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.

I got it to record/time shift a handful of local station content.It does that.It has pretty much all legacy output ports (RF, Composite, Component, Coaxial) except S-video, plust HDMI at 480i/p, 720p, and 1080i/p. So it can connect to anything, from CRTS to monitors. Belt and suspenders.The HDMI is pretty clean and it outputs Dolby audio.It has a programable timer to turn on/off and a sleep mode.As an OTA tuner there isn't much missing.As a PVR, there are gaps you might miss:The documentation is...lean... Everything is true but they don't waste words clarifying anything.The most noticeable omission (mentioned in passing above but easy to miss/misunderstand) is that while it is compatible with standard USB HDD formats, it needs to format the drive *itself*. Even a virgin pre-formatted NTFS HDD will not work and it will not offer an error message or any hint.Similarly, the menu system offers no clarification or handholding. You can generally figure it out if you're familiar with ATSC tuner features.This is an issue because the online user support for the (HW250STB) is non-existent. Not even a dedicated thread on their Forums. There is exactly one message directly refering to the HW250STB and it is query from March 2024 with zero answers.You can download the user manual from their website so you can check it out pre-purchase.Another issue is with the time setting where choosing the country defines the available time zone choices and it automatically sets its time via the EPG (electronic program guide). This may or not require you to keep track of when Daylight Savings starts/ends.Finally, the recording function works strictly by the EPG times. You get to choose between once, daily, and weekly but there is no option for Monday-Friday or to start early/end late.Minimalist.At least you don't have to pay to record.I figure 4 stars is about right based on functionality and price.Botton line: what it does, it does well enough.

This little settop box is truly impressive. With the help of a 5G filter (sold separately), I was able to pull in 60+ crystal clear channels with only a modest little antenna. The UI is a little drab and basic but easy to navigate and understand. I had no trouble deleting the few channels I would never watch, and was able to group my most-watched channels into a Favorites list for faster, easier selection. I was also able to select any channels that are listed only by their call letters and change them to their more popular names, which is a nice touch.The remote is large enough to be held comfortably, and the buttons are well laid-out. Oddly, the channel up/down buttons are not labeled as such, but are logically positioned on the remote.Setting up a program to record seems to be a pretty straightforward process, though I haven't tried it yet. Be aware that the unit does not have its own internal hard drive, so you must supply an outboard one yourself.My only real quibble is with the front panel fluorescent display. It's way too bright and is not dimmable, which could be annoying to some users.For under $40, you can't go wrong with this great little tuner. I highly recommend it.