their TV programing un-flagged by default. ALSO for flagged broadcasts be sure your have a complete hdcp complaint setup as the flag requires that type of DRM.
Now as for streaming stability, I have noticed that if you go to wireless and attempt to access HDTV their will be some glitches as wireless does not provide the consistent quality of service and will drop packets causing your show to stutter. Wireless N might be a possible solution to solve this issue. However all I have is wireless A and G so I cannot test N.
Recording TV shows on any PC is now possible no matter its location in the house. We have three pc's and this device can send HD TV to all three without even breaking a sweat. Keep in mind if you have Ethernet over power in your home it will have the same issues as wireless. (How do you think I know that >_>
Silicon Dust provides a TV preview window so that you can quickly see if the device is working when you activate it. Oh speaking of activation, if you have Comcast expect to set some time down to get this device activated as most reps at Comcast are not to familiar with cable card activations. Ah, one other thing if you pay for TV you have the right to get one Cable card from your TV provider free of charge. MAKE SURE for this product that you request a CABLE CARD M and NOT CABLE CARD S. (FYI You can get the cable card from your Comcast store.) I have a you tube video overview of the physical device (update you will need to look for it on youtube amazon removes links.)
(Update 1-15-2012) Having had the HDHomeRunPrime for a while I have a few observations to bring to light. First and foremost if you have multiple windows pc's and have purchased this device you will need to get each one activated with your cable provider. Second for your machines to receive HD on certain channels you will need to know if your machine is HDCP compliant. Lucky for you Microsoft has put a testing application in media center under settings to test to see if you are HDCP compliant.
Buy SiliconDust HDHomeRun PRIME CableCard TV 3-Tuner HDHR3-CC (Black) Now
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