Elgato's EyeTV Wonder for Mac

Elgato System and ATI Technologies announced the EyeTV Wonder TV tuner for Macintosh today.  The USB 2.0 device seems to have all the features you expect in a TV tuner, including on-demand recording and remote programming through program guide TitanTV. Should be available by the end of the month for $149. Sounds good, but isn't the gunmetal grey look a bit too PC-ish for a Mac product?

[Via eHomeUpgrade]

[Malfoy @ Dec 19th 2005 2:13AM]

I saw this last night. Gonna pick one up for my powerbook. All i need now is a cheap and portable antenna!

Pbook+ eyetv+5.1 usb sound card+ fancy speakers= good times in small spaces!

[Gar @ Dec 19th 2005 2:13AM]

Hook this up to a Mac Mini... play games, record TV, browse the Internet - getting ahead of myself here.

[Mark Verrills @ Dec 19th 2005 2:13AM]

Yeah, right, grey is a little wild for the average Mac user. It might confuse them into using it to try and make toast or something? Or even trying to eat/chew it? It makes me wonder why Mac's are all white - I guess it must be because the Mac consumerites spend so much time looking and wanking over them with their trendy friends that it makes sense for them to be the same colour as spunk. So it is no coincidence that Jonathan Ives used to design toilets, but that begs another question, why didn't he design his toilets to be brown?

[David Booker @ Dec 19th 2005 2:13AM]

Well, Mark. That certainly explains why PCs are beige.

[rlarue @ Dec 19th 2005 2:13AM]

Well first off for Mr. Verrills all Macs are not white so you obviously don't know what you are talking about.

As far as the design goes, you can't expect all companies to redesign their products just because they are bringing out a mac version.

[Geoffrey Sperl @ Dec 19th 2005 2:13AM]

It's a nice product, and it uses uncompressed video (which is why the USB 2.0 is important). Frankly, with this, a Mac mini and one of Apple's DVI to S-Video/Composite adpaters, you have an OS X-based media center for under $800 or so. A larger hard drive is a must, but I have to assume anyone who is going to make such a set-up is going to be a bit of a geek, anyhow, and would be more than willing to hack that box, anyhow.

As for the grey color: the box is going to be hidden, let's be very honest about that. No one will see that EyeTV box at all.

[Mark Verrills @ Dec 19th 2005 2:13AM]

Dear Rlarue,

I didn't say all Macs are white, I said Mac's are all white, which isn't true either. Regardless, you can smell my breath, I've been eating onions.

BTW - you have a peculiar name, where are you from? PC world?

[cedric @ Dec 19th 2005 2:13AM]

hum...apple will soon loose itrs individuality and becaome ms.

[madtracer @ Dec 19th 2005 2:13AM]

"Yeah, right, grey is a little wild for the average Mac user. It might confuse them into using it to try and make toast or something?"

impressive wit you've got there, guy.

[Joshua Ochs @ Dec 19th 2005 2:13AM]

*sigh* This is why Slashdot-style moderation is a Good Thing. Trolls such as "Mr." Verrills et filtered out.

Have you stopped to think that perhaps these people are rational, and choose the products because they DO work more seamlessly, ARE more stable, and (in the Mac's case) MORE secure? It takes more thought and consideration to buck the "conventional wisdom" of using WinTel to choose a Mac. It can easily be argued that you are making the thoughtless "choice" of using Wintel just because everyone else does.

[Supperconductor @ Dec 19th 2005 2:13AM]

If you don't need a tuner (and I don't since I have DirecTV), get yourself a DVCam instead. Last year I bought a Sharp VLZ-3U for $200 after rebate. It's got an S-Video and audio inputs which I connected to my DirecTV tuner, then I connect the firewire out to my PowerBook - Voila - for $50 more than these USB based devices I've got a very high quality firewire recording device PLUS it's also a DVCam.

[rlarue @ Dec 19th 2005 2:13AM]

That is interesting Supperconductor, I have a Sharp Mini-DV cam but don't use DirecTV.
I do believe every one is entitled to their own opinion and since this isn't a mac only board I don't think we should be calling people trolls for not knowing what they are talking about.

