ZapperBox, the upstart young American company with ATSC 3.0 tuners and DVRs, just announced two new products to expand your OTA local channel viewing throughout your home. The ZapperBox M2 (“Zapper One”) and M3 (“Zapper Mini”) are designed to share tuners with the company’s existing M1 tuner/DVR so you can view live or recorded programs on virtually any TV, projector or display device within your home.
ZapperBox tuner/DVRs are designed to pull in your local OTA television broadcasts for free, via an antenna. For maximum compatibility, the tuners support both ATSC 1.0 and ATSC 3.0 brodcasts (a.k.a. “Next Gen TV”). If you live within about 60-70 miles of a local broadcast tower (and have the right antenna), you can receive free live broadcasts from networks including ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX, PBS and the CW Network (among others).
ATSC 3.0 supports resolutions up to 4K with HDR and Dolby Atmos surround, though most local broadcasts are currently capped at 1080p HD resolution. Adding DVR (Digital Video Recording) capability to a ZapperBox tuner requires the connection of an external USB hard drive or SD memory card plus subscription to the company’s 14-day program guide (currently $29.99/year for up to two devices).
While you can’t get premium cable networks like ESPN, AMC or HBO via an OTA tuner, you can get tons of free programming and get live access to local news and big events like the Super Bowl, the Oscars and the Grammy Awards, with no subscription fees, unless you want to record the shows for later viewing. We used a ZapperBox M1 in New York City to watch the 2024 Olympics in 1080p HD resolution with HDR and Dolby Atmos surround sound – all for free. And it was glorious!
While the Zapperbox M1 OTA tuner is great, with both single and dual-tuner options and DVR capabilities, the only drawback is that it can only connect to a single TV via an HDMI cable. You can’t share this content with other TVs in your home. That limitation will be lifted with the upcoming release of Version 3.0 of the ZapperBox software. Once that software is available, the M1 will be able to share live and recorded content with other ZapperBox M1 tuner/DVRs and with the two new products that the company just announced.
ZapperBox M2 – “Zapper One” – An Affordable All-In-One Solution
The M2 “Zapper One” will combine a single-tuner DVR with a network gateway at a lower cost than the single-tuner ZapperBox M1 ($224.95 at Amazon). With the networking and gateway feature enabled, the M2 can access live OTA feeds and recorded content from another ZapperBox in the home (like an M1 or M2) and it can share its own tuner and DVR recordings with other ZapperBox players in the home.
ZapperBox M3 Player – “Zapper Mini” – Watch OTA Content in Other Rooms
The ZapperBox M3 player ($129.95), is designed as a playback device only (no built-in tuner). With its networking features, the Zapper Mini can access live or recorded programming from any ZapperBox tuner in your home network, including the M1 and M2. The nice thing about this is that you won’t need an antenna or antenna cable in the room where your Zapper Mini is located. It uses standard ethernet or WiFi connectivity to connect to the ZapperBox tuners in other parts of your home.
Like the M1, the ZapperBox M2 and M3 support 4K resolution, HDR10 and HLG High Dynamic Range, Dolby Digital+ and Dolby Atmos surround sound from compatible broadcasts. With a more powerful CPU, and more on-board memory, the M1 is still the flagship tuner/DVR, but these new products can help distribute OTA live streams and recordings throughout your home at more affordable price points.
The first production runs of the ZapperBox M2 and M3 are expected to begin in October, 2024 with shipments beginning in late October or early November. The company is offering pre-order discounts to those who want to lock in the earliest shipments of these new products at the lowest prices. ZapperBox expects general availability on sites like Amazon to begin in late 2024 or early 2025. The company promises more updates to the ZapperBox ecosystem in the near future that will expand its feature set even further.
The Bottom Line
These new products from ZapperBox address the primary criticism of their existing M1 tuner/DVR – its inability to share content to multiple TVs. Now with the release of version 3.0 of the company’s software platform and the M2 and M3, any ZapperBox product – including the M1 – will be able to share live and recorded broadcasts with other ZapperBox units, placed anywhere within the home. This can allow ZapperBox customers to enjoy free high quality video content on any TV, display or projector within their home. The company’s affordable price points and low guide fee ($29.99/year) make it an excellent choice for those looking to save money on their monthly cable or satellite TV subscriptions.
Where to Buy:
- ZapperBox M1 Tuner/DVR:
- Single Tuner – $224.95 at Amazon
- Dual Tuner – $274.95 at Amazon
- ZapperBox M2 and M3 – pre-order directly from ZapperBox.com
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ORT
August 18, 2024 at 5:07 am
Well this is good gnus indeed for a great many Amuricans. These are after all, people of the land. The common clay of the new West. You know… morons.
Might I suggest a device made especially for the Left Coast of the Country, especially so San Francisco and Los Angeles. Perhaps parts of the great state of Gnu York and of course Snortland, Oregon as well as Sealatte’, Washington?
It would brovide bespocked (one eyebrow raised!) content for thee unsung epicureans of adult programmes. You know them as your neighborhood human fiddler crabs…*WINK* *WINK* “NUDGE* *NUDGE*.
Call it, “FapperBox-X” and if you build it, they will cum. Eventually. Maybe. Who cares?
20 brazillion stations and still, nothing is on. These days I have little faith in the common man. Or woman. We are living in the “Dawn of Idiocracy” and if they are not yet watching “ASS” they are at least viewing “JackAss”. I often wonder why the offspring of a horse and a donkey (i.e., a Mule) are usually born sterile. Same with a horse and zebra, thd Zorse. That will one day be a show on some yet conceived channel…”A zorse is a zorse of course, of course and no one talks to a zorse of course. Unless of course, that talking zorse is the famous Mr. Zed”…”Willlllburrrrr”….
What I am politely (?!) pointing out is that just because something is free does not make it work the time to view it. Some might be so brazen as to make the same claim about my commentary here. The truth is always free but people’s minds are not.
By the way, my grandmother was Dutch.
Sheriff bORT of Rock Ridge
Chris Boylan
August 20, 2024 at 9:04 pm
Never a dull moment when reading ORT’s missives and diatribes! Thank you, sir! Although I would agree that much of what is available over the air for “free” is of low value, there are exceptions. Olympics, Oscars, Grammy Awards, Super Bowl, etc. Also, if you like to keep up with local news and weather, an antenna-based system comes in quite handy.
Compared to $74.99/month for YouTube TV and not much less for a basic cable or satellite subscription, I’ll take ZapperBox for $2.50/month for its premium 14-day guide and unlimited DVR capabilities. You can even skip commercials! Try that on Hulu or any of the other ad-supported streaming services.