Hands-on review: HAVA Platinum HD

I hope I don't come off as a braggart, but I own several HDTVs all of them with a TiVO, cable box, and either a Blu-Ray or DVD player so the last thing I need is a Slingbox which is why I never cared to buy one. I mean, why do I need to spend more money to be able watch TV shows on my laptop, right? I've read plenty of Singbox reviews, and although it sounds great, I'm just having a hard time spending $300 on one.

A couple of weeks ago, I got my hands on the HAVA Platinum HD player so I immediately hooked it up to the cable box in my office to give this whole place-shifting idea a try. The actual device is not at sexy as the Slingbox, but that shouldn't matter because it's going to sit inside a cabinet most of the time. The back of the device has several connections such as AV in/out, HD in/out, S-video, AUX audio, IR blaster, and ethernet port. If you're not a techie, don't worry. A quick start guide is included with the hardware to help you set up the device.

Once you've connected your set-top boxes (TiVO, Apple TV, cable box, DVD player) to the HAVA box, you're ready to move on to software. I installed the Windows-only software on my Acer Aspire netbook, ran the setup wizard, and the player was up and running in no time. You can install the software on several computers around the house, but do keep in mind you'll be sharing one cable box, and anyone tuning in will be watching whatever is on that channel. If you change the channel on your HAVA player, the channel also changes on the cable box and vice versa. This shouldn't be a problem if you're the only one using the device, but you'll have to be mindful of others if you're sharing your HAVA with your son in college or traveling spouse.

I'm one of those people that wants to put a television in each room, but with something like HAVA, you can stream live television programming to multiple computers around the house which is great if you have a laptop. I've been watching TV so much on my netbook, I feel it's more like a portable TV now than a computer. What's great is I can record cooking shows during the day, and play them back in the kitchen as I prepare dinner. And just so you know, live streaming is not restricted to your home network only which means you can watch television anywhere, anytime as long as you have an Internet connection.

I think my favorite part is the DVR function. Like most DVRs, HAVA Platinum HD can record, play, pause, rewind, and fast-forward live programming. I just love the fact that you can record TV shows or movies and burn them to a DVD in a few easy steps. To test out this feature, I recorded one of the night shows, burned it onto a DVD, and watch it back on my 42-inch Sony Bravia XBR using a Playstation 3.

The quality was pretty good, although I thought it would be better since I recorded the show from an HD channel, but HAVA does specify on its website shows only record in DVD quality. Strangely, the PS3 had problems playing the disc several times, so I popped it into a regular DVD player and it worked fine. I made another copy of the show to make sure it wasn't the disc, but the problem persisted.

The HAVA player's interface is very sleek. The top of the player has four drop down menus (player, view, recording and help), while the bottom displays controls for the player's DVR functions (record, play, pause, fast-forward, and rewind). There's also a button that summons the remote control, and another one that opens up a folder containing all your recorded shows. There's no limitation on the amount of shows you can record, as long as you have the space for them on your hard drive. The HAVA Platinum HD doesn't have USB ports which means you can't connect an external hard drive, but I think HAVA is adding this capability to its Titamium HD Wi-Fi device soon so keep checking back.

When you open the HAVA player, a virtual remote control opens up alongside the screen. If it doesn't, you can open it up by clicking on the remote control icon at the bottom of the screen. I've been using the standard satellite/cable box remote control which is very simple to use, but if you need to control your other set-top boxes like your TiVO or Apple TV, you can switch the remote control's style. HAVA has included several remote control skins for TiVO Series 3, Comcast, DirectTV TiVO, AT&T U-Verse and others.

I never experienced any problems or delays with the video, and thought the video quality was excellent on my netbook's small screen. Changing the channels with the virtual remote control does take a little patience, which is why I hope HAVA adds some keyboard functionality to their next version.

Overall, I had a great experience with the Platinum HD review unit HAVA sent me. Video quality was good, DVR function was excellent, and you can't beat the price. The HAVA Platinum HD retails for $150, and doesn't involve any monthly fees or extra hardware. If your kids have been begging your for a TV or a TiVO for their room, this is definitely the cheapest option out there.