Verills: Am I from PC World? Is that a reference to the magazine or the place Windows users reside? In either case no, I'm from Florida which is actually much worse.

[selcouth @ Dec 19th 2005 2:13AM]

I have a very nice Sony DV cam and I've hooked it up via firewire and an antenna for TV viewing before. The problem is I don't know of a very good application for viewing FW video feeds. It sucks to have to watch your video thru iMovie's import screen.

[billk @ Dec 19th 2005 2:13AM]

Selcouth

Take a look at Vidi:

http://www.mitzpettel.com/software/vidi.php

I run the AV output from a standard VCR through a Sony DVMC-DA2 media converter and I'm able to watch and record TV to my Mac's hard disk. Although with this setup there's no way to programmatically change channels. It'll do wonders when paired with one of the Formac Studio devices, but any AV to Firewire converter will suffice...

[darth @ Dec 19th 2005 2:13AM]

well, all the macs that meet those specs are white or silver. and certainly aren't gunmetal grey and black.

and why NOT expect a company to go the extra mile and do mac specific product, since, you know, its called "the EyeTV Wonder TV tuner for Macintosh"?

[umijin @ Dec 19th 2005 2:13AM]

Ummm.... these kinds of devices have been available in Japan for a few years, but the higher end ones use FIREWIRE instead of USB.
Why not use firewire?

I've seen 3 different manufacturer's offerings... CAPTY is one that I recall, I think IOgear is another.

I've been itching to try one, except that I can't get an English manual.

[Thomas @ Dec 19th 2005 2:13AM]

they do make one thats white...

its actually better as well. uses hardware mpeg 2 encoding. (you can use it on a g3 with a firewire port.

will also record mpeg 1... Export to iMovie, iDVD and DVD Studio Pro

http://www.elgato.com/index.php?file=products_eyetv200

t

[selcouth @ Dec 19th 2005 2:13AM]

billk

I'll be sure to check it out. Looks like it's promising!

[Supperconductor @ Dec 19th 2005 2:13AM]

You need Vidi - best program I've found for viewing and recording from firewire on Mac OSX:

http://www.mitzpettel.com/software/vidi.php

[Jurb @ Dec 19th 2005 2:13AM]

These Eyetv 200 and Wonder devices sound great, but I have two questions:

1. Can they copy DVDs to the Mac?

2. Once the tv show is recorded to the Mac, can it be played back through the TV?

[Chris @ Dec 19th 2005 2:13AM]

I hope I can clear up some confusion.
1.) Style is a matter of opinion. But yes, that thing does look pretty ugly.
2.) USB in this case does not mean USB 1, but it refers to USB 2.0 Hi-speed, found on newer macs. USB 2.0 is a hair faster than firewire, so quality wise, the Ati device should be just as good as hooking up a DV camera. The EyeTV 200 (and newer) use Firewire. Plextor's ConvertX-PVR for mac uses USB 2.0. All three use elgato's eyeTV.

3.) There is a big difference between the ATI device and the others. The ATI device does not compress the video before it comes into your mac. It brings it through the USB 2.0 hi-speed right to your screen essentially. If you want to pause live tv, or record shows, your computer must do extra work. Your computer must encode the video into mpeg1, or 2 format. This means you need a faster computer if you want to record or use the ATI device like a TiVo. ie, if you want to make a standard quality, mpeg-2 recording, for burning onto dvd, you'd need a dual processor g4 or g5 according to elgato's website. for vcd, a much lower mpeg-1 format, you'd need a g4. I have a convertX, and a 1.2ghz G4, it takes 15% processing power to record long play mpeg-2.

4. The EyeTV 200, ATI Wonder, and Plextor ConvertX-PVR do not specifically copy dvd's. They have s-video and composite inputs if you want to hook up a dvd player and record. But if you want to make copies of dvd's your best bet is to use ffmpegX, which can be found on www.versiontracker.com or www.macupdate.com

5. Once the tv show is recorded, it CANNOT be played back through a tv using these devices. You would need an additional device. If you have a powerbook G4, you can use the s-video adapter to hook your laptop up to your tv. Some of the newer macs can also use these $20 adapters like the mac mini.

