[Jordan]

Just noticed that this product is finally available in the UK and from the Apple Store as well!!!

Be interested in any user experiences with it...

Can you use it over an Airport connection? What's involved in doing that?

Thanks in advance,

Jordan

[DAlex]

Heh, I'll let you know what it's like when it actually ships in the UK.....

I'm going to order one from the apple store as they are a fair bit cheaper than anyone else (shock horror!) - �189inc VAT against �216!

My usual suppliers were saying March 17th, now they say end of March, but Apple says at least 4 weeks - so like I say, I'll let you know when it actually ships and I can get one

DAlex

[Jordan]

They've been in the US for some time. Surely one of our friends over the pond has some experience of it.

It was MacWorld best of show, so assume that someone bought it!

[mitchell_pgh]

Originally posted by Jordan:
They've been in the US for some time. Surely one of our friends over the pond has some experience of it.

It was MacWorld best of show, so assume that someone bought it!

VERY interesting... I've been contemplating purchasing an older G4 and placing a few 160GB drives in them (3) and housing all of my movies on them in their native format.

From their site:

Q: What movie formats can EyeHome display?

A: EyeHome can play the following movie files: MPEG-1 (.mpg), MPEG-2
(including unencrypted .vob), MPEG-4 (.mp4) and DivX (including DIVX,
DX50 and XVID codecs).

So I'm guessing it would play my DVD collection if I imported them using DVD Backup...

[Jordan]

Mitchell - not a bad suggestion. Wonder if I can do that. Might be the excuse I need to buy a G5 and retire my G4 to a movie server. Then again, I've got over 450 DVD's so might need quite a few drives to hold them all. (Yes they are legitimately purchased before anyone asks!!!)

Still, I'm keen to know if anyone is using this. The website blurb sounds fantastic but I'm always suspect of self promotion.

Surely someone has bought one!

[DAlex]

Haven't got mine yet but I did find this review:
http://www.amug.org/amug-web/html/am...ticles/elgato/

Also xlr8yourmac.com has some owner reviews which mention a couple of problems which appear to have been resolved by a minor software update.

I've been preparing a load of my series dvds into divx ready for when I can start playing with the eyehome once it starts shipping here....tell you what Jordan, when I get mine set up pop over to Cardiff for the day and come and have a play!

[::maroma::]

Check the Peripherals forum. Search for "EyeHome". There are a number of threads discussing it. A few people have used it. Seems to be a really nice little product. I will be getting one eventually.

[mitchell_pgh]

Hmmm, $250 for this little gem... that's a good chunk of change, but at the same time, it is very interesting...

450 movies... You would need over 2.5 TB of storage... good luck with that...

[Jordan]

Originally posted by ::maroma:::
Check the Peripherals forum. Search for "EyeHome". There are a number of threads discussing it. A few people have used it. Seems to be a really nice little product. I will be getting one eventually.

::maroma::: Where did you see these threads? I did plenty of searches before this post and found nothing. Looked under Elgato, Eye, Home, EyeHome and nothing showed.

DAlex - might take you up on that. I'm off overseas for a week or two. Pop a message on here when you get it.

[Jordan]

Originally posted by mitchell_pgh:
Hmmm, $250 for this little gem... that's a good chunk of change, but at the same time, it is very interesting...

450 movies... You would need over 2.5 TB of storage... good luck with that...

Finally an excuse for me to get some Xserve RAID storage!

Let's see if I have to put 450 movies on it will cost around $14 a movie. Ummm, maybe I'll wait for that lottery winning

[Jordan]

double post... oops

[::maroma::]

Originally posted by Jordan:
::maroma::: Where did you see these threads? I did plenty of searches before this post and found nothing. Looked under Elgato, Eye, Home, EyeHome and nothing showed.

Well damn.. I know I've seen multiple discussions on the EyeHome in that forum. I've had problems with the search engine on this board before. I have a feeling it's not working properly.

