Mediasonic HOMEWORX HW130STB HDTV Digital Converter Box with Recording and Media Player Function

Overall, I'm quite impressed with this little digital converter box. My local cable company recently decided to start scrambling all their channels and charging customers $10 a month per TV to have a decoder box. So I said to heck with the cable TV and got a DTV antenna for local stations and this little DVR converter box.The coax out on this is just the RF modulator, not an antenna pass-through. But, my digital TV has both HDMI and basic antenna input, so I was able to put an antenna splitter between the antenna and this box and connect the antenna directly to the TV as well as the HDMI from this box, which allows me to record one show on this box while watching a different one via the TV at the same time. And, I can still connect my old school CRT TV to this convert via either the RF modulator or the composite video outputs, allowing me to run both TVs with only one box. I swear the richness of color is better on the old CRT than any setting combination I can achieve on the new digital TV... so it comes down to a question of 4:3 format and 480i resolution with good color or a 16:9 format and 1080p or even 4K resolution with less good color.I did have to dig around to find two AAA batteries for the remote, since they weren't included with this converter box, which I thought was a little odd (as most things needing batteries like that tend to come with them). Otherwise, it worked great right out of the box. And for the money, I can't complain much.I did a few quick recordings on this box to make sure the DVR function worked, but haven't fully put it through its paces yet. It seems quite functional, though doesn't have all of the bells and whistles my old TiVo had with scheduling options and whatnot. But for basic over the air DTV recording, this box is a good replacement for that for the money.The LEDs though, as others have reported in their reviews, are a bit weird, as there's a really bright red LED on when the box is turned off, but only a very faint green LED when it's actually on -- so faint you can barely see it. Not sure what's up with that. Maybe they did it so that if this thing loses power and turns off, when power is restored you'll notice the bright red LED and know that you need to turn it back on? Not sure. I'm probably just going to leave this box powered up all the time anyway.In any case, for the money, this box is definitely worth it and surpasses similar converters I've bought in the past.

It works well, and as some have observed, hardens back to the first plain Jane VCRs of the 80s. Can't give the user interface or remote 5 stars: interface has some major clunky points, and the remote is tiny, and apparently underpowered, since it only works reliably when pointed directly at the device. On the plus side, I dropped my satellite subscription, and therefore the integrated PVR capability in my receiver. Since most of my content comes from the 'net, I couldn't justify the monthly costs of satellite any longer, and my antenna provides great reception, but I have missed the ability to record live TV. I considered the new generation of networked PVRs, and while they're promising, and have features the Mediasonic unit does not, they were still pricier than I wanted for my pretty infrequent recording. As a backup when I feel I might not stay awake long enough to watch something, the Mediasonic is great, and for $40 plus tax, the price was perfect. The added bonus - which I had not known about before buying it - is that its recording format (MTS) is natively recognized by Kodi, which I use as my primary media player software. Rather than having to convert the MTS recording to another format, I simply unplugged the external hard drive, plugged it into the android box in the room where I wanted to watch TV, and Kodi played it flawlessly. Although the Mediasonic tuner isn't quite as sensitive as my aging Pioneer TV, it's been quite adequate so far. Above all, the price was right. (The only reason I didn't give full marks for picture quality is some intermittent video "noise" I'm monitoring: the first time, a restart solved the issue, but I'm hoping it won't be a regular occurrence.)

Delivery of converter box was reliable (On time and in good condition). Apparently, it did not work so I contacted seller. They responded quickly and carried and sorted out the issue without fuss (refund).

See update below.I bought this based on a recommendation from Antenna Man for use as a low-cost signal strength meter. The problem I had is, instructions are lousy/non-existent, there is no customer service number (take back to dealer??), it's not intuitive - BUT - once you figure it out, it works. For example, in the tiny user manual it says red light=standby, green=signal. Well, guess what? there's a 3rd mode, no light. Looks like it's dead. Like the dead squirrel in the street. Lights off. Nothing happens but that means it's working. What?? One added sentence would have made a huge difference. And never did see green. Anyway, once I figured out the 2nd unit (I thought the 1st was broke), it does actually work, and like Antenna Man said, it has a decent signal strength meter so its value to me will be in helping me locate and aim my antenna for OTA TV. For $30, you can't beat the cost for a signal meter. You activate the signal meter by hitting "INFO" button twice. If you have the same need, you need a TV with the triple RCA cable (red white yellow supplied) or HDMI input. I couldn't get it to work using a typical antenna RG6 cable "F" type connector (it has that input/output). Has to do with channel 3 or 4 output and my TV which you can't set channel 3 or 4 because you have to run auto scan and 3 won't lock and 4 is interfered with due to pass through. Understand? Good. I didn't.UPDATE - I raised the rating from 3 to 4 stars based on bang for buck as a very low-cost, quite decent signal meter. The replacement unit I got does have a green=signal light but it's hard to see. BUT the 5V chassis-mount connector/wall power plug connection can be intermittent.

I tried to get this to work with two different antennas with different ranges. The first one I tried has a range of 150 miles and there are at least two over the area within range of this antenna. The first tower I located is 137 miles away due west of me in Williams Lake, British Columbia and the second tower is 67 miles away southwest from me between Woking and Sexsmith Alberta. Ran a channel scan and nothing was detected. Connected a second antenna that has 380+ mile range, ran two channel scan and nothing was detected on both scans and scanned quicker than the first antenna I used. The other thing I found annoying is that the instructions indicated that in the setup there was an option to select over-the-air signal but there was no such option. In the end I could not get any channels for television or music.In the end I put in a request to get a return for this tv tuner and a refund which they gave me. As such I cannot recommend this television tuner.