I’ve had TV Tuners for my Mac for several years now. They were older tuners from Miglia and Elgato that were for my analog cable channels. They were handy to have on my Mac when I wanted to watch sports or news while I slaved away on my Mac, but I never used the recording software that came along with the tuners (EyeTV) because the analog picture was not worth recording. That has now changed.
Enter the new EyeTV Hybrid TV Tuner Stick for HDTV, Analog TV and FM Radio. That’s a mouthful, but it deserves every word of it. Now I can grab all the old analog channels from my cable and all the unencrypted Digital channels and the Clear QAM HD channels too. They all work together with the software so that I’m able to watch an HDTV channel and switch over to an analog channel and then back again from the on screen tuner. Best of all, I’m now able to record HD and digital channels with the amazing EyeTV software. A full-featured TV tuner on my Mac, finally.
First, let’s look at the hardware. The Hyrid comes with The EyeTV 3.0 CD and PDF product manual, The Hybrid Tuner stick, USB extension cable, Break out cable for composite, S-Video and Audio connections, and infared remote control with battery pack, and the quick start guide. It features a USB 2.0 interface for the streaming of superior quality, uncompressed TV content and requires no external power supply. EyeTV Hybrid has a standard cable coax connector and does not require an antenna adapter. EyeTV Hybrid can record from a cable or satellite set top box, video recorder or camcorder, using either composite or S-Video connections. In the US, additional support is offered for set top boxes. But the one thing that really impressed me was the HD picture on my 20 inch Apple display. Breath-taking. It’s drop dead gorgeous. It is so difficult to get any work done now with the HD picture filling the 20 inch display to my side, I will not even turn on the TV now until I’ve finished my projects.
The real secret to the Hybrid is the way it’s software, EyeTV 3, compliments and enhances it. EyeTV has always been the best TV software for the Mac in my book, and version 3.0 has really blown the competition out of the water. It’s unusual when you have a good hardware device that has a better software package and they work together so well. What makes EyeTV so good? I’m glad you asked.
EyeTV does so many things that I have to list them in order to keep from missing some of the important ones, so here’s the list:
* Watch TV on your Mac
* Rewind, fast forward, and pause live TV
* Search two weeks of Program Guide data supplied by TV Guide. Includes one year of free TV Guide data, which can be renewed for only $19.95 per year
* Record hours of television and edit out unwanted content
* Record an entire season with Smart Series Guides
* Organize recordings in Smart Playlists
* Export recordings into iTunes in one easy step & sync automatically
* Share recordings with multiple Macs in a local network
* Access recordings via Wi-Fi on an iPod®, and iPhone™ and selected SmartPhones
* Store your recordings on an external drive, or burn to disc using Toast® Basic (included)
* Enable family-friendly viewing with Parental Controls
* Wake up/turn on your Mac automatically to record
* Navigate full screen TV with a mouse or remote using the On Screen menu
* Burn recordings to DVD with Toast® Basic (included)
Are you sick of reading this feature list yet? There’s even more EyeTV can do. And I never even talked about the FM radio tuner built in.
With a retail price of $149.00, this is a great deal for anyone looking to get HD and digital programming on their Mac. Elgato has the secret formula, great hardware and great software working together to make a must-have Mac gadget. Man, I love to review gear like this, thanks Elgato.
Tags: elgato, eyetv, Hardware, hybrid, Mac, Software, tv tuner
I have a eyetv 250 plus and is looks like it has hdtv recording capability also.
My question is, you say it records unencrypted tv from cable.
So I get cable from Verizon, Is it unencrypted after the cable box and can I therefore record in HD?
I am a little confused about that.
Thanks
I have an EyeTV 250 Plus. The software is terrific, but the tuner itself is pitiful. The reception is worse than any other TV in the house. Worse than a cheap DTV converter box. Worse than a cheap Magnavox 13″ DTV. And they’re all connected to the same antenna feed. I’ve even added an amp to the signal going to the EyeTV and it still doesn’t get some of the channels that the others get. Beware.
Okay, for those who want the rest of the story:
1. “Smart Playlists” are just smart folders. Unlike a playlist in iTunes, after one show ends you will have to physically select the next show within that list to play it. The software will not move on to the next show as one would expect in a true *play*list.
2. The integrated TVGuide offers no way no way to filter out the myriad of unwanted shows. It only offers the ability to select or deselect certain channels/favorites. If you have a motorola set top box, it’s about the same.
3. For some unknown reason that Elgato support won’t even acknowledge, using the automated “Export to iTunes” feature creates three copies; the original EyeTV recording, another in iTunes, and a third copy in your Movies folder if you use a custom location or external drive to store your EyeTV media. This problem can quickly choke systems with huge storage capacity.
4. The “wake up to record” feature seems to work on some Macs and not others. No problem waking from sleep though.
5 .The provided IR remotes suck, period. They are laggy, slow, sporadic, and only work within about ten feet. A much better remote is available for the iPhone/Touch called uRemote that uses WiFi, doesn’t require line-of-sight, can be used through walls 100 feet away, and response time is flat out instant.
Bill; All things being equal, TV tuner hardware certainly can have differing levels of signal sensitivity. I just got a Miglia TV HD Express unit and was pleased to find it’s far more sensitive and pulls in more Digital stations than the Hauppauge 950 tuner I was using. I’m also enjoying the fact that it’s supported by BOTH EyeTV and TheTube from Equinux so I have a choice in DVR software for it.
ElGato claims it’s new 2009 EyeTV Hybrid model – like Pinnacle’s new TV mini HD stick – use special ‘Signal Boosting’ circuitry which may be in the newer tuner chipsets they’re using. Unfortunately, you just don’t know how ANY TV gadget is going to perform till it’s hooked up to your particular source: Good reason to keep every scrap of packaging material in case you have to return something.
MacG
http://www.mac-digital-tv-tuners.com/
Ok, based on the recommendations you sent me, your blog post here, and recommendations from others it is on the way from Amazon. Thanks! I’m looking forward to using the EyeTV! How’s the FM?