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Sorry To Hear Of Your Bad EyeTV 500 Experience

gugy said:
Maybe where you live. I tried it in La Jolla, CA with Terk TV5 and I just was able to get couple channels and very choppy.
Yeah I have to move my Terk TV5 antenna every time I change the channel. It's not easy. Very sensitive to antenna position A LOT.
gugy said:
Sorry Multimedia. I even joined your yahoo group and I was very excite about the possibilities of the EyeTV500. I just turned out to be not the way you said.
It works maybe for you, but in some cases like mine require way more than what your are just saying.
I am just trying to make sure people are not going through the same hassle and disappointment I had.
so be aware!
Sorry. Off air recording is obviously a crap shoot. I do have to tweak the antenna every time I change channels. So there is a lot of baby sitting the antenna I have to do all the time. Digital Broadcast TV is both a blessing and a curse. I wonder if it's a conspiracy by the cable operators to force subscriptions.
 
Analog Kid said:
Seems like a lot of hassle to avoid using a Sharpie...

[Edit: guess I'm not the only one thinking this way....]
Luddites. :p

Aside from the fact that we don't all pack around Sharpies, Lightscribe and Labelflash offer a little more in the way of neatness.

Anyhow, it's only a matter of time before Apple implements some sort of disc-labeling system. I'd just rather see something sooner rather than later.
 
Marx55 said:
Wow!

Apple, please, put Blu-ray drives in Macs! At least as an option.

We need them for handy backups of audio, images and video taking lots of GB.

BR drives costs 1000$ (cheap ones) and disks no less than 40$. You can buy over 3 TB of reusable/reliable/much faster HD Storage in that amount. I think that should be more than enough for any backups.
 
Try To Test Terk TV5 Antenna With A Digital TV First

rxse7en said:
That would work--when I get a MBP (D2C). My current 'book has S video and 1/8" audio out, which was fine three years ago. I currently run component from my HD sat receiver to the plasma, optical to my HT system and HDMI from the HT to the plasma. I like Multimedia's idea of using an EyeTV DVR and a Mac Mini I have sitting in the play room. I've got DVR on my standard sets upstairs and it's quite addicting.

Multimedia--thanks for reminding me about the ElGato systems. My wife and I were just talking about upgrading the HD receiver to a DVR but for the same price I can own the EyeTV DVR and use my Mac Mini with it.
Well I guess you should check your luck with a Terk TV5 off air antennae direct connect to your Digital TV tuner to confirm you can receive decent HDTV Broadcast signals before buying the EyeTV 500.
 
gugy said:
Just make sure your cable provider allows you to record from it. Make sure the signals are not encrypted.
I purchased EyeTV500 and after I figure out the only way to record HDTV was from over the air antenna. I returned it to Elgato after I found out I would have to spend good amount of money buying a really good outdoor antenna plus make holes in the wall and etc. to be able to connect it to my EyeTV and computer.

That's a good point! Grrrr... Always something. I just checked ElGato's site and they don't offer an HDTV over Sat solution that I can see.

B
 
Multimedia said:
Well I guess you should check your luck with a Terk TV5 off air antennae direct connect to your Digital TV tuner to confirm you can receive decent HDTV Broadcast signals before buying the EyeTV 500.

I receive 1080i HDTV signal via satellite. Gotta love MonstersHD. :D

B
 
How Do You Record & Archive Satellite HD On Your Mac?

rxse7en said:
I receive 1080i HDTV signal via satellite. Gotta love MonstersHD. :D
How do you record shows on your Mac and archive into mp4 files?
rxse7en said:
I can't! That's why I'm looking for a DVR solution. I can get an HD DVR receiver from Dish for $200 and that's looking like my best option at this point. I just garaged my Yamaha surround system and picked up a Samsung Home Theater system--the HT-Q70 system. 1,000 watts, 5 dvd carousel, HDMI out, plays DIVX and has a USB port that allows me to play DIVX movies off of a thumb drive. I think the HT-Q80 is out now and it has HDMI in and out.
Bummer. I guess we're in the twilight zone of non-archival capability so far. Hopefully solutions will surface in the next 12 months. You guys are making me feel very lucky to have 3 off air HD sources (CBS, NBC, Fox) and 1 SD (PBS) that work with EyeTV 500. I didn't realize how hard it is for many others to get HDTV broadcasts off the air as well.
 
