Elgato EyeTV Hybrid analog/digital TV receiver

ElGato EyeTV Hybrid

Strengths: Great user interface, Easy setup, Made specifically for Mac

Weakness: Device tends to get hot after extended use

I have looked far and wide for a device like this and of the small amount of contenders for TV USB sticks for the Mac this one tops the list. The software has a true Mac feel user interface. Another words it is simple , to the point and very intuitive. Although the device tends to get hot after extended use I have found that most devices that connect to the Mac tend to do the same, i.e., Apple TV...
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I have looked far and wide for a device like this and of the small amount of contenders for TV USB sticks for the Mac this one tops the list. The software has a true Mac feel user interface. Another words it is simple , to the point and very intuitive. Although the device tends to get hot after extended use I have found that most devices that connect to the Mac tend to do the same, i.e., Apple TV and the Apple Extreme Wireless Router. This does not bother as long as the device is properly ventilated. The time shift recording works very well so now I can scrap the cable company DVR. Also with the software supplied one can convert their video to an ipod format and sync with iTunes. I highly recommend this product.

By drmek - Feb 23, 2008

Potentially a great product.

Strengths: Best PVR software for the Mac. Great quality video. Software is good, even though some aspects need fixing.

Weakness: Some annoying bugs / interface / format issues. Program Guide STILL does not work in Canada

This is a good product, but it has some really annoying limits. First, the Program Guide does not work in Canada. If you're in the US, no problem, however-- looks great there! Second, the list of manually scheduled recordings disappears every time you quit the program. This is a real pain, as you have to re-enter all the schedules again each time you start up. Third, when you add channels...
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This is a good product, but it has some really annoying limits.

First, the Program Guide does not work in Canada. If you're in the US, no problem, however-- looks great there!

Second, the list of manually scheduled recordings disappears every time you quit the program. This is a real pain, as you have to re-enter all the schedules again each time you start up.

Third, when you add channels manually, they always show up as being Channel 2. This is mainly an annoyance, as you can assign a name alongside the channel number, but having lots of Channel 2s in the list is confusing. Also, there is no way to sort channels once they are in a list, or to delete them without deleting the whole list. And there doesn't seem to be a way to export the channel list, even though the user guide claims that there is.

Fourth, I burned a movie copied from VHS onto DVD via EyeTV, but somewhere in the process the disc screwed up and wouldn't play the entire movie properly. (This is not due to copy protection, it was a home movie.)

I'm using the brand new version 3 of EyeTV, with the new hardware that supports ClearQAM.

On the bright side, the video quality is great. The interface is slickly designed (other than the imperfections noted above). It allows you to cut out commercials and unwanted bits of video manually. It exports to H.264 and other formats automatically (though it saves these files in a bundle-- I wish you could specify a default external location, like the Movies folder.) If you live in the US, it allows you to receive over-the-air HDTV with a cheap antennae.

Bottom line-- I like this product, and it is worth buying (especially when on sale), but I hope they work out the few remaining annoying issues!.

By rumi1422 - Feb 17, 2008

Meh...

Strengths: Graphic interface blends very nicely with Mac OS X's look and feel.

Weakness: Unreliable reception and quirky (the computer must be restarted if you quit the program or remove the device and you want to watch TV again later).

Here's my setup: I'm registered with Titan TV, using EyeTV 2.3.2 software on a Macbook Core 2 Duo with 1GB of ram and an 80Gb hard drive, running Mac OS 10.4.8, plugged into an AC outlet. The setup ran smoothly, and I was instantly able to watch the free analog stations. However, when I closed and reopened the program (to test its reliability) I could not acquire a signal. Logging out and logging...
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Here's my setup:
I'm registered with Titan TV, using EyeTV 2.3.2 software on a Macbook Core 2 Duo with 1GB of ram and an 80Gb hard drive, running Mac OS 10.4.8, plugged into an AC outlet.


The setup ran smoothly, and I was instantly able to watch the free analog stations. However, when I closed and reopened the program (to test its reliability) I could not acquire a signal. Logging out and logging back in did not work. I reset the PRAM (which involved restarting the computer) and then it worked as before (including not acquiring a signal when I restarted the program).


The unit itself runs fairly hot. I read a lot of other reviews where people were having the same problem I was having, and they assumed it had to do with the heat. However, I noticed that I could run my eyeTV for around 30 minutes without a problem. The trouble only comes when I close the program.


I don't think this product is very worthwhile for its unreliability and weak receiver. My PC friends have been quick to taunt me for paying so much for a product we mutually deem inferior to the cheaper $20 PC tuners. I may purchase an analog signal booster for it. I only bought it so I could watch Saturday Night Live and occasionally the local news.


When the only strength of a hardware device is its graphic interface, there is something wrong. Unlike the Mac philosophy, this device does not "just work."

By murphyjunk - Nov 29, 2006

It's the best thing for TV recording scince TiVo and TiVo HD.

Strengths: Works great on all TVs in my house, shows recorded are even higher qualty than HD DVD or Blu-Ray Disc, even works with PCs.

Weakness: None really

I got this with my MacBook and it works, even with my dad's HP laptop. I also have a 17" MacBook Pro and the new 24" iMac and it works flawlessly with them all. Thank You eyeTV.

By mikeyd; - Sep 17, 2007

Great product overall!

Strengths: latest generation (6th) digital receiver, now has QAM capabilities, great reception, good software for the most part

Weakness: does get a little hot (but I can't tell that it affects performance), setup/channel scanning is slightly confusing (particularly when trying to scan for both QAM and analog cable channels)

I bought this item to use with my Mac as I was considering buying a basic HDTV tuner for my TV. However, I went with the EyeTV Hybrid as it allows me to use my computer as a DVR for a lower price than a tuner just for my TV alone. The product is small, visually appealing, and seems to be well made. Setup for the most part is easy and straightforward: the EyeTV software guides you through scanning...
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I bought this item to use with my Mac as I was considering buying a basic HDTV tuner for my TV. However, I went with the EyeTV Hybrid as it allows me to use my computer as a DVR for a lower price than a tuner just for my TV alone. The product is small, visually appealing, and seems to be well made. Setup for the most part is easy and straightforward: the EyeTV software guides you through scanning for both analog and digital ATSC channels from an antenna and analog and QAM channels from cable. I had trouble at first getting the device to recognize analog cable channels - it does one scan for both analog and digital at the same time. I'm not sure what I did, but after a couple tries I did finally get it to work properly. Reception quality is great, especially with watching HDTV content. The EyeTV software has come a long way from earlier versions and has become very Mac-like. However, it still has some small quirks regarding interaction with the program that I hope El Gato will work out in future updates. DVR functionality works flawlessly, allowing you to schedule recordings using the program guide or manually. You can choose video recording quality for analog broadcasts, but digital broadcasts are encoded by the broadcaster, so be prepared to lose about 7 GB for an hour of HD programming. Overall, I'm very pleased with the product and would recommend it to any Mac user wanting TV and DVR functionality on their computer.

By btober - Mar 25, 2008