First Look: Zenith HDR230

[Gregg Lengling]

You can breathe easy. We've finally found a PVR that receives and records HDTV.

By Andrew Hawn  
 
 
Take a personal video recorder (PVR), slap in high-definition tuning, and you've got couch potato nirvana. Zenith's new HDR230 is the first set-top box we've seen that combines digital HDTV tuning with PVR features. Watch "Fresh Gear" to see if it tickles your TV karma.

Like any PVR, the HDR230 uses a large hard drive to record and archive TV content. The main difference is that you can pause, rewind, and maneuver through anything from standard-definition 480i to high-definition 1080i wide-screen content. (Look for TiVo and other PVRs to follow suit later in 2003.) Of course, you need an HD-capable TV to watch that crystal clear video.


About the size of a DVD player, the HDR230 offers a variety of input/output options:



RGB or component (YPbPr) 1080i/720p/480p output
S-Video output
A/V output
Coaxial/optical Dolby AC-3 audio output
ATSC (8VSB) antenna input

No futzing around


The HDR230's setup and signal sensitivity are far better than in other HD receivers. I pulled the HDR230 out of its box, hooked up a pair of $6.99 rabbit ears, and then set up the built-in programming guide. Within 10 minutes I picked up five HD signals and four standard-definition (SD) signals.


"CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" and the PBS HD loop looked predictably amazing in 1080i on our $10,000 plasma screen.


Couple of pot holes


Despite its sizable 80GB hard drive, the HDR230 manages to record only a paltry eight to nine hours of high-definition content and 27 hours at standard definition. Since HDTV recording is this PVR's biggest selling point, it really should record three to four times that much HDTV content. (Rumor has it you can swap in a larger drive with little effort.)


If you expect the HDR230 to act exactly like a ReplayTV or TiVo PVR, prepare to be underwhelmed. Unlike those PVRs, the Zenith doesn't continually buffer 30 minutes of programming. If you want to pause or rewind live TV, you first have to hit the Time Shift button.


Video gremlin at it again


But by far our biggest complaint is that the Zenith HDR230 is unstable. After just five to six hours of use, the box began dropping video output. Cracking open the box and adding a powerful fan helped, but it didn't eliminate the problem. (To be fair, Zenith says we "probably" have a preproduction unit.)


Summary: The Zenith HDR230 offers great video quality and extremely sensitive signal grab. But it records only a pathetic eight hours of recordings, and it's unstable. Pile on a price of $999 and, well, let's just say we're not going to run out and buy it today.


Pros: Excellent digital reception sensitivity; great picture quality; lots of output options


Cons: Instability; funky time-shifting functions; pathetic eight-hour HD recording time


Company: Zenith
Price: $999
Available: Now