[jorgem4]

I am plannign on buying one of these things that lets you watch TV on your computer. I have been looking at EyeTV 200 from el Gato, and today I found the ConvertX . They look very similar to me. Yet I don't know much about these gadgets.

The ConvertX is like 100 bucks cheaper that the EyeTV200....that in place I am leaning over it...but I would like to hear some suggestions on the devises, and how well this whole thing of watching TV on your computer is.

Thanks.

[SSharon]

aside from the many threads already discussing these options, please tell us what your needs/expectations are for your tv tuner. internal vs. external? picture quality vs. price? ability to play consoles thorugh the tv tuner . . .software interface, etc.

I have an older eye-tv usb and think its a great product mainly due to the software it comes with. I plan on upgrading to the eye-tv wonder usb 2 because it provides a better picture quality and only costs $150.

[blikum]

The eyetv 200 is firewire the Plextor is USB. I recently upgraded from the original eyetv USB unit to the 200. Wow, what a difference! On my 20" imac G5 I can watch fullscreen with very little loss of resolution. With the usb unit even minimized it was pixelated. I guess it all depends what your needs are.

[jorgem4]

I am expecting a very good quality picture out of this product since it will be my only TV available. I would love to record shows in my hard drive. The convertX is USB2, do you think there is a big difference between that and firewire? Is there a big difference between the EyeTV USB2 (which I haven't seen) and the EyeTV200? Any other downfalls between the ConvertX and the EyeTV200 that I should know?

The most exciting feature for me would be to record shows on my hard drive. Currently I own a 12" PB G4 1.33 GHz and a big enough external hard drive, also with a DVD burner. I am hoping to get a very decent image and product as I said before this will be my TV. A question I have is do you have to change the channel on the cable box or can you do that on your computer? I am planning on having digital cable running through it.

Thanks for your comments.

[zigzag]

Originally posted by jorgem4:
I am expecting a very good quality picture out of this product since it will be my only TV available. I would love to record shows in my hard drive. The convertX is USB2, do you think there is a big difference between that and firewire? Is there a big difference between the EyeTV USB2 (which I haven't seen) and the EyeTV200? Any other downfalls between the ConvertX and the EyeTV200 that I should know?

The most exciting feature for me would be to record shows on my hard drive. Currently I own a 12" PB G4 1.33 GHz and a big enough external hard drive, also with a DVD burner. I am hoping to get a very decent image and product as I said before this will be my TV. A question I have is do you have to change the channel on the cable box or can you do that on your computer? I am planning on having digital cable running through it.

Thanks for your comments.

My understanding is that at this point in time, these devices can't change the channels on digital cable - you have to change channels at the cable box.

The EyeTV USB 2 Wonder doesn't have an onboard processor like the EyeTV200 or the ConvertX - it's just a tuner that feeds the signal to your Mac. That's fine for ordinary watching, but when you record, it means your Mac has to do the processing. If you have a fast Mac, that should be OK, but if you don't, it will tend to strain your machine. I don't know how well your PB would do.

I haven't read of any complaints about USB 2.0 in this application, so I don't know if Firewire is a meaningful advantage. One advantage of the EyeTV200 is that it gets its power from Firewire, so there's no need for a power brick. It also has an extra FW port, so you don't lose a port when you hook it up. I don't know if it has any other advantages apart from the fact that it's a nice-looking box.