Multimedia said:
How do you record shows on your Mac and archive into mp4 files? :confused:

I can't! That's why I'm looking for a DVR solution. I can get an HD DVR receiver from Dish for $200 and that's looking like my best option at this point. I just garaged my Yamaha surround system and picked up a Samsung Home Theater system--the HT-Q70 system. 1,000 watts, 5 dvd carousel, HDMI out, plays DIVX and has a USB port that allows me to play DIVX movies off of a thumb drive. I think the HT-Q80 is out now and it has HDMI in and out.

B
 
Multimedia said:
I guess I'm not as much of a purist as some here. I make DVDs off EyeTV digital HD broadcast recordings with Toast 7 and they look and sound very close to the original HD broadcasts on my 24" Dell 1920 x 1200 display. I cannot see much nor hear any difference.

Call me old fashioned but I just don't see why I would want Blu-ray or HD-DVD until they are cost competitive with good old fashioned single layer 4.38 GB DVDs. :rolleyes:

Well maybe on the 24" screen, but go to play it on a 42" or larger plasma monitor, and the difference will become apparent. On the 24" screen you've got a pitch of about 92 ppi, the plasma screens run from 53 ppi for the 42" down to 37 ppi on a 60" screen (remember the resolution doesn't change, just the screen size). On these less dense screens, the full resolution of the HD image, along with the greater color depth that HD provides over NTSC is significant.
 
ChrisA said:
Anyone Know if Blue-Ray discs are archival? The normal DVD have a high failure rate after a few year in storage. Even CD-R media will not last decades.
Actually this has been proved wrong. As long as your careful, keep them in a good tempered area they'll be fine. I still have some of my original CDs and DVDs that I burned that work fine - of course it doesn't hurt to backup those discs though. Scratching them is easy. ;)
 
rxse7en said:
I hope this means we will see HDMI out on the next MacBook Pros. I really want to be able to use my soon-to-be-had MacBook Pro Core2Duo as a media center too. With that said, here's to hoping the new MBPs have HDMI and the ability to output Dolby PLII and at least 1080i. My current 1.25ghz G4 book chokes on 720p so I never hook it up to my plasma HDTV.

B

Added:
I'm still not convinced that Blu Ray is going to beat out HD-DVD.
Well the MacBooks Pros already have DVI-out which uses the same protocal as HDMI (the only difference is that HDMI also carries audio, which DVI does not). Adapters are going for only a few £/$.
 
Well..
I'd like to see BR players or HD-DVD players becoming standard at right price just like DVD players.
However, I don't see BR or HD-DVD as my backup media.
I'd rather use several external hard disk due to cheap price/ gig and easy of use.
 
What if they made a high, fast I/O version of the drive so that you could run your entire OS from a BD-RW?
 
I've got a thought...

You've probably already been slapped about this but I haven't read through all the posts...

Dude... I'm assuming you're a Christian to be so up-in-arms about the holiday (but I don't think that's the right example, honestly) -- you need to also be more tolerant of other religious holidays at the same time such as Hananachaka (butchered that) and Kwanza as well as some others, I'd imagine.


enda1 said:
Wonder what price they will be by christmas (i bloody hate the term 'the holiday season'!!) anyone any thoughts?
 
JGowan said:
I've got a thought...

You've probably already been slapped about this but I haven't read through all the posts...

Dude... I'm assuming you're a Christian to be so up-in-arms about the holiday (but I don't think that's the right example, honestly) -- you need to also be more tolerant of other religious holidays at the same time such as Hananachaka (butchered that) and Kwanza as well as some others, I'd imagine.

Can't wait for the Ramadan Rush Sales!

Lighten up PC police.
 
LimeiBook86 said:
Actually this has been proved wrong. As long as your careful, keep them in a good tempered area they'll be fine. I still have some of my original CDs and DVDs that I burned that work fine - of course it doesn't hurt to backup those discs though. Scratching them is easy. ;)

Well I guess not all DVDs were created equal... :D
I have quite a few (both original DVDs and CDs) that aren't working anymore... :(
 
Gurutech said:
Well..
I'd like to see BR players or HD-DVD players becoming standard at right price just like DVD players.
However, I don't see BR or HD-DVD as my backup media.
I'd rather use several external hard disk due to cheap price/ gig and easy of use.

