[richardb]

I want to view TV on my Cube and PowerBook G4 without spending a fortune by buying Formac Studio. So I sent a letter to Formac outlining a alternate solution. This is their answer...


thank you for the feedback. Unfortunately there is currently no plan to
develop such a product. Maybe in the near future ...

Thank you,
Sales Department
Formac Electronic Inc.


> Dear Formac,
> I would love to be one of your customers and here's
> why.
>
> I own a G4 Cube with a great Apple 17" TFT screen as
> well as a PowerBook G4. To fully embrace a digital
> lifestyle I want to be able to watch TV on these
> computers. A FireWire version of your ProTV PCI card
> would make this possible. It would run on OS X 10.1,
> be AppleScript aware and maybe even compatible with
> Keyspan Digital Media Remote control. I am sure there
> are many like me who would buy such a solution if you
> presented it on the market. Of course there is your
> Studio product but it is little bit too expensive for
> me and I do not need all those extra features.
>
> I think there's a great convergence going on right now
> between TV-viewing and computers with flat panels as
> an affordable alternative to much more expensive TFT
> and plasma screen TVs.
>
> Best regards,
> /Richard Bergman
> Stockholm, Sweden

[Zoom]

What are the non-FW alternatives? I'm interested in this, too. I've got a cable modem, so it would be natural to split it at the Mac and have a cable input, too. In fact, can't you get FM radio off your cable line, too? That would be nice, but TV is what I want.

What solutions are available for this? I realize you need FW, but maybe you could tell me what there is for PCI.

[richardb]

There's Formac's ProTv PCI card although it lacks OSX support and from what I've gathered it has some issues with stability in OS9.

The other alternative is the silly little MyTv USB thingy and which can't provide acceptable full screen quality.

I've seen a lot of great TFT TV solutions lately and I can't wait to jump on the bandwagon. Unfortunately it seems that I'm better off trading my Cube for a PowerMac...

[Zoom]

TFT as in LCD screens?? Not sure what you mean there.

Aren't there cheap little PCI cards you can buy that will allow you to watch TV on your Mac? I don't need full screen or anything, I'm just looking for a window where I can watch cable TV while working on my Mac. I guess full screen would be nice, though.

[bkolasin]

I like the way you think, richardb

I am also thinking of investing in a 17" apple TFT and I would like to watch TV on it. My idea was to get the Dazzle Hollywood DV-Bridge-- which I've found for < $250 at most online retailers now (buy.com, outpost)-- and then buy a fairly cheap VCR ($60-70) to serve as the TV tuner for it. This has the added bonus of letting me 'rip' my old videotapes into DV so I can burn them on VCDs and I can finally have Ren and Stimpy playing on my DVD player Sure, this isn't as elegant as a software-based TV tuner interface, but I think it's quite functional. Plus, the Dazzle Hollywood can control devices with LANC, which I believe is some Sony mechanism to control things like VCRs and camcorders. Then you can use iMovie to control your VCR. And I believe this whole shebang is cheaper than the Formac Studio.