Customer Reviews

Eyetv 250 Plus

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

The EyeTV 250 Plus is a great little gizmo. It basically turns your Mac into a Tivo, with the ability to record as many TV shows as you can fit on your hard drive(s). The editing feature is easy to use -- it takes only a couple of minutes to remove all the commercials from a one-hour TV show.

Even though it comes with a remote control, I use the computer interface exclusively, as it is faster and provides access to every feature (also, I noticed that the IR input on the EyeTV box was picking up signals from other remotes, so I ended up covering it with a small piece of tape).

Recorded shows can be exported in a variety of formats, or can be left in their native MPEG-2 format for burning to DVD without any intermediate transcoding. The EyeTV comes with Toast Basic, which I have found to be good enough for my needs. With Toast, I can burn multiple recordings to a single DVD, with a main menu similar to what you get on a commercial DVD.

I wanted something that would alow me to both watch basic cable television on my computer and archive old hi-8 tapes. Elgato makes this very easy to do with the eyetv 250. I was able to record the entire tape with the included software and then select clips of that recording to export into different formats. While I was recording a new tape onto the computer I was able to export a previous recording into different file formats. This allowed the entire process of archiving our hi-8 tapes go much quicker.

The program guide is also a huge improvement from what I was using with my PC. I had been using an Adaptec product for the PC that did the same thing but was not nearly as user friendly. The eyetv 250 is much easier to use and like everything I have added to my new iMac it just works.

I bought this item for use on a Mac Mini with 1.83 C2D processor, 2GB RAM, 80GB HD and running Mac OSX Leopard. If you plan on using this product to archive movies and TV shows, make sure you have plenty of hard drive space. At DVD quality, a 30 minute TV show takes over 1GB of storage. This is not the highest quality recording method available to you in EyeTV, there is one level higher. You can lower the quality to create smaller files however.

The recording process has minimal impact on processor usage on my relatively slow Mini. If you plan on exporting the movies to MP4 format for AppleTV or an iPod it would be wise to also purchase Elgato's Turbo.264 to accelerate the processing and to relieve your computer CPU of the task. The Turbo.264 is basically a coprocessor that plugs into a USB port. As I mentioned above recording and storage to MPG2 really has no significant impact on the processor as the MPG encoding is done on the EyeTV hardware. The optional MP4 conversion for use with AppleTV and iPod video takes a great deal of processor time and resources. With the Turbo.264 installed I don't really notice that I am converting to MP4. The EyeTV software automatically sees and makes use of the Turbo.264 so it's transparent to the user.

At the time I ordered it there where still older versions of this product in the pipeline. The latest version of the hardware has an option to view broadcast HD TV, so if you are going to need that feature make sure the latest version ships from the supplier. I received last years version. Not a big deal to me as far as the hardware goes, but I did want the latest version of the EyeTV software, which is version 3. What I received is version 2. For recent purchasers of EyeTV you can download the update for free, but you have to send Elgato a scanned copy of your receipt (via their web site) to get access to it or possess a special upgrade coupon (supposed to be supplied with the hardware). Mine was old enough to not have the coupon, but the web site process was easy and quick. I had the latest version in less then 4 hours from the time I made the request on the ElGato website. I also discovered that the package I got did not include Toast Basic. I shot an email to Elgato and had Toast Basic installed a couple of hours later. Very good support as far as I can see so far.

The product works as advertised, is easy to install and use. Channel changing is fast, image quality very good,

The Eye TV software is very intuitive, easy to use and fast. On thing I have had happen on more then one occasion is a failure to record a scheduled show. Most of the time everything is fine, but once in a while I see an error message and a show that does not record. Could be because I am using an external Firewire drive to store the movies (MyBook 500GB). The drive goes to sleep after 10 minutes of idle time, so it could just be a timeout as the software waits for the drive to wake up. I should add that my Mac is on 24/7. I have gotten in the habit of shutting down the EyeTV software when I am not using it and noted that the problem goes away. EyeTV automatically starts launches when a recording is scheduled and when it does it accesses the drive where I am storing the movies, and wakes the drive before the recording starts.

Aside from that it works perfectly and I feel it was money well spent.

I've been using a Dish PVR and a TiVo for SDTV, and I am transitioning to HDTV and wanted the ability to record HDTV off the air (and to watch SD signals from the other boxes while working on my new Mac Mini). I chose the EyeTV 250 Plus over the EyeTV Hybrid, because I wanted to offload as much work as possible from the Mac Mini (which has the wheaties to do it itself, but if for only $60 more I can offload...). I presume the user interface presented is the same (very easy to use and intuitive, as it is the same software). The TiVo is still the gold standard UI in my book, but the EyeTV ranks close to it and well over the Dish PVR (old admittedly, I still have a 508).

