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Elgato's EyeTV HD Brings High-Definition TV to Mac, Streams to iPhone and iPad

Short of plugging in my Mac mini to my HDTV, I'm still waiting for more effort to make the AppleTV more useful without hacking it: stream any media from a desktop (read: Air Video Server), Internet TV, and Netflix. Had to build a Windows Media Center box and I'm dreading the setup.
 
Eidorian said:
It's an awkward sell here. The next Windows Home Server might have TV/DVR tuner support in addition to Time Machine backup from vendors. Streaming is done over Silverlight though.
Click to expand...

What's wrong with Silverlight? It's fast and great.
 
I can see a lot of good use for this, but only one problem. My cable box and iMac are no where near each other. And if they were, I wouldn't need to watch TV on my Mac. Recording it would be useful, but i could upgrade my box to a DVR for 2 years for less than this device costs.

So, in the end not all that practical, unless you have no other solutions.
 
Perrumpo said:
Composite and S-video aren't HD, yet that's all their products offered. So no, they've never had HD. They just liked to act like they did.
Click to expand...

Um, I'm watching HD channels on my Mac Pro with a USB Elgato Hybrid, just screw your cable into the back of the device, scan for SD and HD channels, sign into "TV Guide" (used to be free with Titan TV, sucks that's changed), download your local channel guide, and you're set. You can schedule shows to record just as you may with your cable television DVR, and streaming them on your local WiFi to your AppleTV or iPod/iPhone is simple, and streams them using the iPhone EyeTV app ($4.99). HD channels included, the only downside is a lack of HD cable outputs, but when everything is wireless and HD, who needs it? I've only used the cables to digitize old VHS and Beta tapes, and of course those aren't HD. It was only $149, the size of a USB thumb drive, and it's about all most individuals need. In the end, it's only extreme gamers and such that need all the bells and whistles for gaming and bragging rights, beyond that it's great for most needs.
 
Considering the sat companies have the best DVRs, and are finally getting to have options to copy to a computer, this may be too little, too late. Good for people with cable crap, I suppose, but y'all should just drop that garbage, anyway.
 
I'm not ready to trust my DVR to anything but a dedicated stand-alone box. I don't think that a home computer is stable enough.
 
EgyptianDuck said:
What's wrong with Silverlight? It's fast and great.
Click to expand...
I wouldn't be able to stream to iDevices. I don't own any but the compatibility would be nice.

Windows Home Server V2 probably won't be released before I travel out of the country though. A Slingbox would work then but only for location shifting. I like having my DVR for time shifting. Adding a Home Server adds location as well.
 
aiqw9182 said:
http://www.blackmagic-design.com/products/intensity/
Click to expand...

That is for you working on YOUR video, which will not be copy-blocked from yourself. Your standard HD broadcast on sat/cable will not work over HDMI like this, guaranteed. This is why HDMI was invented, to block products like EyeTV HD from enabling easy copying of high-res (theoretically high-quality) broadcast material. Because you could theoretically have a very nice signal to re-distribute and cheat the studios and TV providers.
 
Perrumpo said:
Composite and S-video aren't HD, yet that's all their products offered. So no, they've never had HD. They just liked to act like they did.
Click to expand...

Well there have been several HD tuners available for several years and EyeTV is generally used for recording broadcast TV or using TV tuners. If you have non-broadcast HD content it's generally digital to begin with so why would you be trying to import it through a converter using analog?
 
Transeau said:
Can we say "Feature Limited SlingBox"?
Click to expand...

Two totally different products.

The key difference is that Slingbox ONLY lets you control your cablebox and stream live TV or previously recorded content off of your DVR.

The Elgato uses the Mac to record the programs to your computers harddrive(replaces DVR). You then can either stream those files or can sync previously recorded programs recorded in iphone/ipad/ipod touch format to view while on the road.
 
