ATSC Digital Converter Box with TV Tuner, TV Recording, USB Multimedia Function, 1080P HDMI, Metal Case, Clear QAM, by Mediasonic HomeWorx (HW250STB)

This has a great guide and was so helpful in finding the best position for my antenna. After doing a channel search hit the info button twice and it brings up the signal strength. You can then move the antenna to find the best position. It comes with a great remote, a nice tv guide, and is very easy to set-up and navigate. The only thing is the remote must be on the same signal as my Vizio sound bar as it changes the input when I hit the guide button, oh well. It is a fraction of the cost as some other boxes but does the same job and does it well. I highly recommend this product!

High quality tuner. The signal quality meter (press INFO button twice while watching a channel) helps determine the best antenna position for precise placement. Remote sensor works well. Unit is responsive.Takes a bit of time to power up (about a minute) but once it’s running it works well. Didn’t test the DVR functionality as I don’t need that. I noticed the power plug was a little difficult to plug in/out of an outlet, not sure why.Overall a good product and the price is a little high for what you get (~$40) but if the product lasts a year or more it’s well worth the cost.

Have been using this for a month or so. In general, I am happy with it. As pointed out by many, the user manual isn't much. On the positive side, it gives you an idea of it's features. On the negative side, it doesn't tell you how to use them. However, with trial and error they are not hard to figure out. The picture quality is great and the record function works well. One negative on the record function is that you can not watch a pre-recorded program while recording another. You just have to plan around this. Only other slight negative is the remote is weak. Ends up like the old days when you had to point the "clicker" at arms length towards the device. In general, and considering the price, I am quite happy with it.

I wrote a nice long review.. and poof. UGH. OK.. Tuner works great! The DVR or rather a PVR saves to usb, and its in a format it can play on PC later. The antenna signal strength meter is very handy and the tuner is very good. How they sell this for 40 bucks is amazing. I wouldnt hesitate to buy another one.electronic program guide comes over the antenna, it doesnt connect to the internet. which ias a good thing to me. It transmits old analog to a older tv or HDMI using a computer monitor. it just works. The menu system is light, easy and to the point.But the antenna signal strength is the main this I like the best. Picture attached.

Hooked it up using my current antenna to my TV via coax connection and did not get any response except a message indicating no antenna. Tried connecting through HDMI port but got a message indicating no signal. The only way I could tell it was getting power (no indicator light) was by attaching a USD drive (could hear it spin up). Tried another HDMI port and same thing. Let sit for 15-20 minutes and screen went blank. Got the same blank screen when switch to alternate HDMI port. Could not do anything using controls on unit or remote. Finally unplugged it and plugged it back in. Got a boot message on box. Ran through start and tried to configure PVR function. Could not access it from the menu (same with with some of the other options). Let it run for about an hour, shut it off and it rebooted on start up. Nothing changed, tried it again and the screen was dark and I could not power it up. Same as before and could hear my USB drive spinning. Only to get it back was to unplug and plug it back in. Went through boot sequence again, got same as before, PVR and some other functions were not available. I have had it for 5 hours, tried contacting support (nonexistent), then repackaged and sending back. I tried giving it a zero star rating but had to give a 1 star (which it doesn't deserve) in order to post this.

I got this to replace a failed TV tuner on my Smart TV. I does the job, and works. It's nice that it has a record TV function to USB drive. I suggest you get a flash based external SSD for best performance with it's own external power, but not required. TV guide layout is a bit bad. Instead of a horizontal left to right layout showing multiple channels per row like a normal guide, you get a vertical list layout and it only shows one channel at a time. The picture quality is bad, and the menu doesn't have much adjustment settings. It looked overly bright and washed out. I ended up replacing motherboard of TV to fix my tuner and I returned this product.

This item worked OK for the 1st two weeks, then the tuner started to fail (I guess). The picture screen started going black, and it became more frequent. Sometimes when I turned it on there would only be a black screen, with or without audio. Try turning it off and on and maybe that would fix the problem for now, but the problem was getting more frequent. I have used similar devices marketed by "I View" for about 10 years. I have had 3 "I Views" during that period and each unit has had bugs of one type or another, but for $30 I can live with some of the bugs as long as it provides a good picture and records the programs I want. The latest I View started skipping scheduled recording after 2 years of use (a fatal flaw). These $30 devices seem to be made cheaply by the same manufacturer and are marketed by the likes of MediaSonic and I View. They apparently all have bugs.