Welcome to the MacNN Forums.

post_break · May 8, 2007, 12:10 PM

Does anyone have a macbook and an eyetv that can vouch for the performance? $150 is a lot to spend on a product that has mixed reviews. If anyone would like to post a screenshot from their macbook it would be much appreciated. Even better would be a short recording so I could see the actual quality of the device. I guess the best I can offer would be a joost or demonoid invite.

ibook_steve · May 8, 2007, 12:40 PM

eyeTV is great. Where are you seeing mixed reviews?

Steve

post_break · May 8, 2007, 12:51 PM

El Gato EyeTV Reviews. Software Reviews by CNET.

Thats just one and I usually trust cnet's reviews, but then again that was posted quite some time ago. I have just read that there is lag between the audio and video. I take it you have one? Would you mind posting a screenshot of the video in fullscreen and in exact size?

ibook_steve · May 9, 2007, 12:26 PM

Originally Posted by post_break

El Gato EyeTV Reviews. Software Reviews by CNET.

Thats just one and I usually trust cnet's reviews,

Well, that's your first and biggest mistake. Cnet is notorious for inaccurate reviews. Add that to the fact that this review is from '03, and you're not getting the complete picture. You don't mention what TV capture hardware you have, but I have the eyeTV Hybrid that introduces basically no lag (at least none that I can see) and the great eyeTV software. Go to elgato's web site to get the complete picture and look for a MacWorld review instead of Cnet.

Steve

bluedog · May 9, 2007, 03:06 PM

I have an Elgato HybridTV usb stick with the EyeTV software. Its really a great technology if you want to have TV on your mac. My only wish is the saved files could be automatically in the DV format. Not sure if the latest update allows for quick conversion to a video iPod (which would be fairly cool to save discspace on basic recordings).

I'll try and post a very short clip. It does 1080i on HD signals we receive but many stations are not broadcasting their content that high and only doing 720i or 720p. The Macbook can only display the 720p or less due to its screensize (or its scaling down which you don't need to have the full 1080 stream to view on your Macbook.

Its definitely worth its price. I wish the software had a more 'tivo-like' recording mechanism. As-is you have to explicitly choose the programs you want to record.

ilovemymac · May 9, 2007, 10:38 PM

eyetv hybrid is great. I've one set for sale if you are interested man. Just drop me an email at chendeneng@hotmail.com

post_break · May 10, 2007, 01:05 PM

Bluedog I'll owe you one! 720p would probably be what I would be using. We have HD but Im not sure if we get it through out the entire house.

This is the one I was looking at getting Elgato Systems

Hell if I get this thing I will just sell my tv...

bluedog · May 10, 2007, 07:48 PM

Originally Posted by post_break

Bluedog I'll owe you one! 720p would probably be what I would be using. We have HD but Im not sure if we get it through out the entire house.
Hell if I get this thing I will just sell my tv...

That's *exactly* what I did, is have this become my new television. I get the added benefit of recordability, internet, photos, music and movies (DVDs) or other video content all in one screen and device.

A wireless keyboard and mouse makes if fairly convenient to use for the other tasks. 24" iMac seems made to do this. There is a good app called Mira that allows you to program custom functionality into the wireless remote for launching apps. The only drawback is the remote has too few buttons to make it have enough 'enter' and 'escape' functions while giving enough buttons to whatever app you wish to use.

It almost seems like a no-brainer for a television today. If you already have a computer with a good flat screen, this addon device gives you the other part of your media experience. Although a slingbox may also do something similar (and has some added functionality for streaming media), I like the compactness of the Elgato offering.

For a laptop it is a bit big to keep sticking out the side, but if space is a concern and you can live it unhooking it when you don't need it that isn't so bad either. I also wish I could burn HD content with a blueray drive or HD-DVD (but both are too expensive for now).

After reading the post about perhaps only getting HD in part of the house, the slingbox may be a better option if you can stream your videos to whatever computer you have around the house. YMMV, but I put my content on the computer and have the drive shared for access to the media when I want it.

post_break · 10:20 PM

Yeah space is not going to be an issue, if I want to watch tv my laptop will already be in my room and since its USB its plug and play. The only thing that worries me is the video card. Now that I think of it I *should* be able to pick up an HD station anywhere in the house. Lemme see a same clip please!

edit... I just read some of the reviews on amazon and here is what one guy says that sounds pretty shitty.

If you have digital cable, the converter box supplied by your cable company IS REQUIRED with any Eyetv product for North America. Once you subscribe to digital cable, all your channels require decoding. Without a converter box, you will only be able to receive over the air broadcasts. I tried without a cable box and only received random unclear channels. Unfortunately I found this info later in the Elgato FAQ's.

Unfortunately, once you are using a Cable Box, The EyeTV is esentially an expensive tv adapter for your Mac. The TV listings and "Tivo-like" features are useless, since you have to leave the Eyetv software on channel 3 and change the channels manually on your cable box. Sure you can still manually record shows on your Mac, but you are losing the great automated features, and the soul of this product.

If Elgato would simply add an IR remote transmitter to change the channels on your cable box (the way Tivo does) or cablecard support for a larger model, the Eyetv would once again be a beautiful thing.