HD-PVR – Quick Impressions
Update: 7/16/08 – It looks like this quick impression review was right. Extremetech, in their article here, has pretty much the same conclusion. Hopefully the potential of this device will be brought out with BeyondTV.
Update: 6/12/08
BeyondTV has brought their webpage www.snapstream.com/hdpvr online. It is intended to bring new HDPVR users into the BeyondTV fold. So far an update has yet to be introduced that supports the HD PVR. The current beta of the next update does not yet work with the HD PVR. Updates will come as necessary.
The Hauppauge HD-PVR started shipping this past week. If you want to see the unboxing, go here.
Not much time has passed to provide a real review, but here are a few first impressions based on the installation thus far.
The HD-PVR itself is sturdy and it arrives with the perfect set of accessories:
- A remote control
- Component Video cables (with RCA stereo connectors)
- USB Cable
- Power supply
- IR Blaster
The only additional item they could have provided was a SPDIF optical connector – but I had an extra so (for me) no harm no foul. I am connecting it to a Sony SAT-HD200 DirecTV satellite box.
The installation of the device was simple – although I have yet to successfully use the IR blaster. The “BlastCfg” at times loses the connection with the IR blaster component of the HD-PVR. However, using manual recording modes, I have successfully made several recordings that play well in the provided Arcsoft TotalMedia Player. However, the HD to MP4 converter program crashes before completing the conversion. The recorded HD file (ts format) crashes Video Lan and Gom player when played.
I have also attempted to use it with BeyondTV, but I have been unsuccessful thus far. I will have to just wait for the update from Snapstream. According to a letter that accompanied the HD-PVR, Hauppauge expects BeyondTV to provide support in the next few weeks. I look forward to that.
All of the problems described above could be operator error at this point. The recordings (through the component cables and an optical digital connection) look great. I look forward to using this device as my PRIMARY method of watching HDTV.
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[...] Update 7/16/08: Extremetech has a review of the HD-PVR that you can read along with this site’s quick impression. [...]