Anyway, here are two threads that mention it over at the HandBrake forums:

http://handbrake.m0k.org/forum/viewt...hlight=eyehome

http://handbrake.m0k.org/forum/viewt...hlight=eyehome

[::maroma::]

I KNEW it! Here's the thread I was thinking of here:

http://forums.macnn.com/showthread.p...hreadid=203101

Stupid search engine didn't pick it up. Had to look at all of my past posts.

[Jordan]

Originally posted by ::maroma:::
I KNEW it! Here's the thread I was thinking of here:

http://forums.macnn.com/showthread.p...hreadid=203101

Stupid search engine didn't pick it up. Had to look at all of my past posts.

Thanks ::maroma::: you were so right! Honest I did search a lot before my post.

Something weird is happening with the old MacNN site lately. I am constantly getting database errors when I try to access and now the search isn't working properly....

Great thread and good to see that the Elgato guys are reading here too. I'm going to pick one up from the Apple store as soon as I get back.

Jordan

[Jordan]

After reading all the reviews on the EyeTV 200 and EyeHome I was convinced and have just bought both... Couldn't wait. I'm away for a couple of weeks so then only 2 - 3 weeks to wait once I get back!!!

Woo hoo!!!!

[mitchell_pgh]

It says that it plays unencrypted VOB files, but if I have a DVD on my hard drive, will it view the menus?

[DAlex]

Jordan: Ordered mine too! Just got to be patient now during the '4 to 6 weeks' build time quoted by the Apple Store UK......

DAlex

[C.J. Moof]

ElGato fixed the iTunes Library too big bug for most folks, but not for me. I'm the one up at xlr8your mac who's EyeHome wouldn't see past 196 songs. I sent error messages and iTunes .xml files to ElGato, who was very active in trying to fix it. The last word is that their "engineering partners" fixed the xml bug I was seeing, but the the release wasn't stable enough to release.

I ended up sending mine back, and getting a Toshiba Tivo/DVD player instead. That was the right move for me. TiVo just keeps impressing me, while the EyeHome interface is just adequate. The other factor is that the Tivo/DVD setup is just simpler- one remote and one input setting on my TV now manages live TV, recordings, and DVDs. I only have to bring the receiver into the setup if I want the "big sound" of my 5.1 system. With the EyeHome, it was another input on the TV to get right, another input on the reciever, and another remote in the basket to use. I like simple.

As for the EyeHome itself, aside from my significant iTunes bug, it does it's advertised job decently. It played my EyeTV content as it should, as it did a DVD rip I made via HandBrake, and a HDTV ->Divx episode of The West Wing I downloaded. The iTunes that it did play sounded great on my home theatre. The Web browser in it is a waste of time (the web on TV sucks, and anyone who has this has a current PowerMac running OS X!), the iPhoto integration worked fine, but it made my photos look very... "contrasty"- much more so than the same photos put into iDVD, burned and played on the DVD player.

I wasn't a fan of the navigation of the EyeHome interface. It often didn't go where I thought it would go..... say you're in a list of movies, I think it was 6 on a page (maybe it isn't but I need a number here). If I arrow down through each selection to the last, and arrow down again, I get movies 7-12. OK, that makes sense. So I'm now on #7, at the top of the second page, I should be able to arrow up to return to #6. But that takes you to the navigation above, where you choose from the 1-6, 7-12, 13-18 groups. Also- the left hand navigation tells you what section you're in, but it's hilighted in the same color as the moving selection cursor. That makes your hilight blend in and dissapear when you're arrowing through things.
I also missed the 7 second rewind my EyeTV and Tivo have- perfect for the "what was that line?" moments.
The streaming radio was more likely to skip and stutter than not, so that was rarely an enjoyable experience.
Also, it's exclusively about recorded content- it just doesn't manage live TV. I've only had my TiVo 10 days and I already don't want to be without that pause button, or the ability to hit record when you're into a show, and have the whole thing stored.
None of these are fatal flaws, just little annoyances that keep it from being a great product.

