Really, this way is much better and has no bearing on durability apart from the low heat helping things last longer. These days we have light, compact switching supplies but people now complain the products lack heft. Years ago a unit like this would have weighed 15 pounds because of those huge (and inefficient) hot-running linear power supplies and the heavy framing needed to support them. Plastic case and very light construction but so what. The remote likes to be pointed straight at the unit or it might not respond. There's not much to criticize but might as well quibble a bit.

Proved surprisingly sensitive, picking up most stations from my basement using a cheap amplified indoor antenna.

Excellent, easy to navigate menus are easy to navigate. The picture is fantastic which is no surprise as it's a pure digital path from signal to HDMI output. I ordered this unit to replace a $600 Viewsonic tuner purchased about 10 years ago and which failed. Again, as in all things, you get you money's worth. I bought the Tablo DVR instead and it is absolutely fantastic, compared to this Mediasonic thing.

The recordings were unwatchable on the thumb drive. I tried a usb thumb drive, bought especially for this use, and supposedly fast enough and an external hard drive. If the signal cuts out, even for an instant, recording stops, so the whole show is lost. And it is very sensitive to antenna interference while recording. You also can't wach from the beginning while it is recording. Fine.īut it only has one tuner, so you can't record a show and watch another. It works ok as a tuner and signal booster, allowing me to watch at least one channel that my TV can't tune into. I tried this device, which is still available in 2017, and found it way too basic This is not a box for cable cutters, unless they are willing to trade convenience (simple operations for non technical loved ones) for price. The remote doesn't have a very strong signal, and you have to precisely aim it at the set top box before anything happens. It is certainly not intuitive, and takes a while to get used to things like deleting video with the EPG button or full screen with the HOLD button. Other reviewers comments about the user interface are valid. In some installations, that would not be convenient. However, the new HW180STB works as expected, except that it locks up about three times per month, requiring the electrical plug be removed and replaced. Mediasonic was not my first choice, because I don't think the other product should have died after only a few years. This product replaces an Mediasonic HW150, which died recently. So the price and the quality are both low. When I was shopping for a replacement, my buddy said his Mediasonic had recently died too. The prior Mediasonic device only lasted a few years as well. This device died two years after it was installed.

Lost mediasonic hw180stb remote