Reliability? - Ceton InfiniTV vs HDHomeRun Prime

Help with tuners from ATI, Hauppauge, AverMedia and more.
cpyne

Posts: 11
Joined: Tue Oct 11, 2011 11:14 pm
Location:

HTPC Specs: Show details

Reliability? - Ceton InfiniTV vs HDHomeRun Prime

#1

Post by cpyne » Tue Oct 11, 2011 11:21 pm

Hi Everyone,

I'm considering buying either a Ceton or a HDHomeRun Prime so I can add cable to my Win7 Windows Media Center PC. A big factor in my choice is going to be reliability since my wife/kids are going to be using it as well. I've read a lot of posts talking about issues with the HDHomeRun Prime, but I'm wondering how much of that has been worked out by now with updated firmware.

Has anyone used both and can you comment on their reliability when running the latest and greatest firmware?

thanks
Charlie

User avatar
Scallica

Posts: 2797
Joined: Mon Jun 06, 2011 7:09 pm
Location: USA!

HTPC Specs: Show details

#2

Post by Scallica » Tue Oct 11, 2011 11:33 pm

I would suggest going with the Ceton tuner since it has been out for a year and several updates have been issued. The HDHR Prime has only been out a few months and issues are gradually being resolved.
HTPC Enthusiast / Forum Moderator - TGB.tv Code of Conduct

User avatar
mcewinter

Posts: 999
Joined: Thu Jun 30, 2011 8:33 pm
Location: Chicago

HTPC Specs: Show details

#3

Post by mcewinter » Wed Oct 12, 2011 8:52 pm

Silicondust is very well known for their product support. While there may be some issues now I would keep that into consideration. Otherwise you should get whichever product suits your needs best.

adam1991

Posts: 2893
Joined: Sat Jun 11, 2011 2:31 pm
Location:

HTPC Specs: Show details

#4

Post by adam1991 » Wed Oct 12, 2011 11:47 pm

I can't speak for Silicon Dust, but Ceton's support is absolutely fantastic. Quick, decisive, informative--even if it's not their problem to solve, they'll give you the exact details of what's going on so you can work with the cableco.

twiseva

Posts: 12
Joined: Thu Jul 07, 2011 2:11 am
Location:

HTPC Specs: Show details

#5

Post by twiseva » Thu Oct 13, 2011 1:30 am

I can not speak for Ceton but I'd from experience with SD, once its running you can foget about it. Literally for years. I have a pre-prime duel tuner for several years. It just sat in the basement with zero issues. I;d update the firmware once in a while whne I remembered. I now have the Prime. I have had one issue so far but the support was v.quick (even in the user forums) and I found out the issue was already resolved. No issues since -- and again, it just sits in the basement. There are still issues from what I see in the forum but they are craning our updates quckly from what I see -- myself I have no iswsues sindce the orginal one and that was not critical.

Either can proivide real HD :-) So its all good. This was the final puzzle piece for me. 7MC just rocks and this makes it rock more.

As said before, I suspect it'll depend on your needs rather than support ...

adam1991

Posts: 2893
Joined: Sat Jun 11, 2011 2:31 pm
Location:

HTPC Specs: Show details

#6

Post by adam1991 » Thu Oct 13, 2011 1:37 am

yeah, I suspect your complaints will be more with 7MC than with the tuners themselves, regardless.

User avatar
newfiend

Posts: 2503
Joined: Tue Jun 07, 2011 12:10 pm
Location: Earth

HTPC Specs: Show details

#7

Post by newfiend » Thu Oct 13, 2011 6:59 pm

Have the Ceton myself.. Thing has been rock solid. Its the only piece of hardware in my system I really never worry about. It just works..had mine over a year now with no issues.

Sent from my WP7 using Board Express

richard1980

Posts: 2623
Joined: Wed Jun 08, 2011 3:15 am
Location:

HTPC Specs: Show details

#8

Post by richard1980 » Thu Oct 13, 2011 8:05 pm

I think the important thing to realize is the InfiniTV has had a year more on the market for Ceton to work out the issues, and the Prime hasn't. A year from now, I bet everyone will be saying "the HDHRP has been rock solid for me". Don't let the temporary issues with a new product (issues that will no doubt be fixed) influence the purchase decision.

gofeet

Posts: 6
Joined: Thu Jul 07, 2011 1:51 pm
Location:

HTPC Specs: Show details

#9

Post by gofeet » Thu Oct 13, 2011 8:11 pm

I'm a Prime early adopter. Setup with the FIOS self-install kit was a breeze. There were some initial problems with recordings failing, but that has since been ironed out and the experience has been great. Snag the latest beta version off their forum and read through the comments while you're there. The number of problems reported seems to have declined sharply.

From what I've read, the Ceton card sounds pretty stable at this point too. I say assess them based on your needs.

LuckyDay

Posts: 586
Joined: Mon Jul 11, 2011 10:42 pm
Location:

HTPC Specs: Show details

#10

Post by LuckyDay » Fri Oct 14, 2011 7:57 pm

I had a Ceton for about three months and loved it. My only complaint was how hot it ran when recording and after long viewing sessions.