I think highly of ElGato- I'm still keeping my EyeTV around, and while I had a significant problem with my setup, they tried hard to fix it. I simply found that the Tivo was the right product for me.

[DAlex]

Well, as I said earlier, I've ordered mine (This morning) with an expected 4 to 6 weeks build/delivery time - Just been emailed by Apple to confirm my Eyehome has shipped! To say I'm please would be understating the issue

Jordan: Who did you order yours from? If it's Apple then check you mail!

DAlex

[mitchell_pgh]

I'm very interested in knowing if it only plays the unencrypted .VOB files or if it also plays the menus. I'm on the verge of buying one.

[DAlex]

Originally posted by mitchell_pgh:
I'm very interested in knowing if it only plays the unencrypted .VOB files or if it also plays the menus. I'm on the verge of buying one.

If no one has answered by the time mine arrives then I will have a go and let you know what happens......should be here middle/end of next week.

DAlex

[mitchell_pgh]

Originally posted by DAlex:
If no one has answered by the time mine arrives then I will have a go and let you know what happens......should be here middle/end of next week.

DAlex

I would appreciate it... I'm not positive, but I'm guessing it wouldn't... but I can hope as it would be very annoying to find the next .vob file two or three times during a movie...

[Jordan]

DAlex: You are right! I just got a message stating that the EyeHome and EyeTV have both shipped!!! Should be here when I get back.

While talking about the speed of Apple's delivery. Pleasantly surprised with the speed of delivery of the photo stuff. Just ordered some photos and a book. They seem to be chugging along nicely.

If only they could improve the speed and stability of iPhoto. It crashed at least 4 times while I was constructing the book. The annoying thing is that it lost a lot of the comments I had put on the pages and reordered them all. (Even though they were locked!)

[mitchell_pgh]

I'm guessing you are using iPhoto 4 (or 2) [there was no 3]

[Jordan]

Originally posted by mitchell_pgh:
I'm guessing you are using iPhoto 4 (or 2) [there was no 3]

Yeah Mitchell, Bought iLife as soon as it came out and keep on top of all the updates.

[sith33]

In case anyone is hunting an eyeHome - macmall has some in stock. I cancelled my order with elgato (they have a 30 day backlog) and ordered there today. It shipped out within a few hours - I'm really looking forward to getting my eyehome!

[RayX]

I'm interested to know if anyone uses or otherwise has experience with, the EyeTV 400.

[DAlex]

Originally posted by mitchell_pgh:
I'm very interested in knowing if it only plays the unencrypted .VOB files or if it also plays the menus. I'm on the verge of buying one.

Just a quick update - got my Eyehome and it does play the .vob but mine does not play the audio - I've encoded with AC3 which it does not recognise, so if you want .vobs don't use .ac3 audio. I ripped mine without any menus so I cannot comment on whether it would play the menus properly. I intend to do some more experimenting, using OseX for the ripping as it can produce a single .vob file with all menus and different audio.

I'll update when I've had more time to play

Oh, the audio/video quality of my mp3 and .avi files is outstanding - I'm using the scart version through to an RGB scart socket on a 32 inch TV and it rocks! Sound is output through the audio outs from the eyehome into my av receiver/processor - it sounds excellent. I'm happy

DAlex

[DAlex]

Another update Symlinks to other hard drives works perfectly for me - imac 800 osx 10.3.3 with eyehome software version 1.0.2. I'm using files from the imac's drive, my external firewire drive and an XP pro shared drive. I used symbolic link maker.

Oh, and no problem with large collections of mp3s, that is if 15gb is large nowadays....

DAlex

[::maroma::]

Great to hear! I want one! I want one!

[sith33]

I just got my eyehome today. I'm using 1.02, but it won't see any itunes music service AACs. It sees all my other itunes stuff fine. Has anyone dealt with this? Blybug said in another thread that his was playing itunes music service protected AACs, so I'm wondering what's up.
-------
Followup: it looks like eyehome 1.0.1b3 will play itunes music service files just fine. eyehome 1.0.2gm3g will not. I emailed [email protected] to ask... hopefully there's a workaround or something. 1.0.1b3 won't launch with my full itunes library (16,000 songs).

