Elgato updates EyeTV Hybrid / 250 Plus TV tuners: Clear-QAM now welcome

It seems that Elgato was most proud of its totally revamped EyeTV 3 software, but we couldn't help but notice two rather substantial hardware updates that it also chose to announce (albeit quietly) at Macworld 2008. Starting today, the firm's EyeTV Hybrid USB tuner and its EyeTV 250 Plus TV receiver / video converter (shown after the break) are both available with built-in support for unencrypted digital cable (Clear-QAM) channels. 'Course, they'll both still pull in NTSC / ATSC signals, but the addition of Clear-QAM support is a real boon for OTA addicts. Pricing for the extra versatile devices remains unchanged at $149.95 and $199.95, respectively, but unfortunately, existing owners will not be able to receive the newfound functionally with a simple firmware update.

Read - Elgato EyeTV Hybrid
Read - Elgato EveTV 250 Plus

[scott @ Jan 17th 2008 5:39AM]

El Gato is wonderful, really, their products are unique and well thought out. If the old ones could pull in the signal with a firmware update I'm sure they would've implemented it. No, i'm not being paid to say this, the 250 plus just gives my mac mini a whole new life.

-Satisfied El Gato Customer

[Ed @ Jan 17th 2008 5:58AM]

This is as good as bought when I get ahold of the money. QAM was the sticking point or me, and this is the first decent QAM tuner I've seen for the Mac.

[webon @ Jan 17th 2008 6:15AM]

el gato?
the cat... creative thinking!

[kevinm @ Jan 17th 2008 8:38AM]

Just bought one thanks to the $50 off for Macworld and got an extra $10 with coupon code because one of elgato's pages didn't load up. Anyways, QAM is what made me get one. Now I can enjoy HD bliss on my Macbook Pro.

[tkulla @ Jan 17th 2008 8:42AM]

I bought one too with the Macworld and coupon code... less than $100 shipped with the new software is a no brainer.

[GreatWhite1 @ Jan 17th 2008 8:46AM]

CANADIANS NOT SUPPORTED!
Any Canadian wishing to buy an Elgato product should be aware that EYETV does NOT support scheduling information in Canada. While Elgato claims they have been "working on it" no solution has been offered. This situation has been going on for YEARS. Even with the latest release of EyeTV 3, there is still no Canadian schedule integration.
Not having the scheduling function support severely cripples the otherwise wonderful software that this company has built.
Canadians should do a little research and consult the Elgato discussion forums to read threads on this subject and give Elgato some much needed feedback.

[Crass @ Jan 21st 2008 10:53AM]

@GreatWhite1
Who is your service provider? I work at a Canadian Cable Company and can look into the scheduling item. I don't know much about the technology, but I can try to get an answer for you..

[GreatWhite1 @ Jan 21st 2008 1:01PM]

Hi Crass,... Rogers is my cable provider. Would they have a schedule format compatible with what EyeTV requires? If they do,... I'll bet Elgato would be very interested to know. Thanks for your help.

[dallas @ Jan 17th 2008 8:46AM]

Remind the slow kid in the back. What is the difference between the two? One is a Tuner, one is a receiver/tuner. What is the difference?

[Ryan @ Jan 17th 2008 9:11AM]

The 250 has a hardware encoder making the computer have to do less work (can also be put in game mode so that the computer does all the work, minimizing lag). The Hybrid sends the computer a lossless feed which it has to process so you can view it requiring a more powerful computer.

[kevinm @ Jan 17th 2008 9:15AM]

The 250 Plus has on board video encoding and tuner while the Hybrid is just a tuner. That's pretty much the difference.

[seanathan @ Jan 17th 2008 9:25AM]

man. i just bought one for christmas and i didn't even have the thing for more than 20 days. and now they update the hybrid with qam? is it possible to get the upgraded module somehow? and how in the world do i get eyetv 3 update for free if i got it after dec. 1?

[Michael @ Jan 17th 2008 9:34AM]

Can someone tell me, what signals will this take? Only OTA? So, if I wanted more HD channels through cable or satellite, would this work at all?

[ryansebiz @ Jan 17th 2008 10:41AM]

@Michael

In addition to OTA you can also record unencrypted cable channels (aka clear QAM) in HD. Most cable companies send clear QAM channels of the major broadcast stations (CBS, FOX, PBS, etc.) and it does not require a cable box. You just need a cable subscription, usually a very inexpensive one.

