If you’ve got a gift card burning a hole in your cargo pants and you’re thinking about getting a DVR TV solution for your home network, I would probably pass on the Elgato HDHomeRun ($200). I had high hopes for this device, but I’m less than thrilled with the results.

It looks good on paper, awesome even. The HDHomeRun, sold by Elgato for the Mac and by SiliconDust for Windows and Linux, is a two-tuner TV/DVR box that can receive ATSC over-the-air digital TV and un-encrypted QAM cable signals. About the size of a router, it plugs into your cable/antenna system (with two coax inputs to feed two tuners) and into your home network router via Ethernet. Once on your net, you install the HDHomeRun software on all the computers on your net and they can all receive TV (at least two different channels) at the same time. The software on each desktop has two TV windows, so you can watch two shows at the same time (if you want to play The Man Who Fell To Earth: The Home Game). The software also offers typical DVR functionality with the ability to schedule recordings, pause live TV, rewind/FF, record to your hard drive, etc. And you can do this with any computer on the network running the software.

I was really excited by the possibilities offered here. I have a desktop Mac and a BlackBook. I was looking forward to the idea of adding a second DVR (to supplement my TiVo) and being able to watch some TV in bed or have a window open for news or maybe a ballgame while I’m working on a deadline. And the price of under $200 ($199), with no fee for the guide service, sure gets your attention.

But my experience of the reception has been spotty. If the atmospheric gods are in a good mood and the wind is blowing in the right direction, the reception is gorgeous and it feels amazing to be able to whip out a CD, install some software, and add a new TV to your network. But move a few rooms away, piss off aforementioned sky gods, and you’re looking at dropped frames, pixelation, stuttering, and other viewing frustrations. I’ve read other reviews of this product and they have been very positive of the reception quality, so like FM digital transmitters for cars, your mileage may vary. If you decide to buy one, make sure you can return it, if the streaming radiowaves are particularly anemic around your electronic cottage (as they appear to be around mine).