Is EyeTV Worth The Money, and Other Related Questions

[Amblinman]

I've been lusting after EyeTV since I first discovered it a couple of weeks ago (I'm new to the Mac world).

The only reason I haven't pulled the trigger yet is because it sounds too good to be true. Also, I'm not quite clear on how it works.

If I order the EyeTV 250, that's all I need to get set up and running, correct?

I live in the Bay Area, and I have Comcast digital cable. Is it relatively easy connecting EyeTV's set top to my cable box? Does Comcast play nice with this hardware or are there any special "hacks" or "tricks" I'd need to perform?

Does Elgato provide good customer service and support? Also, has anyone ever had trouble returning a bad product to them?

Any help and advice you guys can provide will be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

[tderemigis]

i actually just purchased the eyetv 250 plus, during the sale they had during macworld. they were very helpful with shipping during that heavy traffic time. the product is good, but it is exactly what they say it is.
it really helps to have a fast computer to run it, which it looks like you do. i tried it on my ibook g4 and it struggles, but its seamless on my macbook coreduo. the hd over the air looks great, and i havent even tried an antenna. i also havent tried it with my comcast hd box yet, so i cant comment on that. but i too would love to know of any tips or tricks out there.

p.s. the wifi access feature is awesome.

[BaronvdB]

Originally Posted by tderemigis

i actually just purchased the eyetv 250 plus, during the sale they had during macworld. they were very helpful with shipping during that heavy traffic time. the product is good, but it is exactly what they say it is.
it really helps to have a fast computer to run it, which it looks like you do. i tried it on my ibook g4 and it struggles, but its seamless on my macbook coreduo. the hd over the air looks great, and i havent even tried an antenna. i also havent tried it with my comcast hd box yet, so i cant comment on that. but i too would love to know of any tips or tricks out there.

p.s. the wifi access feature is awesome.

I also got the 250 plus during the macworld promo....i haven't used it a ton yet but it works great so far...i haven't even looked in to the wifi access feature yet so i'll have to check that out.

[justflie]

I love my EyeTV hybrid. The Wifi-Access is a great idea, but doesn't work too well for me. Scratch that, the feature itself works fine. But for some reason, it dramatically increases my logout/shutdown times. We're talking a normal time of 10 or 11 seconds increasing to a minute and a half. I'm working with the very helpful tech support staff at Elgato to figure it out. That's another reason to get an EyeTV rather than a competing brand; they stand behind their products. Tech support is excellent and friendly.

[applemacman]

I had the eyeTV 250 (sold it a month ago)...I moved and could not find one of the cables...contacted Elgato and they shipped me one free of charge in like a week...two days later found the cable

the eyeTV does exactly what it says...originally I was going to set-up a series recording for my favorite shows and either burn to DVD/Tv/Hard Drive but was to lazy and could not justify it given the amount I used it (and I needed cah at the time)

[rouxeny]

How well does it work with cable boxes?

I have Time Warner cable and run through a cable box. My understanding is that in order to change channels, I'd have to change channels on the cable box itself and not through the TV? Is that correct?

How many over the air HD channels are there? I'd love to bypass my box entirely, but I'm not sure how good that would look.

[wayland1985]

I'm curious as well. How much of a resource hog is it? Can you run other programs while watching the tv simultaneously?

[tuxtpenguin]

I haven't pulled the trigger on purchasing one of these yet as I'm not sure how much it would get used. I have wanted one, though.

[DHart]

I was really excited about trying this until close study revealed that it will not work with a cable box nor satellite receiver to receive HD-TV. I ditched the eyeTV idea and bought a 26" Samsung HD-TV which I totally love.

EyeTV does have some great features and a great concept, but the inability to receive Hi-Def and premium channels from my cable box was a deal killer for me.

FROM the EyeTV website:

Which EyeTV products support HDTV?


There are two possible HDTV formats that some EyeTV products can support:

HDTV over Antenna (ATSC or DVB)

EyeTV Hybrid
EyeTV 500
TVMini HD
EyeTV DVB-T products used in Australia
HDHomeRun

The European standard used to broadcast HDTV in MPEG-4 AVC and H.264 is not yet supported by EyeTV 2.

HDTV over unencrypted digital cable (Clear QAM)

EyeTV 500
HDHomeRun
TVMini HD

Please note that Clear QAM represents only a few, random channels out of hundreds of digital cable channels. There is no guarantee that you will receive any one channel, or even any channels, when using a Clear QAM tuner with your particular cable service. Clear QAM support does work, but it will not replicate your full cable lineup.

ATSC and Clear QAM are formats primarily used in North America, and not in Europe or Australia.

No EyeTV product can receive HDTV from an external receiver, like a cable box or satellite receiver.

[DocMacPS]

I've been computing for a Quarter Century+ and seriously, of ALL the gizmos I've bought over the years I LOVE MY EYE-TV! And I'm not much of a TV watcher! But given a clean signal and a fast modern Mac Elgato's EyeTV software just keeps getting better and better and is a great addition to any Mac setup. http://mac-digital-tv-tuners.com/ features some great options for getting started with television on your Mac. For as little as $50 you could get a TV Micro unit and putter with Analog TV on your Mac - and a year or three down the road as the transition to all Digital occurs, you'd have a much better choice of Digital tuners to upgrade to.