I wonder how long does it take to burn a BR (or HD-DVD) with that new version of Toast
:rolleyes: :confused: :D

It use to be more than an hour for burning a DVD (x1) of 4 GB...
:rolleyes:
 
morespce54 said:
I wonder how long does it take to burn a BR (or HD-DVD) with that new version of Toast
:rolleyes: :confused: :D

It use to be more than an hour for burning a DVD (x1) of 4 GB...
:rolleyes:
Blu-Ray: 1x = 36 Mbps
DVD 1x = 11.08 Mbps
HD-DVD: 1x = 36.55 Mbps
 
Dont count HD out as of yet SONY has recieved 2-3 pieces of very bad news.

1. A High Court in the UK has ordered SONY to disolve its merger with BMG.
Fighting this could cost valuable resources.
If they lose, the cost of breakup could well put SONY under. Remember BETAMAX. Yes, I know SONY/BMG is the music arm of the company-but it will be a drain on the whole company.

2. The chipmakers for the PSP3 are having a bitch of a time making any that are worth using in the player-they have a 1 out of 5-6 usable chip ratio.
The rest get used in other less demanding hardware, or get tossed out-. SONY still pays for them-good or not-talk about bleeding.
They are very expensive.

3. Poor PQ reviews, the lack of BR2 (yes folks youve been had-the current discs -or BR1- are not the 'final' version, those COULD be out by November, optimistically-they were rushed out so they could say "Were first!"

They are said to be 'fine tuning' the "real" BR2 disc spec and manufacture.
Translation-it isnt working very well, like the PSP chips.

Briefly king of the world, suddenly things dont bode well for SONY or the BR disc.
 
seashellz said:
A High Court in the UK has ordered SONY to disolve its merger with BMG. Fighting this could cost valuable resources.
If they lose, the cost of breakup could well put SONY under. Remember BETAMAX. Yes, I know SONY/BMG is the music arm of the company-but it will be a drain on the whole company.

Dude, seriously give it a rest. You've just shot down your credibility because SonyBMG is a separate division that Sony Corp. itself owns a 50% stake in with Bertlesman(n) owning the other 50%. That ruling has no effect on Sony Corp. itself. You citing this on a forum is as lame as the many people on Digg or Slashdot who rush to any thread concerning Sony and post about RootKits when again, it was SonyBMG that did that and not any other SonyCorp. division. Point is, any negative ruling against SonyBMG has no impact at all on Blu-Ray development nor will it give any traction to HD-DVD.

Plus, a UK High Court does not have the power to dissolve SonyBMG. Perhaps for the UK subsidiary division but not for the entire worldwide operations of SonyBMG. The only way SonyBMG would be forced to break up would be if the European Commission or the U.S. Justice Department took action and won in their respective court systems.

seashellz said:
The chipmakers for the PSP3 are having a bitch of a time making any that are worth using in the player-they have a 1 out of 5-6 usable chip ratio. The rest get used in other less demanding hardware, or get tossed out-. SONY still pays for them-good or not-talk about bleeding. They are very expensive.

First off, you mean the PS3. Are you a Microsoft shill? The chipmaker is IBM. IBM, Sony, and Toshiba all have vested interests in making the Cell chip a success (although Toshiba would rather not see the PS3 a success because it would wipe out HD-DVD's chance at success). Failure rates will not have an impact on the MSRP of any Sony product for the consumer because they will want the PS3 to obliterate the Microsoft Xbox360 and the HD-DVD platforms all at once.

seashellz said:
Poor PQ reviews, the lack of BR2 (yes folks youve been had-the current discs -or BR1- are not the 'final' version, those COULD be out by November, optimistically-they were rushed out so they could say "Were first!" They are said to be 'fine tuning' the "real" BR2 disc spec and manufacture. Translation-it isnt working very well, like the PSP chips.

First off, it was HD-DVD that jumped the gun and shipped first in a desperate attempt to solidify itself before Blu-Ray (and later, the PS3) shipped, not the other way around.