The only complaint I've had is that some programs recorded from the local PBS affiliate have been glitchy, and I suspect it is a problem at their end as they compress their HD signal more, and have 2 SD side channels riding with the HD. Recordings from the ABC, CBS, and NBC affiliates have been flawless so far.

SD signals displayed on my HDTV at greater than original resolution will show artifacts (at least until I get some kind of upconverter) whether they come through my EyeTV 250 Plus into my Mac and in via HDMI or directly (via S-video).

I was happy with all but the quality of the picture. But that turned out to be at my end. I added a good quality drop amp and the picture cleared up beautifully. BTW - that was suggested n the documentation. I like the features very much. Good bang for the buck.

I bought EyeTV knowing that my "TV-on-a-Mac" needs were simple. I didn't need "component video and HDTV and 1080 progressive scan" and whatnot. I just needed the EyeTV to connect to my cable service (analog, no HDTV), connect to my MacBook G4 or my MacMini G4, and play TV on my Apple Cinema Display.

After about a week of ownership I think the EyeTV has been fantastic. It was extremely easy to set up, and within minutes I had TV on my Mac. The TV feed is buffered, so (just like a DVR/Tivo), you can watch live TV and skip commercials. You can set the viewing window size from small (put it in a corner and watch while you work) to full screen (forget work, just goof off!)

Scheduling recordings is very easy due to a link to a service (Titan) that maintains current TV schedules. You can schedule shows to be recorded from anywhere you have an Internet connection by signing in to your Titan account (free). Your scheduling choices will be transferred to your Mac if it is connected to the Internet. You can even have the recording software wake your computer, or even start it (if you allow auto log-in), when it's time to record. There is a basic video editor, helpful for removing commercials from your recorded material. You can also take screen shots.

Multiple export options are available, and while I haven't tried them all, I did try exporting to a QuickTime Movie format. It may be that the G4 processor is too slow, but the conversion took...3 DAYS. I tried exporting to MPEG and the same thing. Toast software is included for burning to DVDs, but I don't have a DVD burner to test that. A remote control is included, although I sit at my Mac, so I don't need it.

Bottom line: I love this device/software combo and think it's a good value.
Why 4 instead of 5 stars? The picture quality is only "good." Good enough for TV watching, but definitely not like watching a DVD. And based on my G4 processor - forget about converting formats.

I had the original Eye 250 and was extremely happy with it. Unfortunately it died on me after I moved my office. I don't know if there was a power surge, defective part or what. I plugged it in, smelled a burning smell and it was dead. Fortunately I was within my one year warrenty so I contacted Elgato support.

You want to talk about stellar customer service, I emailed them all the information that they requested in the warrenty and they got back to me within 24 hours with return instructions. I followed their instructions, shipped back the defective unit and posted the tracking number on their online ticketing system. 10 days later I plug in an EyeTV 250 Plus and was good to go. The software kept all my settings in place including my scheduled recordings. I was watching the news on my iPhone on the train the very next day.

The bottom line is this is the best TV tuner for the Mac, it comes with powerful and easy to use software, and they have excellent service and stand by their product. I plug in my iPhone and all my TV shows sync to it...my 2 hour round trip on the train is a whole lot better because of this product.

I was trying to decide between a cheap VCR and the EyeTV, and went for the latter. If I had it to do over again, I'd probably just get the cheap VCR. On a number of occasions the software has given me hassles and caused me to waste precious free time dealing with it. The biggest problem has been the software losing its configuration so that it cannot display the crucial "Program Guide". Even before Leopard I had this and other problems occasionally, as well as failures to record for no explained reason, but with the upgrade to Leopard problems are now constant.

Just because their website and packaging look nice, don't assume this is going to work as reliably as iPhoto or the other Apple software often has.

The thing to consider is: do I need another piece of software and hardware on my Mac that I'm going to have to deal with when upgrading the OS, hassle with configuring, going to their website, etc. How much do I really need to record TV shows and work with TV on my Mac anyhow? Can I ask the person in my family who wants this to just use a cheap regular VCR?

Easy to install and use. Worked great at helping me transfer my VHS tapes to DVD. I wish it had more input options, like component, HDMI, etc. for other uses down the road, but it works great for VHS transfers which was my main objective.

I've had the Eyetv 250 plus on my iMac for about one month. It was easy to hook up and the onscreen interface is easy to use and you can record something you see in the upcoming programming with two clicks. I have the screen up in the corner for business news but can go full screen (24"iMac is the bomb)very easily.

It does not have the resolution of watching a DVD , but it gets the job done.