[atari1356]

I have an EyeTV Hybrid and love it (the EyeTV software is great).

In fact, I don't own a regular TV anymore. Our old one broke a long time ago, but the EyeTV receives digital HD channels well enough (with a decent antenna) that we decided not to replace it. Now I just record the few shows we want to watch, and watch them on the computer. (and most other stuff I can find on hulu.com or just wait for a DVD release)

[Motley]

Originally Posted by rouxeny

How well does it work with cable boxes?

I have Time Warner cable and run through a cable box. My understanding is that in order to change channels, I'd have to change channels on the cable box itself and not through the TV? Is that correct?

How many over the air HD channels are there? I'd love to bypass my box entirely, but I'm not sure how good that would look.

To work with cable boxes you'd need an ir blaster and some additional sw.
From el gato's website. Also I've never tried setting up an ir blaster so I don't know how easy it is/isn't.

[mike12806]

It is most definitely worth the money, especially at $99 for the hybrid. I would, however, wait a little bit for EyeTv 3.1 or 3.0.1 to come out, as EyeTv 3.0 and 10.5.2 seem to be a buggy combo. Otherwise, it's a very "apple-esque" tv tuner implementation.

[catchdry]

Will it work as an "in between" with my dvd-camera (mini dvd discs) and my mac? The camera only has an s-video output...

[justflie]

Originally Posted by catchdry

Will it work as an "in between" with my dvd-camera (mini dvd discs) and my mac? The camera only has an s-video output...

Yup. Well, at least mine would (Hybrid). I'm pretty sure they all come with an "AV Breakout Cable." This has hookups for RCA Audio/Video and S-Video in.

[catchdry]

Originally Posted by justflie

Yup. Well, at least mine would (Hybrid). I'm pretty sure they all come with an "AV Breakout Cable." This has hookups for RCA Audio/Video and S-Video in.

Great.
Then I will be ordering Eye TV 250 Plus with a macBook Pro as soon it is getting updated.

Been looking for a product that could import my mini-dvds ffor a long time. Now I have found it

[mmccaskill]

Any good places to buy decent HD antenna?

[atarin]

Originally Posted by mmccaskill

Any good places to buy decent HD antenna?

I bought the Philips MANT 510 at Amazon. It's inexpensive, small (table-top), and I get crystal clear signals. The only HD station broadcasting in my area that I can't get is CBS. That doesn't bother me, because I never watch CBS, and it is reportedly near impossible to get CBS unless you live in downtown Chicago near the antenna, anyway. I bought one for my mom, too, and the condo she lives in gets horrible reception (roof antenna, cell phones), but she gets a great signal with the Philips antenna. I swear by it!

[DocMacPS]

Originally Posted by mmccaskill

Any good places to buy decent HD antenna?

Well there's really no such thing as an HD antenna; they simply receive TV signals. It's only marketing and packaging that decided it would be smart to call the same antenna they've sold for years as 'HD Ready!' The 'best' place to buy one is one that has a hassle-free no questions asked return policy if the antenna you buy isn't right for your unique situation.

The 'right' antenna depends on several things: Are you urban or rural?
Are the stations you want to receive Analog, Digital or both?
Are they all in the UHF 14-69 range or in VHF 2-13 range - or Both? After the Feb 2009 switchover some stations may get REASSIGNED to a new frequency - so you may find what was analog on UHF may end up digital as VHF. Or that some stations broadcasting Digital now - aren't doing it at full-power until the switchover - so marginal channels may come in loud and clear in Feb!
Are the closest transmission towers all in the same area (Often clustered on a hillside) - or in different places? (Unidirectional vs Omni)
Are there hills, trees, big buildings nearby? Topology can make a huge difference.

On it's simplest level. If you're urban and within 15mi or less of your towers an indoor antenna is usually AOK, beyond that ya gotta start thinking outdoor antenna and possibly amplified - and worst case - huge rooftop antenna with a rotor!

Doc http://www.mac-digital-tv-tuners.com/

[CleverUsername]

I've been eyeing the Hybrid model for a couple months now, to use with my MBP when I finally get it ordered. So far, Newegg seems to have the best price on these, but is there anywhere else I should check? Also, I've been wondering if I will be able to use it as a line out to play things from my computer on my TV as well as vice versa, or will I need another adapter to do that?

[Tastannin]

Macsales.com (OWC) has good deals on refurb Hybrids. Check out this info regarding game mode on the Hybrid.

[CleverUsername]

Originally Posted by Tastannin

Macsales.com (OWC) has good deals on refurb Hybrids. Check out this info regarding game mode on the Hybrid.

I'd been looking at OWC for RAM, but never thought to check for this! Thanks That other link seems to be all about hooking up a game system, and says I'll need some type of distribution amplifier to send stuff to my TV? When I said 'play things' I actually meant 'play TV shows/movies that I have saved on my computer, or maybe stream some shows from online'...I really didn't make myself very clear Maybe I should just call Elgato to make sure I'm not confusing the issue