Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)We bought this device as a replacement for TiVo once we upgraded to HD and our old Series 2 wouldn't support HD.We are very pleased with how this device has met our needs for personal recordings.This is definitely something we would recommend to others.
I read complaints about the subscription cost for the TV-Guide information.$20/year is very low, especially compared to TiVo's $13/month.Besides, this information is just a convenience.You may choose not to maintain this subscription and schedule all manual recordings.But to me, the low annual cost is well worth the convenience of scheduling a season recording.
Some reviews comment that recordings are pixelated or lagging.I personally haven't seen it lag at all.I have seen it pixelated, but this wasn't the fault of the software.Instead, it was related to my placement of the rabbit ears.The software can't record better than the signal it is receiving.Once I moved my rabbit ears to a better position, I haven't had one bit of trouble with pixelation.
There are other complaints that the file sizes are huge.Of course they are, you are recording HD video.The product is doing what it is supposed to do.We are using a Mac mini to serve as our DVR box, so we have 1TB of space to work with.We upgraded to this model so that space would not be a concern.This should be plenty as long as you are keeping up with watching and deleting your recordings.The Mac mini also comes with a Mini Display to HDMI adapter, so I can hook it up to my existing home theater configuration with little work.The picture is great!
We have used this configuration to record many shows that broadcast when we were not home and had not been home for hours.The computer has woken up on time for every recording.We haven't missed one!Keep in mind too, that the Mac mini has been praised for it's low energy use, so you can have confidence that you aren't throwing money away by leaving this device in standby.
One complaint I have about this software is that the schedule files and the recording files are stored in the same folder on the computer.This does not appear to be configurable.I can change where I save them, but cannot have the schedules in a different folder than the recording files.This would be a nice upgrade to the software.This poses a problem to me when running Time Machine to back up this computer.Time Machine allows me to exclude folders or specific files, but not to exclude file types.This would also be a nice upgrade to Time Machine.Since I have seen this EyeTV software crash once and delete all recordings that were scheduled in that session, this is somewhat of a concern for me.I was able to get around this by writing an AppleScript to create a second folder that synchronizes all the schedule files.Then Time Machine automatically backs up this synchronized folder.
The Elgato EyeTV Hybrid comes with a remote, and they claim the IR receiver is housed within the black strip of the device.I cannot get the remote to work, even from inches away, so I have just given up on that.However, Elgato has done a great job of working with Apple so that the software works beautifully with the Apple Remote.We have one that is ~4 years old (the old white one) and it works flawlessly with our brand new Mac mini.The IR receiver is clearly visible on the front of the computer and the remote works great for volume, playback control, and even navigating through the on-screen menus.
Another added feature of this device is the iPad app that they offer.The app does cost to download, but it gives you the ability to watch recordings on the iPad from anywhere in the house. This works nicely for a kids show while the adults are using the TV, or some similar scenario.We don't have AppleTV now, but I can see how this can work great with AppleTV to allow us to be in the bedroom watching a show that was recorded in the living room.In short, the way Apple products network so well together has given this solution extra flexibility and value.
Primarily we use this to record programs broadcast over the air through our rabbit ears and the HD is beautiful.However, we also have the ability to hook this device up with our DirecTV though S-Video or composite (RCA).Now, it's not HD, but the picture isn't terrible either.Besides, it's nice to have the ability to record something that is not over the air if we want.This device does not interact with the DirecTV box, but if we use the Auto-Tune feature of DirecTV and schedule a manual recording on EyeTV, we don't have to miss that football game that is only broadcast on the BigTen Network.
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Product Description:
Watch, pause, and record live television on a Mac or PC with the world's smallest hybrid TV tuner stick. EyeTV Hybrid receives unscrambled cable TV, both digital and analog, as well as HDTV with antenna. On a Mac, you can edit EyeTV recordings and automatically export them to iTunes to sync with Apple devices; an optional app is available to stream live TV to an iPhone, iPod touch & iPad. What's more, EyeTV Hybrid comes with a video input cable for composite (RCA) or S-Video and can be used to capture standard definition video from analog sources such as a set-top box or a VCR. EyeTV One works great with Windows 7 Media Center.
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