I eventually sold it not because I didn't love it, but because I wanted to downsize to a mini-itx HTPC case and didn't have the room for it.

Now I have the Prime and have no complaints here either. Picture quality over the network might (and I stress might) be a little inferior but it could be in my mind.

The one less tuner is a small issue for me and doesn't bother me.

In the end I consider them both excellent products and don't think most people will go wrong with either one.

erkotz

Posts: 1378
Joined: Mon Aug 22, 2011 9:23 pm
Location:

HTPC Specs: Show details

#11

Post by erkotz » Sat Oct 15, 2011 1:21 am

LuckyDay wrote:I had a Ceton for about three months and loved it. My only complaint was how hot it ran when recording and after long viewing sessions.

I eventually sold it not because I didn't love it, but because I wanted to downsize to a mini-itx HTPC case and didn't have the room for it.

Now I have the Prime and have no complaints here either. Picture quality over the network might (and I stress might) be a little inferior but it could be in my mind.

The one less tuner is a small issue for me and doesn't bother me.

In the end I consider them both excellent products and don't think most people will go wrong with either one.
While I would love to be able to claim that our product (the InfiniTV) has superior picture quality, it's impossible. Unless something is corrupting data (dropping packets, causing macroblocking) there is no way one OCUR can have superior picture quality to another (or for that matter, any digital tuner tuning the same signal). The RF portions can be better or worse (handling weak signal/noise scenarios better) but as long as the signal is "good enough" it won't matter.
Quality Assurance Manager, Ceton Corporation

Ilostmysanity

Posts: 1
Joined: Tue Dec 20, 2011 11:01 pm
Location:

HTPC Specs: Show details

#12

Post by Ilostmysanity » Tue Dec 20, 2011 11:10 pm

erkotz wrote:
LuckyDay wrote:I had a Ceton for about three months and loved it. My only complaint was how hot it ran when recording and after long viewing sessions.

I eventually sold it not because I didn't love it, but because I wanted to downsize to a mini-itx HTPC case and didn't have the room for it.

Now I have the Prime and have no complaints here either. Picture quality over the network might (and I stress might) be a little inferior but it could be in my mind.

The one less tuner is a small issue for me and doesn't bother me.

In the end I consider them both excellent products and don't think most people will go wrong with either one.
While I would love to be able to claim that our product (the InfiniTV) has superior picture quality, it's impossible. Unless something is corrupting data (dropping packets, causing macroblocking) there is no way one OCUR can have superior picture quality to another (or for that matter, any digital tuner tuning the same signal). The RF portions can be better or worse (handling weak signal/noise scenarios better) but as long as the signal is "good enough" it won't matter.
I had the same question about reliability. Thanks for opening this thread. It sounds like either would be a great option for replacing my current DVR set up. On the topic of a previous post about better pic quality... working for a cable company myself I can also state that if the signal is exactly the same and nothing has changed there SHOULDN'T be a device with superior picture quality. Usually with digital (and HD) it is either there and clear or you will get tiling (digital picture or audio breakup) or nothing at all. Realistically the only way that you may see a superior pic is, if at the same time as changing your device, your cableco also changed their compression and it affected the pic quality. The other possibility is that there could now be a problem in the "home ethernet network", but once again this in't really too likely either...

adam1991

Posts: 2893
Joined: Sat Jun 11, 2011 2:31 pm
Location:

HTPC Specs: Show details

#13

Post by adam1991 » Tue Dec 20, 2011 11:26 pm

It's not the reliability--hell, grabbing a digital stream and putting it to disk is easy.

It's about the support. I can't speak for Silicon Dust, but I can speak for Ceton: that there is some award-winning customer and product support.

User avatar
mcewinter

Posts: 999
Joined: Thu Jun 30, 2011 8:33 pm
Location: Chicago

HTPC Specs: Show details

#14

Post by mcewinter » Wed Dec 21, 2011 4:35 pm

Many will agree that SD is well known for their support as well and have their own forum which they constantly address. There isn't a shortage of Ceton support on whichever forum you prefer so basically it comes back whic product suits your needs; both seem to have very happy customers.

User avatar
TheOsburnFamil

Posts: 322
Joined: Sat Jun 11, 2011 10:52 pm
Location:

HTPC Specs: Show details

#15

Post by TheOsburnFamil » Thu Dec 22, 2011 12:01 am

Next week will be my one year anniversary with our first ceton & 6month on our second! :)
Not ever owning an SD product myself, I can't honestly speak to them; but, being an active member here, TGB, the old Sage forums, and elsewhere, I can say that at least from a support standpoint, they're rock solid.
On the Ceton side of the shop, with the one year I've had with them, I can personally say the same thing. I'd give examples but the reality is just that they are that good.

So then it comes down to the technical side of things. I can also agree that Ceton has been very active at rolling out new products and updates for their flagship product right from day-one.