Pretty neat. I've never used a product like this before, but it seems to be more practical as I do not own a TV anymore.
 
bedifferent said:
Um, I'm watching HD channels on my Mac Pro with a USB Elgato Hybrid, just screw your cable into the back of the device, scan for SD and HD channels, sign into "TV Guide" (used to be free with Titan TV, sucks that's changed), download your local channel guide, and you're set. You can schedule shows to record just as you may with your cable television DVR, and streaming them on your local WiFi to your AppleTV or iPod/iPhone is simple, and streams them using the iPhone EyeTV app ($4.99). HD channels included, the only downside is a lack of HD cable outputs, but when everything is wireless and HD, who needs it? I've only used the cables to digitize old VHS and Beta tapes, and of course those aren't HD. It was only $149, the size of a USB thumb drive, and it's about all most individuals need. In the end, it's only extreme gamers and such that need all the bells and whistles for gaming and bragging rights, beyond that it's great for most needs.
Click to expand...

Well that's exactly my point. Of course the cable input can give you whatever channels you can find, SD or HD. But they haven't had HD input, which is ll I'm concerned with since the channels I'm most interested in recording are the premium channels I pay for. Therefore, I need to connect the tuner to my cable box. It's just that Elgato always described their products like they're capable of this. As far as I'm concerned, this new product is the first HD tuner they've made.
 
Would this allow me to plug my PS3 into my Macbook Pro? I am taking a trip and don't want to re-buy all my games on steam or something just for one trip. I would use this at home also plugged into my iMac...:cool:
 
JAT said:
That is for you working on YOUR video, which will not be copy-blocked from yourself. Your standard HD broadcast on sat/cable will not work over HDMI like this, guaranteed. This is why HDMI was invented, to block products like EyeTV HD from enabling easy copying of high-res (theoretically high-quality) broadcast material. Because you could theoretically have a very nice signal to re-distribute and cheat the studios and TV providers.
Click to expand...
Hmm, didn't know that. Thanks for the information.
 
13 port USB hub

Tailpike1153 said:
Does anybody know if any company makes a 12-16 port USB hub. I starting to run out of ports. I've got a printer, graphics tablet, 2 hard drives, the iPhone, a iPod plus my mouse and keyboard sticking out of two usb hubs connected to my iMac. I'd love to have this plugged into my iMac but I don't have the ports.:(
Click to expand...

I bought this 13 port USB hub for $33. Works fine. Choice of black or white color.

http://www.everythinghereplus.com/e...b-2-0-external-hubs-with-4a-ps-black-or-white
 
Perrumpo said:
Well that's exactly my point. Of course the cable input can give you whatever channels you can find, SD or HD. But they haven't had HD input, which is ll I'm concerned with since the channels I'm most interested in recording are the premium channels I pay for. Therefore, I need to connect the tuner to my cable box. It's just that Elgato always described their products like they're capable of this. As far as I'm concerned, this new product is the first HD tuner they've made.
Click to expand...

Ah, I gotcha. I forgot that without a cable box you only get 1-99 channels, although I do get the local channels over the air/cable in HD. I don't really watch Discovery or TNT, etc. in HD. So you would have to connect it to a cable box to get the rest of the channels. Truthfully, for my needs, it isn't necessary, but if you truly want ALL the HD channels, that's not an issue with EyeTV, it's an issue with Time Warner/Comcast/etc. not allowing HD channels to be fed through a cable line without a cable box. They do this to charge customers extra monthly fees. By law local channels in HD are broadcast, the rest is up to their discretion. Indeed, they wouldn't have any other way, it's all about money.
 
How does this work? Is it like those PCMCIA cards that you plug into the coaxial antenna and into your computer, and you can watch normal free TV on your laptop, or does this also include some kind of decoder? How does it receive the TV signal, it mentions satellite TV, but I don't see a coaxial connector at the back for the satellite dish?
 
Perrumpo said:
Composite and S-video aren't HD, yet that's all their products offered. So no, they've never had HD. They just liked to act like they did.
Click to expand...
Whatever I have EyeTV and receive gorgeous HD. It has been available since 2007. You can only get HD over the TV Tuner if that is what you are referring to?
 
baryon said:
How does this work? Is it like those PCMCIA cards that you plug into the coaxial antenna and into your computer, and you can watch normal free TV on your laptop, or does this also include some kind of decoder? How does it receive the TV signal, it mentions satellite TV, but I don't see a coaxial connector at the back for the satellite dish?
Click to expand...

It receives HD from your HD sat box via component video. It appears to have NO tuners of any kind. The other EyeTV products have broadcast tuners for signal from antenna.
 
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