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Elgato Eye TV for DTT - £18.95!

FleurDuMal

FleurDuMal

macrumors 68000
Original poster
May 31, 2006
1,801
0
London Town
Hey,

Just noticed on the Apple HE store (UK) that they're selling Eye TV DTT sticks for only £20! Seems unusually cheap to me! Or am I missing something?!
 
It's a special offer, they're normally £38.95 on the regular Apple store but needless to say I've picked up one of these - the EyeTV2 software is really good and my friend has had one for a while (although his is the hybrid DTT+Analogue verson) and he raves on about it all the time :)
 
FYI EyeTV 3 has been released so you may want to follow up with Elgato because you may be eligible for a (free) upgrade to that.
 
Sounds like you can't lose then.

Well, apart from the fact that I'm not sure what Freeview reception is like here (nor what it is like wherever I might move once my contract for this place is up). I need to borrow someones Freeview box.
 
I suggest you start reading here. But they do have a big problem with trying to separate the products.

I might pick one up as a cheap way to upgrade to EyeTV 3 plus my old stick is sort of broken a bit.
 
My EyeTV arrived this morning and Wow! I can't get over just how awesome this little gadget is! I've it hooked up to a decent indoor aerial (Telecam TCE2000) and a powered booster and I can pick up all the Freeview channels no problem.

The TV guide and the ability to one-click schedule for recording are really handy, as is the ability to pause/rewind/fast-forward live TV and also the ability to export recordings.

If you live in a strong Freeview area and have a good aerial connected to it then I really can't recommend this higher. Don't even think of using the supplied aerial unless you're sitting on top of the transmitter ;)

Oh, and the free upgrade to EyeTV 3 was seamless, a new product key was generated automatically and an e-mail sent with a download link.
 
I have used EyeTV for over a year now - I think its great.

Just got an iPod touch this week and tried out the wireless streaming - fantastic! Only downside is the time it takes to convert the files but I was really impressed with it. Wonder if you will be able to access remotely in the future like 'back to my mac'. Is that what slingbox does?
 
FleurDuMal said:
Hey,

Just noticed on the Apple HE store (UK) that they're selling Eye TV DTT sticks for only £20! Seems unusually cheap to me! Or am I missing something?!
Click to expand...

Fantastic tip, thanks!

Just ordered one, 1-2 weeks for it to ship but worth the wait!!

- D
 
They're utter crap - save your money.

Grasbak said:
I have used EyeTV for over a year now - I think its great.

Just got an iPod touch this week and tried out the wireless streaming - fantastic! Only downside is the time it takes to convert the files but I was really impressed with it. Wonder if you will be able to access remotely in the future like 'back to my mac'. Is that what slingbox does?
Click to expand...

Don't forget the extra money you have to cough-up to make EyeTV useful - for the £20 all you can do is watch TV. The upgrade costs a lot more.
 
Wow thanks for the helpful comment, perhaps qualify this with something meaningful.

Read the thread, there is a link to a the free upgrade page.
 
Ok, I will.

I bought the Elgato Eye TV Lite for about £70. The picture quality was very bad, recording quality was worse, there was no (legal) way of importing the files onto my iPod without a futher upgrade, the time-shift recording only worked twice of five set recordings and the program regularly lost the signal altogether.

Thankfully, I made my money back (plus £2) selling it on eBay a week later.
 
Bar...Gain...

Nice spot. Just placed my order. Me and the missus have been talking about getting one for a while now. Nice also to know that the upgrade to EyeTV 3 is a free one. Quite excited, I must say. :)
 
joefinan said:
I bought the Elgato Eye TV Lite for about £70. The picture quality was very bad, recording quality was worse, there was no (legal) way of importing the files onto my iPod without a futher upgrade, the time-shift recording only worked twice of five set recordings and the program regularly lost the signal altogether.
Click to expand...
Considering I've had one of these DTT sticks for well over a year, had a stable picture from it, and used it to record films which were later played as DVD quality on my main TV, I'd say your problem is down to your aerial rather than the device.

