# Mac TV Tuner



## monkey-boy (Sep 28, 2004)

Hey guys. I tried searching and didn't see this posted, so I thought I'd put in my two bits if anyone ever wondered.

I was looking for a USB/firewire TV Tuner setup for my powerbook. Eventually I gave up since watching TV on my pb would be secondary to watching it on my pc. Anyway, I ended up settling on the Hauppage WinTV-PVR USB2.0 version for $150 at futureshop.

http://www.futureshop.ca/catalog/proddetail.asp?logon=&langid=EN&sku_id=0665000FS10048989&catid=

It went pretty well on my pc, but I wanted to see if I could get it to work on the mac, since I figured that all I needed were a driver and software. After I dug around a teeny tiny bit, I found out that it DOES work! Thankfully, Eskape and Hauppage use the exact same box, I think, except of course, the mac version is a pretty white 

http://www.eskapelabs.com/myTVPVR.html

You can download the drivers under the tech page and it works seamlessly. I forgot where I found out it worked from, I think it was xlr8yourmac? or something to that effect. Anyway, if this is old news, sorry. I was just super excited to get it up and running. 

It's on my PB G4 12" 1.33 and runs pretty well. The only quirk so far is that the channel switching takes a little longer than on the pc. This is the 2nd TV Tuner setup I've had, the first I used was an ATI TV wonder pro a while back which looked like garbage compared to this (which is why I didn't go for another ati product) The quality is much better, but still isn't as "clear"? Or perhaps too clear compared to a TV. Nevertheless, I'm happy it works on the mac so that I can play some NHL 2006 and watch tv on the side OR if I wanted to, I could record it since it has all the PVR functions as well.


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## krs (Mar 18, 2005)

Neat - I was always looking for something like that but Mac versions of those cost more than a TV.
Can you actually record a TV show, or from a VCR since it has the inputs, and then burn this to a DVD?
Also, have you come across one that I can plug into a PCI slot and download the drivers to run on a G4?


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## Macaholic (Jan 7, 2003)

Sounds great! Any and all details are welcome


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## dona83 (Jun 26, 2005)

EyeTV 500 mmmm they just installed an HD transmitter on Mount Seymour so all Vancouver residents with a line of sight to Mount Seymour, git yer free HD


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## jtmac (Apr 23, 2003)

I've been thinking about adding tv as well.
Is anyone using a Miglia Alchemy card?
It seems like an interesting alternative to use existing hardware.
Cheers


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## Macified (Sep 18, 2003)

I have the Eskape Labs TV2go and it is merely okay. The software is basic but it's the mediocre image quality and the very poor sound quality that taint it for me. The sound actually was great for quite a while but recently it went bad. After speaking with the tech support folks I was given a pre-release version of their software which corrected the sound issues for a short time but it has gone bad again. It is definately something in the software. My current work around is to use Audio Hijack Pro to run the sound from the line-in on my PowerBook (cable box connects to PowerBook via usb for picture and line-in for sound, although current software now supports audio over usb). In any case, on my PowerBook 1.4GHz I find that the picture stutters a bit in all but the smallest window and that, with my current audio work-around, I am not able to get a really good video/audio synch.

I much prefered the quality of my ATI TV Wonder USB but alas it is OS9 only.


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## Mugatu (Mar 31, 2005)

Had the EyeTV 300 for awhile. Software wasn't that hot and it was bloody expensive. For me the value was just not there. I'm planning on using the MythTV port for OS X when I finally settle on a tuner.


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## monkey-boy (Sep 28, 2004)

To be honest, my winTV setup hasn't skipped a beat yet! I've been running it alot of the evening on my PB, just messing around with it a bit. The software is pretty plain jane, but it does everything I need it to. (Watch TV and record it) I haven't tried to rewinding or anything yet, but I scheduled a few shows to record and it's done it well, so far. 

I'll have to mess around with automator or something to have the program launch, then record a show since I don't want it running all day.

But about image quality, I'm not sure. It's actually quite good. The difference between this and my prior ATI TVWonder pro is like night and day. I haven't been able to hook my PB to any external speakers, but headphones and the built in speakers are acceptable(not any worse than any other video I've run on the PB) 

For $150, and my uses, it's great. It has inputs for DV cam or other input device, and YES you can record it, then edit using whatever software and burn to a DVD or CD. It looks like it would be pretty easy, as switching sources is just at the push of a button. With USB 2.0 it's fast, and I've once had to just exit and restart the software because the audio seemed to misalign with the video, but other than that, I'm really happy with it.


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## krs (Mar 18, 2005)

Can you find you unit here:
http://www.hauppauge.com/html/products.htm

The part number on Future Shop's website doesn't match anything on Hauppages'.

I was wondering if they have a PCI equivalent.


