HDHR vs 2250

[wado1971]

With the current deal on the HDHR the price is now almost identical with the 2250 from Hauppauge. Assuming you have an extra pciex1 slot for the 2250, who is the winner?

I only own the 2250 so here is what I like about it. Not sure if the HDHR is similar.
- channel change requires no IR - Sage just takes care of it. How does the HDHR deal with it?
- one coax input. (this can actually be a negative if you want 1x OTA & 1x QAM)
- Essentially 4 tuners, 2 SD & 2 QAM (only 2 available at any time). Does the HDHR record SD channels?

rob

[gplasky]

Originally Posted by wado1971

With the current deal on the HDHR the price is now almost identical with the 2250 from Hauppauge. Assuming you have an extra pciex1 slot for the 2250, who is the winner?

I only own the 2250 so here is what I like about it. Not sure if the HDHR is similar.
- channel change requires no IR - Sage just takes care of it. How does the HDHR deal with it? Sage just takes care of it
- one coax input. (this can actually be a negative if you want 1x OTA & 1x QAM)Two coax inputs. So you can do OTA and QAM at the same time
- Essentially 4 tuners, 2 SD & 2 QAM (only 2 available at any time). Does the HDHR record SD channels? No analog-strictly digital. Either ClearQAM ot ATSC. Depending on your cble provider you may have SD digital broadcast in ClearQAM now. (I do now with my Comcast.)
rob

Answers in red above.

Gerry

[wado1971]

Thanks for the feedback Ger.

Looks like the HDHR is in my near future. OTA & QAM on the same device is the final selling point. I'd try OTA on my 2250 but with the amount of setup I did on this tuner I don't dare even wiggle the coax input cable. Time to get out the tinfoil.

[MattHelm]

Originally Posted by wado1971

Looks like the HDHR is in my near future. OTA & QAM on the same device is the final selling point. I'd try OTA on my 2250 but with the amount of setup I did on this tuner I don't dare even wiggle the coax input cable. Time to get out the tinfoil.

Also, if starting from scratch on cable (QAM), the HDHR is MUCH easier to set up, but if you already have the HDHR on a cable system, you can "cheat" and use your HDHR setup to help get the correct channels for the 2250. (search on 2250 and my handle, and you'll see how I did it)

Also, IMHO, the HDHR seems to have a better tuner.

With OTA, SageTV does all the scanning, so the problems of QAM tuning go away, so only the better tuner applies.

I have both on my cable systems (1&2 below), and I'm VERY glad I had the HDHR online first, as I would have pulled the few hair I have left out, trying to setup the 2250 by "hand".

[mayamaniac]

And the HDHR doesn't take up a PCI slot. That alone makes it the clear winner for most of us as PCI slots are fewer in most modern boards.

[sic0048]

Although I have never used the 2250, I too think the HDHR is a slight winner if you only need digital options. Obviously having the analog option on the 2250 gives it an edge if you need the analog tuners.

Just my 2 cents.