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EyeTV 200

macbaseball

macbaseball

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Feb 27, 2005
987
0
Northern California
OK, so I've been wanting a EyeTv 200 for about 2 months now, and I finally decided today to get one. The only problem, was when I went to Amazon, you can no longer buy one new through Amazon. Instead you can only get it from the used section. I thought I would just get it from another site, but then I started think that maybe there was a new product coming, that supproted digital cable. There's a product like that for Europe and the South Pacific, but not for the U.S.. I also noticed that it's the EyeTv 200 is the lowest number left, so that probably means it's the oldest.

What do you guys think about the idea of Elgato coming out with a new product for digital cable with HDTV support. How likely is it. Amazon has had these in stock for the last 2 months and then mysteriously they don't have it anymore.

BTW, if they had something like that I would be the first one in line to order.
 
They already got one, you see . . .

EyeTV 500 is the product for digital broadcast and Clear QAM cable in the USA.

It will tune over-the-air DTV broadcasts, as well as unencrypted QAM digital cable channels, including high-definition programming.

I have one - works great! See the El Gato site for more info.
 
Get one while you still can, before the MPAA gets their way with the Broadcast Flag.
 
ScruffyTheMac said:
EyeTV 500 is the product for digital broadcast and Clear QAM cable in the USA.

It will tune over-the-air DTV broadcasts, as well as unencrypted QAM digital cable channels, including high-definition programming.

I have one - works great! See the El Gato site for more info.
Click to expand...

There aren't any broadcasts over the airways, as I live in a rural area.
 
Sorry, I didn't. So there's a cable jack on the back, and I can just record through that? Also, would I be able to record regular digital cable, or would it just be the HD channels.
 
macbaseball said:
Sorry, I didn't. So there's a cable jack on the back, and I can just record through that? Also, would I be able to record regular digital cable, or would it just be the HD channels.
Click to expand...

The Clear QAM support depends on your cable provider. In all likelihood, you won't be able to get the vast majority of cable channels off of it.

Get a eyeTV200 - I did! (managed to get mine off of amazon, about a week or so ago :confused: ) Don't forget that if you get yours before the end of July, $30 off the eyetv200, $100(!) off an eyehome (mail-in rebates blow, but still)

-RS
 
There's two coax connectors on the back - one for an antenna, and a second one for digital cable.

The box will tune all unencrypted digital signals available on your cable system. I have Comcast in Massachusetts, and the digital channels I can view include:

Standard definition versions of local broadcast channels (PBS, ABC, NBC, CBS, WB, UPN, FOX)

High-definition versions of the same channels.

4-5 each shopping and religious channels

Weather channel

boatload of digital music channels

occasionally, unencrypted Video-On-Demand; although you're at the mercy of your neighbors choice and remote control habits. Once there was even soft-core porn :eek: The best part being the VOD customer was fast forwarding to the naughty bits :)
 
ScruffyTheMac said:
There's two coax connectors on the back - one for an antenna, and a second one for digital cable.

The box will tune all unencrypted digital signals available on your cable system. I have Comcast in Massachusetts, and the digital channels I can view include:

Standard definition versions of local broadcast channels (PBS, ABC, NBC, CBS, WB, UPN, FOX)

High-definition versions of the same channels.

4-5 each shopping and religious channels

Weather channel

boatload of digital music channels

occasionally, unencrypted Video-On-Demand; although you're at the mercy of your neighbors choice and remote control habits. Once there was even soft-core porn :eek: The best part being the VOD customer was fast forwarding to the naughty bits :)
Click to expand...

Lol. Alright I think that's what I'm going to do, as I don't like very many standard definition channels anyways, and HD is way better.

What's your setup for hard drive space. What format do you compress in. Finally, are there a lot of glitches or does it play perfectly.

quidire said:
Get a eyeTV200 - I did! (managed to get mine foff of amazon, about a week or so ago :confused: ) Don't forget that if you get yours before the end of July, $30 off the eyetv200, $100(!) off an eyehome (mail-in rebates blow, but still)
Click to expand...

That's what has me worried. I don't understand why Amazon would just stop carrying a product. They probably have a reason. In a buisness where you make a little money off tons of stuff, it doesn't make sense to stop selling one model of a larger group.
 
macbaseball said:
Lol. Alright I think that's what I'm going to do, as I don't like very many standard definition channels anyways, and HD is way better.

