iTV + EyeTV?

[darwen]

Ok, like may others out there I want to replace my TiVo with Apple's new iTV. I have actually been planning on replacing it with a G4 Cube or PowerMac G4 off of eBay. This option seems cheaper though.

I understand we have little info on the iTV but I think we have enough to decide if this is possible. What about hooking EyeTV hardware into the iTV. Just so everyone knows what I am talking about...

EyeTV 250: http://www.elgato.com/index.php?file=products_eyetv250
EyeTV Hybrid: http://www.elgato.com/index.php?file=products_eyetvhybrid

...ok, so now there is a cable signal coming into the iTV. The next two problems are a Hard Drive and the OS. Since we now know that there will be a Hard Drive in the iTV I am assuming it can be swapped out with a little effort. Why would you want to swap it? I am assuming it is going to be a small Hard Drive and I will need a bigger one for storage. If worst come to worst, plug in an external Hard Drive to the USB slot and then the EyeTV into that hard drive. Problem Solved.

The last puzzle is where I need advice. Can this thing be modified as far as the OS goes? I know there are few details about it out there but a computer is a computer, is it not? Shouldn't it be possible to put OSX on the iTV? I dont really want to run a full version of OSX because that creates other issues with using a mouse and keyboard but I am sure it can all be modified making EyeTV automatically run at startup. Shouldn't this work? Can anyone think of another way to modify the OS to make this work? It can't be that difficult! People got Windows running on a Mac before Apple gave out BootCamp.

 

[Spanky Deluxe]

There's no way that anyone will be able to answer your questions right now without breaking an NDA. Supposedly it will have a hard drive in so who knows. Apple's last iTV box ran a modified version of OS 9 so chances are the iTV will run a modified version of OS X. I doubt the EyeTV products on the market at the moment will work with the iTV although I'm hoping that EyeTV will release an add on for the iTV which will add DTV functionality. Since there are so many TV standards I'm sure Apple is going to be relying on companies such as EyeTV to provide support for all of the standards rather than Apple creating their own addon.

 

[regan2]

why on earth you'd leave tivo for a boot-strapped "dvr" solution is beyond me. with tivo, the ease of use and the guide data are just not replaceable by elgato (which i own) and an iTv, in my opinion.

Ok, like may others out there I want to replace my TiVo with Apple's new iTV. I have actually been planning on replacing it with a G4 Cube or PowerMac G4 off of eBay. This option seems cheaper though.

I understand we have little info on the iTV but I think we have enough to decide if this is possible. What about hooking EyeTV hardware into the iTV. Just so everyone knows what I am talking about...

EyeTV 250: http://www.elgato.com/index.php?file=products_eyetv250
EyeTV Hybrid: http://www.elgato.com/index.php?file=products_eyetvhybrid

...ok, so now there is a cable signal coming into the iTV. The next two problems are a Hard Drive and the OS. Since we now know that there will be a Hard Drive in the iTV I am assuming it can be swapped out with a little effort. Why would you want to swap it? I am assuming it is going to be a small Hard Drive and I will need a bigger one for storage. If worst come to worst, plug in an external Hard Drive to the USB slot and then the EyeTV into that hard drive. Problem Solved.

The last puzzle is where I need advice. Can this thing be modified as far as the OS goes? I know there are few details about it out there but a computer is a computer, is it not? Shouldn't it be possible to put OSX on the iTV? I dont really want to run a full version of OSX because that creates other issues with using a mouse and keyboard but I am sure it can all be modified making EyeTV automatically run at startup. Shouldn't this work? Can anyone think of another way to modify the OS to make this work? It can't be that difficult! People got Windows running on a Mac before Apple gave out BootCamp.

 

[darwen]

why on earth you'd leave tivo for a boot-strapped "dvr" solution is beyond me. with tivo, the ease of use and the guide data are just not replaceable by elgato (which i own) and an iTv, in my opinion.

Look at the price tag on a tivo service and it might shed some light. I bought my tivo in January with 1 year pre-paid and it was just over $13 a month plus the cost of the box. That was ok but still over priced. $20 a month is stupid. Why the hell do I need to pay for a program guide? And why is the cost of that guide going up? Because Tivo is now a name brand, that is why. They are charging more because they can. Their service is mirrored by EyeTV FOR FREE!

Trust me, if I could re-write the TiVo software or install EyeTV on a TiVo box I would. I love the TiVo, I hate the price!

 

[zflauaus]

why on earth you'd leave tivo for a boot-strapped "dvr" solution is beyond me. with tivo, the ease of use and the guide data are just not replaceable by elgato (which i own) and an iTv, in my opinion.

Some people might want this rather than a TiVo because they don't want to pay the $13 per month fee or whatever it is when you subscribe online. I set my PC up as a SageTV box and am happy that I don't have to pay the fee, especially when your 15 and don't have a constant income. Sometimes I wish I would have just gotten the TiVo box and not deal with Windows, but I can put up with it. I don't directly see it.

 

[dongmin]

Ok, like may others out there I want to replace my TiVo with Apple's new iTV. I have actually been planning on replacing it with a G4 Cube or PowerMac G4 off of eBay. This option seems cheaper though.

I understand we have little info on the iTV but I think we have enough to decide if this is possible. What about hooking EyeTV hardware into the iTV. Just so everyone knows what I am talking about...

EyeTV 250: http://www.elgato.com/index.php?file=products_eyetv250
EyeTV Hybrid: http://www.elgato.com/index.php?file=products_eyetvhybrid

...ok, so now there is a cable signal coming into the iTV. The next two problems are a Hard Drive and the OS. Since we now know that there will be a Hard Drive in the iTV I am assuming it can be swapped out with a little effort. Why would you want to swap it? I am assuming it is going to be a small Hard Drive and I will need a bigger one for storage. If worst come to worst, plug in an external Hard Drive to the USB slot and then the EyeTV into that hard drive. Problem Solved.

The last puzzle is where I need advice. Can this thing be modified as far as the OS goes? I know there are few details about it out there but a computer is a computer, is it not? Shouldn't it be possible to put OSX on the iTV? I dont really want to run a full version of OSX because that creates other issues with using a mouse and keyboard but I am sure it can all be modified making EyeTV automatically run at startup. Shouldn't this work? Can anyone think of another way to modify the OS to make this work? It can't be that difficult! People got Windows running on a Mac before Apple gave out BootCamp.

While details are scarce, I don't think the iTV will do anything close to what you're hoping it'll do. You won't be able to interface directly with your EyeTV through iTV; you'll need a Mac to do that.

Plus, I'm not sure how 'smart' this device will be. I doubt it'll have much more computer power than an iPod. It's a $300 device half the size of the mini. I'm not even convinced that it will contain a HD like it's rumored.