TV Tuner Suggestions Anyone?
 

What is your personal favorite TV Tuner for the Mac? I have been looking into buying one for awhile and would like your opinion.

Thanks!

Check out Elgato

I bought the Elgato EyeTV 250 earlier this year, for watching TV on my MacBook and digitizing VHS tapes, and have been quite happy with it. Elgato has just now come out with an updated model of the 250 (the EyeTV 250 Plus) that includes a tuner for OTA HDTV, which sounds very interesting!

Alright, I will look into them. Thanks!

I want to use a Mac Mini as a DVR. Will the elgato work well for this purpose? Can you drive 720p/1080p TVs with an intel Mac Mini? Have any newer/better devices been released? Are there bugs with X 10.5?

Sorry for the list of questions, but I haven't considered this approach for TV until recently.

I use a Terratec Cinergy Hybrid T XS which has digital and analog inputs (latest version also has FM radio) and EyeTV software which has superb DVR functions.

http://tvuk.terratec.net/modules.php...rticle&sid=236

They work really well on my Mac Mini (Tiger) and 24 inch iMac (Leopard). Note they need a direct USB connection or powered hub, they take a fair bit of power (2.5W).

Thanks for the point in the right direction. I looked through the website, but they say PC support.

A couple more questions:
Does it the support HDTV (720p or 1080p)
Does your Mac Mini have any trouble with displaying at that resolution?
Will it work in the USA? I think we use a different TV broadcast standard than most of the world for whatever reason.
Did you need drivers for OS X? They only seem to support PC on the website.

Is this product better than the EyeTV 250 thing from Elgato?

Yes they do Mac, http://macuk.terratec.net/modules.ph...=article&sid=1

Not sure about the US standards, you'd better do some research (that applies to any TV modules due to different standards). Looks mostly European but works fine here in Australia.
No drivers necessary , just EyeTV software.
Yes, full HDTV quality if your monitor is adequate. Fine on my Mac Mini with a 17 inch LCD, superb on my 24 inch iMac.
Driving TV needs more research, it's related more to the computer, not TV module, but EyeTV integrates with AppleTV boxes and Toast.

Ignore that fact that many of them only claim support for Windows. Take a look at the list of supported hardware for EyeTV 3 and make your decision from there. Any of those products will work great on your Mac.

Buy the PC version (lower price than the Mac Versions) and buy the EyeTV software. It will work much better and you'll save a few bucks. I use the Pinnacle PCTV HD Pro Stick that works great on my MacBook Pro.

Have you tried playing any console games on your Elgato EyeTV 250? I want to know how playable a Nintendo would be using it to input the video into my Mac.

My Pinnacle handles AV input quite well from the VCR & game units. I bought it primarily to transfer my video tape collection to DVD.

What does this mean?

Are the Mac and PC versions identical but are priced differently?

-- OR --

If they are not identical, why are they different, if the PC versions work with Mac? What are the differences between the two? Do the Mac versions provide some function(s) that the PC versions don't have? I can't figure this out from the web site.

Iss verrrrry confusink. :confused::confused::confused:

The Mac and PC versions differ only in the included software. They are identical hardware. The Mac versions usually include only the Lite version of EyeTV software which you're being forced to pay a premium for.

You can download the very same software free from Elgato's Update page. Disregard the warning about needing a previous install. You don't.

If you decide to use the full version of EyeTV, the difference in price between the upgrade from the lite version and the purchase outright is less than the difference between the Mac and PC version. So, you still save $20US+ by buying the PC version.

Thanks for your reply, LasVegas.

Thanks.

I'm not really interested in recording the game's video. I am concerned about the lag time between pressing buttons on the console gamepad and seeing the results onscreen on the Mac. Apparently, it is an issue with some setups, but I have no experience with it yet.

I've been considering the EyeTV 250 since it has built-in hardware decoding. That should free up my PowerBook's CPU for other things.

I'm also looking into a TV Tuner for my Macbook Pro, and I was just about to ask you all for suggestions as well :)

I have some questions for you all though... one of which ThreeBKK has already asked. How do you think a MacBook Pro (latest one on the apple site) and Elgato will do with a xbox or gamecube being played? (If you can help ThreeBKKK out too :))

Also, about the HD over with the air thing with Elgato... do I need to sign up for a satilite service or something in order to access these channels, or do stations already have them broadcasted? I'm not in a urban area like Newyork or Miami... and I'm in a dorm.

The Elgato can also connect to a actual tv cable, and has the component (or is it composite... the red, yellow, and white ones) inputs correct?

Thank you for the help :)

Actually, I've found out that this unit has a gaming mode which bypasses or disables the encoding hardware. Lag time is reduced from 1.5 seconds to a few milliseconds. Here is the FAQ on Elgato's website.

I'd still like to hear from anyone who has an EyeTV 250 and a game console. Is the lag time of a few milliseconds noticeable at all, and what kind of video resolution can I expect to get on my PowerBook 12"?

Found some feedback at xlr8yourmac.com. One EyeTV 250 user was unhappy with the video quality on his Quad G5 with a PS2, but had acceptable levels of lag time. Alternatively, he could increase video quality, but introduce a lot of lag.

Hi Las Vegas -- I've seen several references, including yours, that EyeTv
Lite is free, but I've downloaded it, and it requires an activation key, which
I don't have. Would love to have the free version, but am stumped as to how to get it working on my MacBook Pro. Thanks!


You can download the very same software free from Elgato's Update page. Disregard the warning about needing a previous install. You don't.

If you decide to use the full version of EyeTV, the difference in price between the upgrade from the lite version and the purchase outright is less than the difference between the Mac and PC version. So, you still save $20US+ by buying the PC version.[/QUOTE]

Hmm… Sorry it didn't work for you. On my system it worked the first time without asking for a key. Perhaps they've changed it since then.

I did end up purchasing the full version though and I find it well worth the cost and savings from buying the Mac variant of the TV device and upgrading.

Hey Los Vegas -- Oh well, as you say, they've probably changed it, as you say (the read me that comes with the download specifies "enter the activation key," so I guess that's the answer). I've looked around for a download of an older version, with no luck. No worries! I'll probably jump for the full version eventually. Many thanks for replying. You're a bud!