Log in

View Full Version : Review of Elgato EyeTV 500


Filip Norrgard
01-14-2005, 05:00 PM
<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.eff.org/broadcastflag/eyetv500.php' target='_blank'>http://www.eff.org/broadcastflag/eyetv500.php</a><br /><br /></div><i>"Macintosh owners, you've got a clear category-leading product to buy right now, if you're looking for a DTV solution that is not burdened by the FCC's broadcast flag restrictions. When it comes to the features that matter—the ability to easily and reliably receive, record, and play back DTV programs in the same open format in which they are broadcast (mpeg2 transport streams)—the EyeTV is truly the best-of-breed product currently available (as of November 2004) on any platform that we've encountered. For Mac owners eager to beat the broadcast flag mandate and able to afford the EyeTV's $350 price tag, your search is over. This is the product to buy."</i><br /><br /><img src="http://www.digitalmediathoughts.com/images/elgato500.jpg" /><br /><br />According to the reviewer, you might want to have a dual G5 Power Mac before buying the EyeTV 500 for premium quality HDTV viewing. Considering the 350$ price for the EyeTV and the sales price for a dual G5, it seems a bit expensive. Nonetheless, recording HDTV broadcasts is possible on all Macs alike and the lack of the broadcast flag *cough* <i>feature</i> might make this firewire baby worth buying. Or, what do you think? ;)

klinux
01-14-2005, 07:37 PM
Unfortunately, PCs have better HDTV (and cheaper) solutions and it is made worse by Apple not allowing access to hardware acceleration interfaces on the GPU. I had pretty good results playing back a 720p (could be 1080i) WMV movie on my mid-end single 2.x P4 with ATI 9600XT machine.