[Jordan]

Hey DAlex!!

I just got back from Tokyo/Hong Kong to find my eyeHome waiting for me.

Unpacked it, installed software, plugged it in and I just can't seem to get it working!!! Any clues?

I just bought a brand new Cat 5 cross-cable from PC World (�16!!!) Plugged that in to my Mac and then the eyeHome but it can't seem to see it.

Frustrated, I took the second Airport base station out of my bedroom and plugged the eyehome into that. I could then see both my powerbook and desktop and they both had green lights beside them. However, when I click on either of them I don't get a screen. It just times out after a while and says it can't connect.

Appreciate anyone's help here.

I really want it to work with the cross-over cable. Very frustrating....

Cheers,

Jordan

[DAlex]

Hmm, first off try it with the supplied ethernet cable - your mac does not need the cross over cable. Also, what is serving your ip addresses? The eyehome is set for DHCP, so check that it is picking up an ip address.

As for it seeing the macs through your base station but not connecting, is the server software definately running on both macs?

Try the supplied cable first - I'm using a standard ethernet cable to my switch then to my imac.

If we cannot find you a solution, then you can bring it over to mine and we can test it in this set up

DAlex

[Jordan]

Latest update....

I don't have a switch so the cross-over cable is the only option...

Using the cross-over cable I have finally got the powerbook connected to the eyehome and everything is working fine from that. Problem is that all my content is on the desktop so I really need to get the desktop working.

So I've confirmed that the eyehome and cable are working fine.

To get the powerbook going though I fluked it with a combination of turning off the firewall and mucking around with the internet sharing while starting and stopping eyehome. Hardly straight forward.

So now on the desktop I'm a bit stuck.

I can see the desktop and get a green light beside it on the TV. However whenever I try to connect it says connecting at the bottom to the correct IP address over port 8000 and then it just seems to time out. I have tried all sorts of combinations of turning on and off firewalls, internet sharing and media sharing. Nothing seems to work...

Any clues anyone. Firewall is off at the moment and internet sharing is on but no luck...

TIA

Jordan

[Jordan]

One thing might be of relevance....

I have 2600 songs in my iTunes library and 5500 photos in my iPhoto library on the desktop.

The laptop only has about 50 songs and 50 photos on it...

[DAlex]

Originally posted by Jordan:
One thing might be of relevance....

I have 2600 songs in my iTunes library and 5500 photos in my iPhoto library on the desktop.

The laptop only has about 50 songs and 50 photos on it...

Do you have personal web sharing turned on? I also downloaded version 1.0.2 of the eyehome server software froom elgato.

If you like we could ichat later to sort it out live. dalex(at)mac(dot)com

DAlex

[Jordan]

Originally posted by DAlex:
Do you have personal web sharing turned on? I also downloaded version 1.0.2 of the eyehome server software froom elgato.

If you like we could ichat later to sort it out live. dalex(at)mac(dot)com

DAlex

Yeah have personal web sharing turned on...

Where did you find the software update. Have looked on their site and can't see it...

Is there a firmware update as well?

[mitchell_pgh]

This may sound silly, but you are sharing your iTunes and iPhoto libraries aren't you?

You need to enable that from the the specific applications.

[Jordan]

Originally posted by mitchell_pgh:
This may sound silly, but you are sharing your iTunes and iPhoto libraries aren't you?

You need to enable that from the the specific applications.

Actually Mitchell. I don't think you have to. You also don't need those apps running. There is a "server" piece of software in EyeHome that finds and reads those libraries directly.

Finally got everything working. From what I can tell it's a bug in the way it uses rendezvous. It seemed to be getting the broadcast address of my ethernet port rather than the IP address of the Mac. When I manually changed the IP address in EyeHome it worked okay.

Cheers,

Jordan