1. Buy the 250
2. Connect it to your Mac
3. Install the drivers and software
4. Enjoy your 720p/1080i shows

[neil @ Jan 17th 2008 9:47AM]

I want something that will let me stream off my timewarner dvr when I need it - but will also let me use OTA when I don't. I also have a MacMini to use that is the highest of the PowerPC models. Is the 250 for me?

[neil @ Jan 17th 2008 9:59AM]

does eyetv hybrid + turbo.264 usb = eyetv 250?

[Ryan @ Jan 17th 2008 10:25AM]

Not even close.

the eyeTV turbo.264 is strictly a hardware video processor. If you want to convert videos that you record with an eyeTV device the turbo.264 handles a large amount of the processing so it doesn't put a full load on your macs cpu.

[neil @ Jan 17th 2008 11:49AM]

but doesn't eyetv 250 have a hardware encoder like the turbo 264 unit built in?

[charityshaun @ Jan 17th 2008 12:17PM]

It's an MPEG encoder, not .h264

[neil @ Jan 17th 2008 12:21PM]

so then - for someone with a PowerPC (ie old gen power) - is the best bet 250 or the hybrid + turbo 264 combo? If I want to just capture HD content.

[Harbinger @ Jan 17th 2008 12:24PM]

No, the turbo is for post-processing.

[Ryan @ Jan 17th 2008 12:28PM]

The 250 is definitely your best choice then for capturing. If you plan on doing a lot of conversion for AppleTV/iPod/iPhone/PS3 etc then the turbo.264 would be very useful for you but its not a necessity

[neil @ Jan 17th 2008 12:33PM]

thanks alot for your input - i've just bought the 250!

[matt mahoney @ Jan 17th 2008 10:38AM]

I bought this for Christmas on Black Friday weekend. I am 5 days short of the free upgrade to v3.0. I have emailed Elgato but I receive no response. Does anyone know a phone # for them. None is listed on the website. I really hope they don't stiff me on this I really don't feel it is fair that I should pay $40 for this upgrade. I already got stiffed on an iPod Touch that I got for christmas and now need to pay $20 for a software upgrade.

[Ryan @ Jan 17th 2008 11:24AM]

if they were going to stiff you on it they wouldn't have set the December 1 date, they would have just made everybody buy it. If they make a deal for you because you bought it 5 days before the deadline people who bought it two weeks before will be bitching and its a never ending cycle.

[matt mahoney @ Jan 17th 2008 11:48AM]

I understand what you are saying and I agree. I am not looking for a handout here. I just feel that with the holidays and all they could have gone back a little further to include black Friday. I mean I can't be the only one who bought this that weekend and then never opened it until after Christmas. I mean for us people in that position we haven't had it out of the box for more then 2 weeks. I hope to at least get a response from the company, some sort of acknowledgment of the situation. I can't believe they don't even have a phone number listed on the site.

[Harbinger @ Jan 17th 2008 12:50PM]

There is a reason you bought it Black Friday no?

[matt mahoney @ Jan 17th 2008 1:40PM]

If you mean was it on sale the answer is no. I paid full price at the apple store. I bought it on black Friday because it was a Christmas gift, and like many Americans I do a lot of Christmas shopping that weekend.

[corrid @ Jan 17th 2008 10:45AM]

I have been searching and have not found the 10$ coupon. Where did you guys find it?

[kevinm @ Jan 17th 2008 11:08AM]

I was just lucky to stumble upon it just trying to look at he Hybrid in more detail. It said that the page I was looking for wasn't available so here's a coupon code for your trouble. I dunno keep clicking around and you'll find one.

[pwfletcher @ Jan 17th 2008 12:40PM]

$50 off coupon is automatically added. To get an additional 10% off, use the following code:

V1Z5-7B4W-IZ7

I just ordered the 250 + and the code works :-)

[Aldyn @ Jan 17th 2008 2:28PM]

what are the pluses of getting the 250 over the hybrid?

i've been looking into these for a little while now. i got rid of the crappy old tv i had in my room, and would just like to use my 24" imac to watch tv.

[Ryan @ Jan 17th 2008 4:08PM]

The 250 doesn't require nearly as much of your mac's processor because it has a hardware encoder built in. The hybrid sends a lossless feed to the computer which has to do the processing.

[Raymond @ Jan 17th 2008 6:27PM]

Does this work with sat? I have DirecTV

[Padraig @ Jan 17th 2008 8:22PM]

Never having used any tuner for my MBP, I am curious as to the quality of the OTA signal users receive. Esp in an urban environment, say, San Francisco. Thoughts?

[Julie @ Feb 6th 2008 10:44AM]

10% Off EyeTV COUPON CODE: W1A6-TCNX-JA7