Do you know if you are in an SDV market and will require a TA? (Tuning adapter) I ask because here is where Ceton is also fantastic. The last couple firmware updates really did it (at least for me).. and especially if you have a dual TA setup (I do since I have two Cetons)... they could always be problematic. Not anymore. The Ceton is and has been a set & forget now for months.

I haven't heard or seen any comments on SD's TA support; so, that'd be about the only thing I'd wonder about personally. Beyond that-- I'd say they are both good companies to spend money on. :)
Matt O. ...tivo what? ...dish dvr--uh... huh? ...cable dvr fees--you're kidding, right?

erkotz

Posts: 1378
Joined: Mon Aug 22, 2011 9:23 pm
Location:

HTPC Specs: Show details

#16

Post by erkotz » Thu Dec 22, 2011 5:25 am

TheOsburnFamil wrote:I haven't heard or seen any comments on SD's TA support; so, that'd be about the only thing I'd wonder about personally. Beyond that-- I'd say they are both good companies to spend money on. :)
A *LOT* of development time went into our handling of SDV, and also working with MSO's on issues. I think SDV overall has gotten more stable (from an MSO deployment aspect) lately, too. I haven't tried SD's or Hauppauge's SDV support in-depth, but it did take a significant amount of work to get SDV support reliable (due to how the spec is designed...for many failures, the spec basically says "try again") - it's a protocol that you need to expect to fail (again, this is intentional based on how it's designed).

Obviously I'm biased in this, but one thing we do all the time at Ceton is work with MSO's on various issues (find an MSO with old firmware, or CableCARD pairing issues, channel map issues, etc) on the behalf of customers. I can't say I've seen any of our competitors do that (most of them seem to say that you're on your own for MSO-related issues). Granted this is a benefit that we all hope we don't need, but some MSO's aren't as on the ball as others...
Quality Assurance Manager, Ceton Corporation

User avatar
makryger

Posts: 2132
Joined: Sun Jun 05, 2011 2:01 pm
Location: Illinois

HTPC Specs: Show details

#17

Post by makryger » Thu Dec 22, 2011 2:29 pm

The mere fact that ceton employees are so involved in media center forums says a lot about their level of support. When I have had issues they have been very helpful and responsive. As erkotz says above, they even will contact the cable company on your behalf to get things ironed out, because we all know how uninformed the cable people can be. (Yes, I compliment Ceton even though they are trying to run me out of business :P)

I haven't had any experience with SD support, but I have seen that they are very active in their own forums. I'd agree that the earlier the product is in a cycle, the more problems have not been ironed out. But now that I think about it, the same could be said for Ceton's USB tuner- i've been hearing reports that people have been having a lot more difficulties with the InifinTV4 USB than the PCIe model. Maybe erkotz can comment?

In terms of signal quality, I am unfortunately one of those people with a cable signal that can be flaky, and when you're just on the cusp having a good digital signal and a bad digital signal, that's when the better hardware becomes apparent. In my case, I do think that the ceton infinitv4 pcie may have a bit more trouble with a weaker signal than systems I've had in the past. Although, my past systems have never used more than 3 tuners, so that could play a role.
My Channel Logos XL: Get your Guide looking good! ~~~~ TunerSalad: Increase the 4-tuner limit in 7MC

adam1991

Posts: 2893
Joined: Sat Jun 11, 2011 2:31 pm
Location:

HTPC Specs: Show details

#18

Post by adam1991 » Thu Dec 22, 2011 3:24 pm

How about I send you the five bucks before I update my Ceton drivers? :D

User avatar
newfiend

Posts: 2503
Joined: Tue Jun 07, 2011 12:10 pm
Location: Earth

HTPC Specs: Show details

#19

Post by newfiend » Thu Dec 22, 2011 8:56 pm

I was one of the frist Pre-Orders for the Ceton InfiniTV 4 PCIe model. I got one out of the first batch. (I almost didn't order it..they were new to the market and had no background) but from reading about them on Engadget I was instantly hooked on the product. My card has been rock solid since Day one. I have never even had to contact customer support. It's been "That Good!!" It really has been a set it and forget it piece.. How many PC parts have you bought that have been that rock solid?
I know that there are some that have had issues. But Ceton has always stepped up and taken care of their customers. Even going beyond the call and contacting cable companies on customers behalfs.. Not sure where else you can get that level of support???
I highly recommend Ceton to anyone looking for a Tuner. Excellent product IMO!
newfiend~

mikinho

Posts: 248
Joined: Thu Jun 16, 2011 5:23 am
Location:

HTPC Specs: Show details

#20

Post by mikinho » Thu Dec 22, 2011 10:46 pm

Ummm.... +1 for Ceton

Obviously biased but I've "known" most of the members of tgb longer than I have worked for Ceton so I think I can be a little biased here :)

But in all honestly, no product is without its potential flaws given the vast number of unknown elements (i.e. MSOs, home network equipment, PCs, etc). What I can say for Ceton is that we use our products (maybe too much) and want to provide as much support and reliability to our customers as possible.

Post Reply