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## khummsein (Sep 12, 2003)

Mugatu said:


> Had the EyeTV 300 for awhile. Software wasn't that hot and it was bloody expensive. For me the value was just not there. I'm planning on using the MythTV port for OS X when I finally settle on a tuner.


I don't think the recording portion of mythtv will work from a mac -- only the frontend. You'll have to set up a linux box with a tuner to connect to from your mac.

Just FYI.


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## monkey-boy (Sep 28, 2004)

Hey. The unit is the MyTV-PVR USB 2

http://www.hauppauge.com/html/wintvpvrusb2_datasheet.htm

They seemed to have raised the price on the USB unit by $50. But here is a PCI PVR version...

http://www.futureshop.ca/catalog/proddetail.asp?logon=&langid=EN&sku_id=0665000FS10057681&catid=

I'm not sure if that would be parallel to my unit or not, but it could be. You might want to check up to see if anyone's got it to work on the mac yet. I'm not sure if the eskape software would be compatible with it or what not.


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## gmark2000 (Jun 4, 2003)

This WinV-PVR USB2 is on sale at Staples this week for $149.99. If you pricematch with Future Shop or Best Buy, you can bring it down to $145.

My wife would kill me if I bought this for myself just before Christmas.


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## Script Kiddie (Jan 30, 2003)

monkey-boy, how much does it tax your CPU. Wondering what the minimum requrements are in practice.


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## Macified (Sep 18, 2003)

monkey-boy said:


> I'm not sure if the eskape software would be compatible with it or what not.


I doubt the Eskape Labs software will work. The new unit is made by ATI and is probably an updated version of the ATI TV Wonder USB. That was a great product under OS 9 but ATI never carried it to OS X.

I have a MyTV2Go. The old version and it runs okay on OS X but the software is somewhat flakey and the video quality is just okay.


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## gwillikers (Jun 19, 2003)

dona83 said:


> EyeTV 500 mmmm they just installed an HD transmitter on Mount Seymour so all Vancouver residents with a line of sight to Mount Seymour, git yer free HD


Hey dona83, can you tell me more about this. I live at the base of Mt. Seymour. How many channels are broadcast? And do you know if any of Shaw's digital channels are unencrypted? 

I'm wondering because the EyeTV 500 is a tad pricey, and if there are only a few channels available (either over the airwaves, or unencrypted from Shaw digital) it wouldn't likely be worthwhile. There's no cable TV tuner in the 500, so it's really somewhat limited.


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## Derrick (Dec 22, 2004)

I use the EyeTV Wonder USB ... I like it very much ... small footprint ... pretty good quality (dual 2.0 G5 helps) ... and they just updated the software to export to the iPod (version 1.8.4) ... it will also export to the PSP as well.

Price $229.


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## dona83 (Jun 26, 2005)

Currently it's CTV HD that has the antenna up there and it's basically almost the entire CTV lineup in HD. I don't know if there are any other stations broadcasting from that antenna, I highly doubt it. Sportsnet is not run by CTV anymore which is too bad.


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## ArtificiaLard (Feb 8, 2005)

*Plextor ConvertX for Mac?*

I really like the Plextor ConvertX for Mac. It costs quite a bit less than the EyeTV 200 (at last check 1-2 months ago) because it uses the standard Plextor USB 2.0 tuner and licenses the EyeTV software. It also has all of the same features: USB 2.0, hardware MPEG2 encoding, and also MPEG4 (DIVX) encoding which is really useful if you want to archive your shows in a space-efficient format.

The only thing it's missing is the remote but I don't feel like that's a huge omission. 

Macworld review

P.S. If you're shopping for this make sure you get the Mac version - the Windows version does not work with the Mac OS far as I know.


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## gwillikers (Jun 19, 2003)

dona83 said:


> Currently it's CTV HD that has the antenna up there and it's basically almost the entire CTV lineup in HD. I don't know if there are any other stations broadcasting from that antenna, I highly doubt it. Sportsnet is not run by CTV anymore which is too bad.


That alone almost makes getting an EyeTV 500 worthwhile. Too bad about Sportsnet, HD hockey would be nice. I was watching HD NFL on a recent trip to Regina, and it was unbelievably good. Thanks.


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## Derrick (Dec 22, 2004)

For those who want to record HD ... and have the Shaw box ... here you are:

http://macteens.com/index.php/features/fullstory/how_to_make_your_own_home_theatre_mac_htmac/

I have been using this for over a year ... works like a charm.


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## gmark2000 (Jun 4, 2003)

Derrick said:


> For those who want to record HD ... and have the Shaw box ...


How big are the files? How do you archive them?


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## Derrick (Dec 22, 2004)

gmark2000 said:


> How big are the files? How do you archive them?


They are m2t files which are playable with VLC ... as far as size ... approx 1 Gb for every 10 minutes of recording.


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