Elgato EyeTV 500 HTDV Mac tuner card reviewed

Elgato's EyeTV 500 HDTV tuner card and DVR software package for the Mac looks like it packs a pretty solid punch.  According to reviewers at eff.org, it shines in comparison to PC-based HD tuner cards and software.  Unfortunately, it's $350, which is a lot more than the $150 cards you can get on the PC side.  Other problems include software-driven playback (as opposed to hardware-optimized), which means you'll need a speedier Mac (G5 or better) to really get the most out of this thing.  All of you thinking you could pair this with a new MiniMac may need to rethink your plans unless you have another media player to play-back the files the Elgato captures.  However, with a nice interface, editing features (kill commercials), and other nice add-ons, this would be the package for Mac-hedz to get before the FCC's hammer comes down this spring.

[(Unverified) Posted Dec 19th 2005 2:10AM]

Am I the only one to think that elgato could absolutely butcher the PVR market by releasing a Mac mini oriented version of the EyeTV?

HDTV ready tuner + remote + digital audio out, all bundled in a package fitting right under the mini... It could just be what Steve Jobs was hinting to when he said '2005 will be the year of HD'

[(Unverified) Posted Dec 19th 2005 2:10AM]

Given that you need a G5 to get this running, I suspect that the Mini wouldn't be powerful enough.

Happy to be proved wrong in the future though.

[(Unverified) Posted Dec 19th 2005 2:10AM]

I am not commenting on this product, but on the Review.

This Review is exactly why your site is at the top of my list in my Firefox Bookmarks.

~ ~ ~ Q U O T E ~ ~ ~
All of you thinking you could pair this with a new MiniMac may need to rethink your plans unless you have another media player . . .
~ ~ ~ / Q U O T E ~ ~ ~

You read my mind.

I anyone reads that review on the main page, it will enlighten them about the product in such a concise and professional manner.

Plus, your dry sense of humor kicks butt.

Thanks Engadet

[(Unverified) Posted Dec 19th 2005 2:10AM]

hello

You guys mentioned the FCC. What are they planning? (I'm from england)

thanks

[(Unverified) Posted Dec 19th 2005 2:10AM]

dangit. I can't edit my typo's.
It should read:
"IF anyone reads that review on the main page"
not
"I anyone reads that review on the main page"
sorry...
FFG

[(Unverified) Posted Dec 19th 2005 2:10AM]

Well too bad it won't work well with the Mac Mini, but I'm sure elgato has something up it's sleeves.

Also you a G5 or better, do you know something I don't? Cause a G6 has yet to be released lol.

[(Unverified) Posted Dec 19th 2005 2:10AM]

I'm new to this.
Can you actually have Tv broadcasted over the internet? and have local channels live? who is the TV service provider? and how much does monthly service cost? Sounds good for a laptop!!

[(Unverified) Posted Dec 19th 2005 2:10AM]

The service provider is you. You setup a 'server' at home and then connect to it to watch live tv through your laptop in your house or your computer at work.

I don't think HDTV would stream that well however.

[(Unverified) Posted Dec 19th 2005 2:10AM]

EyeTV uses hardware-accelerated playback when the Host-Mac has a Quartz Extreme capable graphics card (all NVidia GeForce cards, ATI cards higher than Rage128).
So even the Mac Mini can use h/w accelerated playback.

[(Unverified) Posted Dec 19th 2005 2:10AM]

I'm not sure how much better EyeTV will play it, but I downloaded the sample HD clip of Lord of the Rings, and it was very choppy using VLC on my eMac, which has similar specs to the Mac mini, but I've got a lot more ram in my machine. The audio was fine, but the video dropped a lot of frames. I'm not sure how well the Mac mini would handle it.

It would be nice if Apple would come out with a media center machine. They could own it like they own the MP3 player market.

[(Unverified) Posted Dec 19th 2005 2:10AM]

Yeah, but where to put the graphics card? Is there a slot in the Mini, or is the graphics card soldered in? Obviously, haven't checked out the machine's innards.

[(Unverified) Posted Dec 19th 2005 2:10AM]

i'll just make the snide comment that the "$150" in the header is inflated. I bought my tuner for $49 (AVerTV) above that are just more and more frills.

... but it would be too sad to compare mac prices to real pc prices

[(Unverified) Posted Dec 19th 2005 2:10AM]

John, your AVerTV tuner is not HD-savvy nor is it QAM-ready. We're here to get info on storing high-quality next generation video on our machines. A comparable PC product would be a MyHD MDP-120 which goes for about $240. The mac solution is more expensive but a heck of a lot more intuitive to get going. Next time you make a snide remark be sure you've done your homework.

[(Unverified) Posted Dec 19th 2005 2:10AM]

Has anyone actually tried recording and playing back HDTV from the Mini Mac (the 1.42 GHz model with 512 - 1GB RAM)?

If this will not work, what about setting up a MythTV server and using the Mac Mini as the client? I'm not that familiar with the hardware requirements for MythTV clients. Any thoughts?

[(Unverified) Posted Dec 19th 2005 2:10AM]

I'm running MythTV on a PC with Fedora Core, and am using my low end Mac Mini as a client. Works seemlessly, no problems at all. The Mac Mini is the easy bit ... setting up MythTV itself is not for the feint of heart, especially if your hardware is slightly unusual. Mine was. Took weeks, but it's a fantastic thing to have once you've got it going.

[(Unverified) Posted Dec 19th 2005 2:10AM]

There is a review on Apple's website (I would give you a URL but it is linked to a session ID so my URL won't work for you) and the reviewer says that it DOES work on a Mac Mini, but may drop frames.
Here is a quote:
While it is possible to play back HD content, even from a Mac mini [...] you may experience dropped frames if the machine isn't fast enough.