What's your setup for hard drive space. What format do you compress in. Finally, are there a lot of glitches or does it play perfectly.
Click to expand...

Well, I just got a new G5 powermac with two 400G drives - one of those drives is for EyeTV recordings. It's been very easy to wind up with >200G of recordings because I'm saving stuff to archive to DVD or H.264 files. Clearly I'll have to purge some stuff soon.

For PVR use, the EyeTV 500 is capturing the MPEG-2 stream directly that comes from broadcast or cable, and saves that to disk - you don't have any options about that. Therefore, when you view your PVR recordings, they're identical in quality to watching the live stream. Once recorded, you can export from the MPEG-2 file to a variety of formats to go into iMovie, iDVD, MPEG-4, H.264, etc.

In my experience, playback is perfect even with HD programming, but I have a dual 2.7G G5. You should check the EyeTV minimum hardware requirements for HD playback. The only playback problems have been related to my cable company (or the station itself) dropping data - you can see the bitrate crash then climb back to normal (EyeTV software gives you the ability to monitor MPEG-2 bitrate).
 
Thanks for all the advice. I think my setup will be fine, as my hard drive is 7,200 RPM. I can't wait to try it. Hopefully, there will be many channels. One last question, of the recordings you have on your hard drive, how big would a average 1 hour show be.

Edit: Just got off the phone with Comcast, and they had no idea what encryption was. :rolleyes: I was just wondering if ESPN is available for recording in your area.
 
macbaseball said:
Those don't have to do, whether it would be a good idea to buy now or not. Did you read my post. I see you doing this all the time. You say, you didn't search the forum. But I did. Those threads do not have to do with whether there is going to be a new product release.
Click to expand...

Your post really didn't mention if you had done a search on the forum or not. I read your post, as I mentioned my preference would be to deal directly with Elgato. They have been very prompt with responding to any of my E.Mail questions. It also had a link to Elgato.com. When a new product will be released would be just an opinion by anyone.
;)
 
macbaseball said:
Thanks for all the advice. I think my setup will be fine, as my hard drive is 7,200 RPM. I can't wait to try it. Hopefully, there will be many channels. One last question, of the recordings you have on your hard drive, how big would a average 1 hour show be.

Edit: Just got off the phone with Comcast, and they had no idea what encryption was. :rolleyes: I was just wondering if ESPN is available for recording in your area.
Click to expand...

1 hour of HD is about 7 Gig. SD channels would obviously take much less.

ESPN is encrypted here. Good luck getting useful info from Comcast - you could try asking them which channels you can receive with a "Clear QAM" tuner, but the response may not be any different.

If you order directly from EyeTV, I think you can return within 30 days (with restocking fee) if you aren't thrilled with the available channels from Comcast.
 
ScruffyTheMac said:
1 hour of HD is about 7 Gig. SD channels would obviously take much less.

ESPN is encrypted here. Good luck getting useful info from Comcast - you could try asking them which channels you can receive with a "Clear QAM" tuner, but the response may not be any different.

If you order directly from EyeTV, I think you can return within 30 days (with restocking fee) if you aren't thrilled with the available channels from Comcast.
Click to expand...

Ok. I might try to call back today, but I doubt they will tell me anything. As for returning it, I don't think I would do that, as I don't think it's fair for the company. If it was a huge company like HP or something, I would send it back. With a small company I don't really want to send it back and buy a different model.
 
I apologize if this has been asked before, but I'm confused with the EyeTV 500... I want to buy a TV tuner of some sort, but I'm not sure which one.

I'll be in college next month in Springfield, Missouri and they offer a basic (analoge) cable service in the dorms. But I'm also told that Springfield has quite a few ATSC over-the-air HD channels. If I get the EyeTV 500, I know I can use an antennae to pick up the ATSC channels, but can it's coaxil in cable also pick up the analog basic cable channels?

It would suck if I need an EyeTV 200 and an EyeTV 500 both to get all SD and HD channels, but I have a feeling you have to... :confused:
 
I forgot to ask...
Does anyone know the address to the website that can tell you what ATSC channels are available in certain areas based on zip code or city?

I've been there once before, but forgot to bookmark it.
 
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