Amazon.com.au:Customer reviews: Mediasonic ATSC Digital Converter Box with Recording / Media Player / TV Tuner Function (HW130STB)

Jetsue

Converter made smaller than the Earlier Version

Reviewed in Canada on 23 March 2022

I received the converter yesterday and was surprised when I opened the box. I have an earlier version of Homeworx PVR150, and thought the newer model would be superior. The converter is made of a light plastic which is 1/2 the size of the previous one. Being light, it makes it unstable on surfaces. Then came the remote control. Also 1/2 the size of the previous version, and also much lighter. Being smaller, the buttons are tiny and are harder to read. Very disappointed with the quality of this product. I decided to return it and keep on using my old Homeworx PVR150.

Amazon Customer

Won't turn on after 7 months - Don't Buy It.

Reviewed in Canada on 15 December 2021

Verified Purchase

Had been working "okay" since buying. Required occasional restarting due to audio and video being out of sync, but we could deal with that. Then one day we sat down to watch tv and the digital converter box would not turn on. Dead. No power. After doing some reading of other reviews here and googling the problem, it appears to be a pretty common problem. Save yourself the aggravation and don't buy this product.

One person found this helpful

Yves Le Sage

Mediasonic ATSC 130STB vraiment pas sur!

Reviewed in Canada on 19 May 2022

Verified Purchase

Je l'utilise (quand il fonctionne) depuis le 20 avril 2022. Au début, je n'était pas sur si c'était moi ou l'appareil. C'est l'appareil, il s'éteint au bout de période différentes. En générale il fait de 5à 15 minutes et après pouff...plus de service, il faut le débrancher pour le repartir. J'ai fait un test pour vérifier si c'était un problème de surchauffe et j'ai déposé un "ice pack" sac de glace autour de l'appareil il a fonctionné 2 heures sans aucunes coupure...Donc! Inacceptable! Est-ce un cas isolé ? Non, je ne crois pas à lire d'autre critique.

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C R

Happy with it so far. Does what it's supposed to

Reviewed in Canada on 12 December 2020

Verified Purchase

I used to have a satellite receiver that I used to feed two different tv's. I no longer subscribe to the satellite service so I purchased this to put in it's place. It's been working great so far. It picked up the same number of channels as my two tv's with similar signal strength so I wouldn't expect it to pick up any additional channels.
My only real complaint is the USB port on the front, in my mind it would make more sense for it to be on the back of the box so you have a cleaner installation and no extra wires at the front of the box. I guess if you use a flash drive it's probably not a big issue, but I imagine if anyone is using the pvr feature, they aren't going to be unplugging their hard drive or flash drive often if ever, so why not put it in the back? I ended up using two 90 degree usb elbows to make it look neater, that was just an added expense that I wouldn't have had if the USB port was in the back.
Another issue I had is I ruined two external hard drives trying to get them setup for the pvr. I don't know if it was just a coincidence that they both failed after hooking them up to this or if the drives themselves just went bad.
I haven't tried using the pvr feature yet but it seems pretty straightforward.
All in all, I would recommend this if you need a basic digital tuner

Doug Lewis

About as expected at the price - with an unexpected bonus!

Reviewed in Canada on 15 February 2021

Verified Purchase

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.)

Alain Robert

bon rapport qualité/prix

Reviewed in Canada on 19 March 2022

Verified Purchase

J'en avais déjà un depuis quelques années, mais il est tombé par terre à quelques reprises,
en bougeant le meuble de la télé, ce qui lui a été fatal. J'en ai donc commandé un autre, identique.
Je capte 25 postes avec mon antenne et cet appareil, plusieurs postes de vieilles émissions américaines, pas intéressant. Pour le prix, cet appareil a un très bon rendement. Un peu compliqué d'en comprendre toutes les fonctions.

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Leslie

not for recording

Reviewed in Canada on 7 June 2022

Verified Purchase

It works very well for simple reception of signals and getting a HDMI, rf, or video output of an ATSC signal and provides useful signal information. However recording requires a PERFECT signal with no error in it. Otherwise the recordings have intermittent extreme pixellation and often loss content for a few seconds. ATSC signals require a great deal of digital correction and it appears that during recording error correction does not work so a very strong local signal line-of site is required. I have several good local signals but unfortunately possible reflections from trees, buildings or other interference interrupt all recordings. A good recording using the video output to another recording device does work but defeats the purpose of the device! I use an amplified outdoor antenna which I considered adequate for ATSC so was surprised by the unfortunate results.

ABLamazon

Only for recording OTA digital TV signals - not for recording cable/satellite TV

Reviewed in Canada on 9 February 2021

Verified Purchase

Super little device, works well, great price. Downsides: programmed recordings labels are stored on your attached hard drive in channel/date/time format only (ie no names of shows or movies etc), so you either need to keep a record of what/when you recorded, or scroll down the list of your recordings and do a quick preview of each item to find what you're looking for. Also the remore is quite small and thus the buttons are really small and it'seasy to press the wrong one; comes with practice. The pass-through feature is great: you don't need to rurn the device on to just watch direct OTA TV. Also the choices of HDTV (via HDMI) or COAX OUT, or RCA video, to TV is great to have. Picture resolution can be excellent, but obviously depends on quality of original signal.

Chris

Super Easy to use. Does what its supposed to.

Reviewed in Canada on 8 March 2021

Verified Purchase

This is one of my favourite products I've bought on amazon. Its so easy to use, I only had to glance at the instructions, hook it up and use it. The tuner is sensitive and picks up more channels than the built in one of my samsung tv. The remote control makes sense, and its easier to use than a VCR. I've bought a lot of asian products where the controls and buttons make no sense at all, but this one is great - its as easy or easier to use than your TV! I use USB sticks to record the shows, and I think a 32gb stick holds over 10 movies on it. It is fabulous for rescheduling your tv watching. It has just one bug to it, sometimes the audio and video is out of sync. you just have to stop the playback and start it again and it resyncs. Maybe two or three times in a month you might have to turn it off and turn it on again to re-sync it, but its no big deal. It only takes seconds. I know, I'm saying such good things about this product, it sounds like I work for the mediasonic or for amazon , but i don't , and I'm not a pro reviewer.

Honeybunch

Meets requirements.

Reviewed in Canada on 23 September 2020

Verified Purchase

Arrived on time and in good order. Basic store packaging in a skimpy envelope. Commissioning trials using a FHD monitor and mini side speakers were successful. Amazon sourced antenna with an active in-line signal booster were also used. Our immediate area only has three useful o-t-a channels. Picture quality was excellent, sound was clear. Remote control and menu option selections were prone to a stumble or three. In a larger urban centre with cross-border signal access, this economic product arrangement could arguably compete with Cable and Sat feeds, depending on one's interests. Satisfactory antenna performance is really what its all about. No or poor TV signal, game is over before it starts.

5 star		52%
4 star		18%
3 star		11%
2 star		6%
1 star		13%

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