You should also have checked out some of the free iPod video compression programs such as iSquint or Handbrake before throwing in the towel so quickly. Or would that have been too much work?
 
joefinan said:
They're utter crap - save your money.



Don't forget the extra money you have to cough-up to make EyeTV useful - for the £20 all you can do is watch TV. The upgrade costs a lot more.
Click to expand...

As far as I can tell here it comes with the full EyeTV software.

You can/should be able to upgrade to EyeTV 3 free, (or maybe it will come with it due to the 2 week shipping times Apple are now stating).

The full details are in the link above if anyone is thinking about one of these, a bargain methinks!

- D
 
Got my eyetv in the post today from apple.
Only £18.95 but haven't set it up yet to comment on it.

NB: it said delivery 1-2 weeks, took 5 days!

Also they shipped mine WITH the eyetv3 software disc in the box (only disc in the box and I ordered on 25th Jan) it'll save you the hassle of the actual upgrade.

So thats £80 worth I got for under £20, not too shabby!
 
Just to comment on mine so far;

Amazingly easy to set up - pretty much plug in and play.

Integrates with apple remote which I think is really cool.

The supplied aerial (about 10cm in height and has 2m cable) amazed me at what I could get with it, I was able to pick up all digital channels except mux2 (from Crystal Palace emitter). All signals for me are about 80-100% signal quality, ~60% signal strength. 3-4 channels can be glitchy at times, but just find a 'hotspot' for your aerial and set it up there. I'm sure set top and roof aerials are definately better.

The eyetv 3 software that came with mine has an excellent UI, it was modelled on itunes I believe, and supplied instructions if you get stuck.

I have not tried out any recording yet, I'm still in awe from watching tv on my mac:D

Overall amazing value, 5/5
Well done elgato.
 
This seemed like a very good deal for HE customers. It's great that Apple has special promotions for us on the odd occasion, other than just their normal hardware discount.

For many HE students, this is a very good way of getting TV if you can't afford a TV.

I have to say though, I have used this and the Equinux TubeStick, and largely prefer the latter due to the software that comes with it.

In addition, the TubeStick is cheaper right now at only £26 from MicroWarehouse, and that is for everyone, not just us students!.

Link

Just thought I'd chime in, incase people were still looking for a cheap freeview stick.

David
 
I thought the EyeTV software was the best around. How is the Tube better? I bought the Miglia TV Express card for my MBP to free up a USB port but never installed the accompanying software (Tube, as it happens) as EyeTV was already on it and it recognised the Miglia card immediately. A review I read once about the Tube software said it had some way to go to match the maturity and slickness of Elgato's offering.

BTW, Microanvika inside Selfridges, Birmingham is selling the Miglia Expresscard for £40 or £30 with a Mac laptop. A lot less than the £120 it started at.
 
Just a side note,
using this device or others like it for watching tv on your mac [/or pc] requires you to buy a tv license and a yearly subscription atm is £135.XX. If you're a student [in halls for instance] and buy a tv license in sept/ oct, you are entitled to get a refund on the months when you're a halls resident, namely july, aug (and sept?)
Watch out for hidden costs!

B.
 
It's a great piece of kit, paid about £70 for mine in august 2006.

Thing is however, i've never had perfect quality using an internal aerial. Funnily enough, if I record something without using the computer at the same time, the recording is error free, but if you're watching live TV it has a tendency to skip.
 
So disappointed I missed this offer. Would have loved to get another one to use as a second tuner - eyeTV allows this and even offers picture in picture functionality!

Bossworld said:
Thing is however, i've never had perfect quality using an internal aerial. Funnily enough, if I record something without using the computer at the same time, the recording is error free, but if you're watching live TV it has a tendency to skip.
Click to expand...

I always get perfect signal quality using the small internal aerial. I live right beneath the transmitter but to boost the quality I simply stuck the aerial to my radiator using the magnet on the bottom. It works brilliantly.
 
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