6. Mpeg-2 IS the dvd format. EyeTV 200 and ConvertX will take video and convert and compress it into mpeg-2 before sending it to the computer. Once in the computer, it is very easy for the mac to save the movie onto the harddrive, using relatively little processor power. And once inside your computer, if you have Toast, it is very easy to burn a dvd movie from what you recorded.

I'm using Plextor's ConvertX-PVR for mac, which is essentially the same as elgato's eyetv 200 only its about $100 cheaper. All three devices use elgato's eyeTV software.

So far, I've been using the ConvertX with my original usb 1 ports. I have not yet ordered a USB 2.0 hi-speed card ($20bucks). The quality is fine, like a video tape. The only problem I just noticed, is that recording/watching a couple family guy cartoons they have white lines bleeding out from any white in the picture. Ie brian the dog looks like he's coming apart at the seams. But for regular tv, it worked fine. I look forward to testing the quality of the higher level mpeg-2 when I get a USB 2.0 card.

[Michael Dodd @ Dec 19th 2005 2:13AM]

I was wondering, I'm kind of curious about this Video Compression subject. I'm using a Miglia PCI Card and it says that it relies on QuickTime for Video Compression as well as viewing. I've noticed that in just watching TV it's using 30-50 percent of my Processor Power On a regular Basis. Is this the Case with the ConvertX DVR or the EyeTV?

[Raymond @ Dec 19th 2005 2:13AM]

Does anyone have any screenshots of what the video capturing looks like? How HQ are they?

[SamAsk @ Dec 19th 2005 2:13AM]

On buy.com you can now buy the ConvertX PVR for $144.99 (price after rebate).

As Chris said (comment #21), it is better than Elgato�s EyeTV Wonder, because it does compression in hardware, i.e. it is better if you own a ibook or powerbook (or a dual G5 which needs its CPU for something else...)

TinyUrl link to Buy.com page: http://tinyurl.com/5ojr8

[SamAsk @ Dec 19th 2005 2:13AM]

Keep in mind that the URL above is for the PC version. Elgato does not want people to buy a (much cheaper) PC version, and just use their software for Mac, so when you install EyeTV for the PC Plextor unit (or the USB wonder unit for PC) it will ask for an activation code.
The software will not ask for it for any other PVR model.
So, be warned...

[Luke @ Dec 19th 2005 2:13AM]

The old Eye TV USB (1.0) couldn't play back sound on the iBook via the USB connection --you needed McGriffin's iMic to channel the sound output to the iBook. There were also reports of poor synchronization between sound and image. Have these issues been resolved in the Eye TV Wonder USB 2.0?

[Leon Benner @ Dec 19th 2005 2:13AM]

I went to that "On buy.com" site and that one is only for pc's not mac

[Rahul Sinha @ Dec 19th 2005 2:13AM]

The EyeTV 200 also does video compression in hardware.

Oh, and FireWire 400 is still a prefereable connector to usb2 for several reasons.

1) Firewire connections do a lot of the routing overhead in hardware; usb offloads all of that to the CPU
2) Firewire is designed for isochronic applications, and thus can deliver its full bandwidth continuously. USB 2.0's 480Mbits is a burst rating; average throughput is lower
3) Firewire (as a spec) provides more power to the peripheral (unless you are using a Sony computer). That means you can get external HDs and DVD-RWs that require no additional powersource.
4) Firewire400 peripherals can connect to FIreWire800 ports, which are pretty clearly the way of the future.

-RS

[Eric @ Dec 19th 2005 2:13AM]

I would like to record my video game sessions in action. I have a PB G4 1.5 and a Power Mac G5 1.5. Does anyone know the best way to capture my motion scenes while on xbox live? What's the best video capture hardware AND software to use for Macs, all in terms of producing quality videos with minimal or no playback issues/concerns? Thank you.

[Eric @ Dec 19th 2005 2:13AM]

I would like to record my video game sessions in action. I have a PB G4 1.5 and a Power Mac G5 1.5. Does anyone know the best way to capture my motion scenes while on xbox live? What's the best video capture hardware AND software to use for Macs, all in terms of producing quality videos with minimal or no playback issues/concerns? Thank you.