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

I usually don't rate a product made in China 5 stars but I do love this digital converter box. Mediasonic is an American company I believe. If you want to cut the cable and to be able to record local TV and don't want to pay a monthly fee (makes sense if you are looking at cutting the cable) and don't want to pay a lot for the recorder (also makes sense) then this is the item you want. Set up is intuitive and went well (would have been a little easier if I had known the converter is set to channel 4 out of the box for use on an old TV using the RF1 cable). I also have it connected to a new TV via the supplied HDML cable. I love the old school interface; it is easy to understand and use.And I have found that the feature that shows you the signal strength is indeed very useful and easy to use.It doesn't come with a storage device which is necessary for recording. Mediasonic does not recommend using a flash drive, though it looks like from YouTube videos and comments that some people do use them. I had an Iomega SSD drive laying around and it is working great. I copied the files that were on it then I used the converter to format it after attaching it. I actually like that I can remove the storage device. I can put movies, pictures, or music on it to play on the TV. And I can go in the other direction too; my wife has me use American Idol recordings to create MP3s for her music player. That will now be easier as I can plug the Iomega into the computer and use Audacity to create her MP3s.Know that it can only record 1 program at a time. That isn't a problem for us. There is a 15-20 second gap between the recordings of my wife's Young And The Restless and The Bold And The Beautiful which follows it.I haven't tried the "Loop Through" function that allows you to watch one station while recording another but I anticipate that will work easily. Similarly I haven't yet tried the feature that allows you to pause and rewind and then fast forward with live TV.Only sort of related; for cable cutters now looking for antennas; if you are within 10 miles of most of your broadcasters like me, or maybe even within 30 miles, with no big hills in the way, then I suggest also getting the simplest least expensive antenna. The $11 Phillips antenna works fine for me. They are just pieces of metal attached to a cord. Check out The Antenna Man's YouTube channel for a lot more detail on that, and a review of this converter box.

User interface is superior to our older set-top box converter, which was also purchased from Amazon..Love how the remote works, and menu items make sense, easily accessible.However, we do not find the tuner to be any more sensitive or able to more easily access existing channels than the older unit.

I bought an earlier version of this converter a few years ago, but it recently fell victim to a nearby lightning strike and so I replaced it with this newer model. WOW! The new version is much better in every way. Setup was a breeze. The remote control is sturdier and better engineered. The base unit is also better - so far I’ve had no jitters on my TV screen and the audio is perfectly synchronized with video. If you have “cut the cable” like me and are using a high quality antenna with a rotator, I suggest that this converter is a must have. I live in a very rural setting, but easily pull in about 30 stations, some of which are high definition. The converter also has a built in, programmable recording function, just like a DVR. I highly recommend.

I don't mean this in a bad way. But it's a cheapo deluxe OTA DVR. (I think the marketers call it a value product)If you're expecting a Tivo, well, I'm sorry for you. But dollar for dollar it wipes the floor with my old Tivo.The user interface is not in the same galaxy as the Tivo but again, neither is the price.If you think of this as a tuner with a free DVR you'll have better expectations.The tuner is very good. The signal strength meter is nearly worth the whole price. (hit the info button twice)Quick OTA hack. Almost all TV antennas are directional. Search up a map of the towers you want to receive and pick the one in the center. Now find what station is on that tower. Tune to that station, turn on the signal strength meter and adjust the antenna until max value. Now you've got the antenna as good as you can get it.If you can't get a good signal on a tower 40 miles away with this device, you need to get a better antenna.I'll probably use this about 10 times a year and for me this is a great budget friendly solution.

Awsome! I just need a dumb VCR (digital video recorder). It can schedule recording via EPG or manual schedule recording. it can time-shift. It can record live show with a one record button. Recording and time-shift require external hard drive. It can play mp3, m4v, mp4 and mkv files. It can do slide show from photo file. It automatically set the time it received from the TV station.Not CEC compatible, it won't wake up the TV when you turn on the DVR. It name the recorded file with just the Station Caller ID and Time. I wish it name the file based on the show title and maybe include show description in META-DATA format. it's not perfect. It crashes a few times, hard lockup, just reboot itself for no reason.Over all, very happy with it. Do not use USB thumb drive for recording!UPDATE:I have so many issues with Homeworx HW250.1) I cannot set the clock. Clock is set automatically from the TV station. Changing station leads to clock change causing scheduled recording to be missed or too early.2) Timezone mysteriously changes from what I set for no reason.3) Sometime audio out of sync during live view or play back.4) Sometime hard lock up when playing back a recorded show.5) Close caption works sometimes (when it feels like it).6) Tuner susceptible to interference.7) Remote control not responsive.8) Recorded show has station name and ID as a filename. Not the show title or description. Very confusing.Can be aggravating. I really want it to work but as is I cannot use it much. It seems like an unfinished beta product.