Elgato Eyetv 200 Digital Video Recorder (10020221)

by Elgato

Product Details

• Item Weight: 2 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 pounds
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B0007AB4WG
• Item model number: 10020221
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #107,971 in Electronics (See Top 100 in Electronics)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: January 5, 2005

Product Description

Box Contents: EyeTV200, software and PDF documentation, FireWire cable, IR remote, 2 AAA batteries, Quick Start Guide

EyeTV 200 is a digital TV recorder, receiver and video converter for your Mac. An integrated online TV guide (EPG) gives you control of your TV schedule, allowing you to program TV recordings to happen automatically even when you are not present. EyeTV will completely replace your VCR, storing hours of your favorite TV shows directly on your hard disk for you to watch whenever you want or archive to DVD. Do you have old VCR or Camcorder tapes? Use EyeTV 200 to convert them to digital video for easy editing on your Mac using EyeTV, iMovie HD, Final Cut Pro HD or Final Cut Express HD. EyeTV 200 encodes video in real-time to MPEG-2 and MPEG-4, making it easy to store on the Mac. MPEG-2 is a premium-quality video compression standard, which is the basis for DVD and digital television. MPEG-4 is a more advanced encoding format than MPEG-2, resulting in lower disk space usage at similar picture quality. MPEG-4 content can easily be re-encoded to make DVDs or Video CDs. It features Composite, S-Video and Stereo Audio connectors, allowing you to hook up video devices to EyeTV, such as VCRs, camcorders, DVD players or satellite receivers/cable box. Convert any video from these sources to MPEG-2 or MPEG-4 in real-time Stereo left/right output Connections - 2 FireWire, 1 Composite/RCA, S-Video, Antenna in, AC in Requires Mac OS X 10.2.8 or higher, 256MB memory, 2GB free hard drive space, QuickTime 6.4 Dimensions - 8.29 x 1.4 x 0.6 (21.08 x 3.55 x 15.50 cm) Weight - 0.9 lbs. (422g)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Pleasantly Surprised!! Wow..., July 25, 2005

By 

John (Colorado) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Elgato Eyetv 200 Digital Video Recorder (10020221) (Personal Computers)

Wow. Let me just say that this product exceeded my expectations. Right out of the box, it took me about 3 minutes to get everything plugged in and the software installed. I was watching TV on my Mac literally 5 minutes after it arrived at my door. The unit comes with a free subscription to the online TitanTV program guide. The TitanTV is half the reason I'm so excited about this product. It is freakishly easy to use and you can literally set it to record a program with one click. -ONE CLICK!!! The TitanTV service somehow syncs itself up with the EyeTV program and everything is very seamless, elegant, and EXTREMELY easy to use. I was completely blown away by how easy everything is. I was ready to sit down and take a while to read manuals, etc. and try to figure this sucker out, but there's really nothing to it!

The picture quality also surprised me. I am running it on a new iMac G5 (17", 1.8ghz, 1GB RAM, 64MB Graphics), and everything LOOKS GREAT! (even at full screen) I haven't recorded anything yet, but it does record at a lower resolution, so recorded shows will probably look slightly less stunning at full screen, but I have high hopes.

Overall, I am extremely pleased. And would recommend it to anyone who is already interested enough to read this review. BUY IT! You WILL NOT be disappointed! Do keep in mind, however, that results will vary depending on the machine you are running it on. My iMac does the job fine, but a G4 Mac might struggle a bit...

[EDIT] - I now use it on my PowerBook G4, no difference in picture - still GREAT!
[EDIT] - Recording looks great!

17 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Clarity depends on your signal, July 14, 2005

By 

M. Pilcher "mpilcher" (Cheyenne WY) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Elgato Eyetv 200 Digital Video Recorder (10020221) (Personal Computers)

I've had my EyeTv 200 for a couple of weeks now, and I've found that the clarity of the on-screen image is dependant upon your signal. I only have the regular TV stations that come in through an amplified TV antenna. The stations with a good signal are clear on the computer screen while those with weak signals are not so clear. Also, if you have problems with the TV signal for your regular TV then that problem may be amplified and look even worse with the EyeTv. Cable and satellite customers shouldn't have any problems with image quality or set up.

Set up is straight forward - no problems there, or with the software to make it work when you want. I had no problems getting it to work the first time through.

The EyeTv box itself does seem to get a little warm when left on, which is easy to do because the Fire-wire cable provides power to it. So, I don't set anything on top of it and give it a little extra space under my desk on a small shelf. Overall, a little better then I expected.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Better Than I Thought (revised review), May 6, 2006

By 

Paul S Boyer "docbnj" (Morristown, NJ USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Elgato Eyetv 200 Digital Video Recorder (10020221) (Personal Computers)

Well, now I can tell you something about computer TV recorders for the Mac, from actual experience. I have more experience, in fact, than I would like to have had.

First I got the myTV.PVR by Hauppauge, cheap (roughly $120). It ran, showing TV on my screen, and allowing channel selection for all our cable channels. It had a timer to catch programs, and I recorded a number of movies and a couple of Monk episodes. The movies had to be converted using a free online program in order to be recordable by Toast, and the synchronization between audio and video was imperfect. Then the unit began acting up: refusing to work, and seemingly messing up the hard drives. I talked to the company, and they admitted that they had received reports of a problem with overheating. Thereupon I ran the device with its case removed and a fan blowing on it, and it worked. I then replaced the case and attached an old computer fan for cooling, and it continued to work. Then, about a week ago, it died: it would not even turn on, and its indicator light would not glow. Kaput, dead, deceased.

So I ordered an EyeTV 200 (by Elgato) through Amazon.com for more than twice the cost of the first device, but still cheaper than at the Apple store, which did not have any available, anyway. It came today. It showed a much better picture, and could pick up TV schedules from the Internet. It uses FireWire to connect to the computer, which is a good idea. It also is designed to record according to a schedule you program; it also is said to convert VHS to digital. It appeared to be a much better device than the myTV.PVR.

I was about to recommend the EyeTV 200 with enthusiam, but then. ... it abruptly stopped receiving any channels. It would not even play VHS fed to it through the composite video port. It would play back video clips from the computer, though; so apparently its tuner and analog input system are dead.

I had the unit all packaged to return, when finally an email from the Elgato support arrived just in time, with a list of suggested cures for the problem. The one that worked was the old "trash the preferences" therapy. Now the EyeTV is working well, with a few minor software quirks which only add to its interest.

It is probably the only viable recording device of its kind for the Mac. The Canopus digitizers may be technically slightly better, but lack the TV tuning capability, and the ability to schedule recordings. So the EyeTV is the one.