Now with that having been said, get some perspective. The original DVD platform didn't reach maturity or success until the 3rd Generation players were brought out. Both the HD-DVD and Blu-Ray decks currently are on their first generation, and both are showing signs of quality issues. The Toshiba HD-DVD deck had to have a firmware update to keep it from crashing due to Microsoft's usual software krappiness in the form of the iHD software. Both the current HD-DVD and Blu-Ray machines aren't using the greatest chip decoders which are causing both to not truly output at 1080i, let alone 1080p. This will be corrected when the second generation decks from both platforms ship with the new Sigma Designs decoders in the next couple of months. While it is true that Sony is shipping titles in MPEG2 until they bring out their own hardware, once that happens, the encoding in H.264 will be noticibily better than the HD-DVD titles that will continue to ship in Microsoft's inferior VC-1 (ahem, Windows Media 9) codec because Microsoft in truth is supporting HD-DVD simply because it uses the Microsoft iHD software instead of Java (like Blu-Ray does) and thus earns royalities with each HD-DVD deck shipped and every VC-1 encoded movie title also shipped. While Blu-Ray spec wise supports VC-1 (in addition to H.264 MPEG4 and MPEG2), it will be a very cold day in Hell when Sony decides to ship a Blu-Ray disc encoded in VC-1.

The moral of the story is to pick up a Blu-Ray deck when the second (or third) generation hits, and only buy discs encoded in the H.264 codec instead of the current MPEG2 versions. At that time, HD-DVD will be as useful as a Philips CD-i deck or a Circuit City DIVX player.

seashellz said:
Briefly king of the world, suddenly things dont bode well for SONY or the BR disc.

Right. I bet you are anxiously awaiting the Microsoft Zune.
 
Lynxpro said:
The Toshiba HD-DVD deck had to have a firmware update to keep it from crashing due to Microsoft's usual software krappiness in the form of the iHD software.
The firmware update had nothing to do with iHD software.

Lynxpro said:
Both the current HD-DVD and Blu-Ray machines aren't using the greatest chip decoders which are causing both to not truly output at 1080i, let alone 1080p.
Any 1080p television worth anything can easily deinterlace the 1080i signal from the Toshiba HD DVD player with zero image degradation. There simply is no difference. The 1080p vs. 1080i thing (for HD DVD and BD) is a myth.

Lynxpro said:
While it is true that Sony is shipping titles in MPEG2 until they bring out their own hardware, once that happens, the encoding in H.264 will be noticibily better than the HD-DVD titles that will continue to ship in Microsoft's inferior VC-1 (ahem, Windows Media 9) codec because Microsoft in truth is supporting HD-DVD simply because it uses the Microsoft iHD software instead of Java (like Blu-Ray does) and thus earns royalities with each HD-DVD deck shipped and every VC-1 encoded movie title also shipped. While Blu-Ray spec wise supports VC-1 (in addition to H.264 MPEG4 and MPEG2), it will be a very cold day in Hell when Sony decides to ship a Blu-Ray disc encoded in VC-1.

The moral of the story is to pick up a Blu-Ray deck when the second (or third) generation hits, and only buy discs encoded in the H.264 codec instead of the current MPEG2 versions. At that time, HD-DVD will be as useful as a Philips CD-i deck or a Circuit City DIVX player.
Sony has not stated any plan to use H.264 encoding. No studio has stated any plans for H.264 encoding either. It's either MPEG-2 vs. VC-1, and if you've watched anything on HD DVD, you'd know it's capable of amazing results. Compared to all available Blu-Ray discs, VC-1 beats MPEG-2. A better Blu-ray deck will not make the crappy MPEG-2 discs look better, because the problem is with the disc, not the player. Even when BD50 discs are viable (some day!), they'll still use MPEG-2. Warner, who has already released VC-1 encoded HD DVDs, will be releasing the same titles on BD in... you guessed it... MPEG-2.

Furthermore, iHD is apparently much easier to develop for than BD-J. That's one reason why there are already HD DVDs with interesting new features (like the "In Movie Experience" on Bourne Supremacy) vs. no new extra features for any BD discs, nor are there any discs announced with new (BD-J) features.

-Terry
 
rxse7en said:
Can't wait for the Ramadan Rush Sales!

Lighten up PC police.
Bite me. People need to have more tolerance to other religions. Period. Christianity is not the only religion on the planet, though some seem to think it should be.
 
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