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EyeTV

C

clubsport

macrumors member
Original poster
Jun 7, 2002
38
0
I've been looking for reviews of the EyeTV, but I can't find many. I was just wondering if any of you have EyeTVs - if so, what do you think of them?

If anyone has an EyeTV 300 or 400, I'm especially interested. If someone could take some screenshots of it in action that would be great!

I really want to know what sort of reception and quality you get, and how easy the software is to use.

Thanks guys (and gals)! :)
 
I don't own an EyeTV, but apparently the 300 and 400 don't do anything to the video, and therefore you get "perfect" quality. Of course, that will depend on the bitrate that the TV stations are encoding it at, etc.
 
Does anyone know whether the EyeTV 300/400 pick up High Definition or Standard Definition digital. If they have an HD tuner that would be excellent.

And can anyone direct me to a review of the 300 or 400? It seems as if they are vapourware - no one has one.
 
I'm guessing you've ordered the original EyeTV, right?

When you get it, can you post some pics of the software "in action" so I can check out the quality?

I still wanna find some info on the 300 and 400 though!!
 
Wow, this is a bit outdated... but I do have an EyeTV

clubsport said:
I'm guessing you've ordered the original EyeTV, right?

When you get it, can you post some pics of the software "in action" so I can check out the quality?

I still wanna find some info on the 300 and 400 though!!
Click to expand...


I picked it up at the Apple Store for $200 which came with a Keyspan remote as well. (special edition?)

If you guys want, I can take shots, and post them up here (I've never posted pics on here yet)
As for the source..
I just have a regular cable connection coming into my apt...
no digital, no HD...
 
EyeTV 300/400 and VirtualDVHS

Does anyone know whether you could use the MPEG2 HD stream recording software via FireWire provided with Apple´s FireWire Developer SDK?

Someone made an application from it called "VirtualDVHS", which basically does record MPEG2 HD streams from DVHS recorders or HD TVs with HD tuners and an I/O FireWire interface, like from JVC or Mitsubishi.

The big advantage would be, that this method doesn´t need a big CPU. You could do basic HD recording with something as little as a G3 with 266 Mhz.

If someone could possibly try this out, if he possesses an EyeTV 300 or 400 modell?

G.
 
Ok, customer care with Elgato is great, here´s the answer:

"Ralph,

Thank you for contacting Elgato Systems.

EyeTV 200, 300, and 400 record MPEG-2 transport streams.

Right now, these devices can only be controlled by EyeTV software.

We are familiar with FireWire recording of transport streams, such as with programs like VirtualDVHS. However, that software (and the SDK) is for recording from HD receivers, VCRs, and the like, and not from EyeTV.

You can use the MPEG-2 transport streams recorded in the EyeTV Archive as you see fit.

In the future we may have a plug-in architecture which might allow for the control you seek.

Let me know if you have any other questions.

Nick Freeman
Customer Support

Elgato Systems LLC

900 Kearny Street Suite 750 San Francisco CA 94133-5145
T (415)391-0310 F (415)391-0329 www.elgato.com"
 
clubsport said:
I've been looking for reviews of the EyeTV, but I can't find many. I was just wondering if any of you have EyeTVs - if so, what do you think of them?

If anyone has an EyeTV 300 or 400, I'm especially interested. If someone could take some screenshots of it in action that would be great!

I really want to know what sort of reception and quality you get, and how easy the software is to use.

Thanks guys (and gals)! :)
Click to expand...

I hope you're not located in North America. From their FAQs:

Q: Does EyeTV 300 work in Europe and Australia?

A: Yes. There is no North American version available at the moment.

Q: Does EyeTV 400 work in Europe and Australia?

A: Yes. However, the availability of EyeTV 400 in Australia is subject to final negotiations with Dolby Laboratories. There is no North American version available at the moment.
Click to expand...

Their FAQs don't mention HD TV, but I doubt they suppport it. TiVo is coming out with support for that. I still believe stand alone PVRs like TiVo and ReplayTV are the best for digitally recording TV. Their services are much better than those of EyeTV or ATI's All-In-Wonder cards because with those stand alone services you can program them to record all instances of a show (option ot exclude re-runs), so you never miss them even if their times/dates change. This is not so with products from Elgato and ATI.

If your concern is over being able to save/burn the shows you record, then there are programs like DVArchive that allow you to easily do so. TiVo is coming out with their TiVo to go service, but that's a rip off since it's a pay service that will use DRM security.

Bottom line is I do not think computer-based products like this are quite at the level of those like TiVo and ReplayTV. The technology might be there, but the service that comes with them are not, and that's what makes the difference. I have a PC with ATI's card in it and it does a fantastic job of recording shows, and it only cost a bit over $100. I can save/burn the shows to (S)VCD/DVD no problem, and the quality is great. However, I just don't like the recording/scheduling program. It does not auto record only the new shows(exclude re-runs), nor does it adjust it's recording scedule if the times/dates changes, which is frustrating. I'm really considering getting ReplayTV for it's features (which look like are up to par with TiVo and more) since it takes some of VCR programming pain out of this process, which is what it's all about right? You can set it simply and it'll do all the work for you, no thinking or worrying. Just watch what you want, when you want without the hassle of scheduling programming all the time.

Sorry for the lenghty response. Just my little rant after thinking I could save some $$$ by going the media computer route.
 
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