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G-mac · Dec 10, 2003, 01:55 AM

In case anyone was wondering, Miglia finally put out a new AlchemyTV DVR card that allows scheduled recording and includes the remote that the Televio does. I'm not sure if this was already mentioned in another thread, but thought it was worth posting:

http://www.miglia.com/products/video...dvr/index.html

I think I'm gonna go order myself one...

GORDYmac · Dec 10, 2003, 07:56 AM

Very interesting. I've heard of the card, but the scheduling capability is news to me.

-Q- · Dec 10, 2003, 08:17 AM

I just got the notice myself. I'm sure that was their biggest request. I placed an order for the card, so once I get it I'll post some pics and a review.

And for those that don't know, this is the card based on the technology that Miglia purchased from Televio. It's the same basic chipset as the Televio card, just rebranded.

iBookUser · Jan 12, 2004, 09:50 PM

Anyone have an update on this card? I'm curious to hear about it.

Thanks,
Matt

motti · Apr 13, 2004, 12:08 PM

-Q-, did you get your card?

angelmb · Apr 13, 2004, 04:03 PM

My Televio with Alchemy DVR soft (made by Meilenstein, the Televio folks)

works great with my B&W G3. I check the G5 version inside a G5 of course, and it is a dream!

-Q- · Apr 13, 2004, 09:32 PM

Originally posted by motti:
-Q-, did you get your card?

I did. Overall, I like it. My biggest complaints have been related to the software that comes with it and it appears to be improving with each release. You can see some further details in my post here.

If you have any specific questions, just let me know. I'm happy to answer anything. Ane with the newest releases of the software, it's really gotten to be a great DVR/TV device.

motti · Apr 14, 2004, 01:04 PM

Originally posted by -Q-:
If you have any specific questions, just let me know. I'm happy to answer anything. Ane with the newest releases of the software, it's really gotten to be a great DVR/TV device.

Thank you -Q-, indeed I have some questions. I downloaded the 4meg clip and really the quality is bad at fullscreen. The technical specs on the Miglia page state a max resolution of 768*576 (PAL) et 720*480 (NTSC) for the G4/G5 compatible card. Is this only true for viewing and not for recording?

How does the integration with iCal work? Are there any problems you encountered?

I would like to replace my vcr, which I mainly use to record 30-60min programs when I'm not at home. Do you think this product would satisfy me?

Uncle Skeleton · Apr 14, 2004, 07:04 PM

I don't think you're being fair to the picture quality of the Televio/Alchemy card. I can't seem to view your sample, but it sounds like you just scaled down to half frame and used Apple's mpeg4 codec, either of which would be enough to ruin any source video (when played at full screen). But the picture quality you start with has 4.5x as many pixels as that one, and no digital artifacting (you might get some from your cable provider, but that's a whole other problem). The picture quality is definitely higher than any DV option. The only other thing I can think of that might color your opinion is that I've never tried capturing with the included software (I use BTV and cron), so that might be doing something stupid to reduce picture quality.

motti: there's no difference between viewing specs and recording specs. I routinely use my Televio card (and cron) to replace my VCR.

motti · Apr 15, 2004, 08:58 AM

Originally posted by Uncle Skeleton:
motti: there's no difference between viewing specs and recording specs. I routinely use my Televio card (and cron) to replace my VCR.

I already have a Hauppauge WinTV card a PC friend gave to me in my G4. Unfortunately, it get frequent freezes when loading the kext for this card... With iTV I can watch TV but I have never managed to record anything. You wrote that you do this with btv, I'll give it a try tonight.