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EyeTV DVR

The EyeTV Digital Video Recorder by Elgato Systems is quite a cool little device, from the looks of it.

It’s a small box that attaches to the Mac via the USB port, and to your TV via the standard Coaxial cable, or the RCA inputs. The device allows you to watch live cable tv (or broadcast, or satellite) TV on your Mac, as well as providing TiVo like functions such as pause, fast forward, record and rewinding of live TV. You can also plug your analog camcorder, video game console, VCR, or other RCA jack capable device into the RCA jacks, and record from those devices as well. The only problem with this is that there is a 1.5 second delay in recording, so you’d probably die pretty quickly if you tried to record gameplay footage from your GameCube. But hell, I’ll probably try it anyway.

There are no montly subscription fees like there are with TiVo, which is the main thing keeping me from buying a device like TiVo. I just can’t justify paying a monthly fee for cable, a monthly fee for Netflix, and a monthly fee to record live TV.

You can record shows with the click of a button after finding it in the online guide at TitanTV. However some of the reviews I’ve read said this service is slow and buggy, plus it only works with EyeTV directly if you use Internet Explorer. And I am planning on using Safari or Camino when I get a Mac, not Internet Explorer. Another option is to use Watson (see the TV listing screen in Watson) to do your scheduling and browsing, which is the best idea yet. I’ve never used Watson, but I love the idea of it, and the interface for browsing the TV listings looks great. After finding a show you want to record, just hit the watch or record button in Watson, and it will automatically setup EyeTV for you.

After recording shows with EyeTV, you either leave them in EyeTV format to view in the EyeTV format, or export them to Quicktime files to be viewed on any Mac. You can also burn them onto a VCD with Roxio’s Toast, and watch them on most home DVD players. There is also a way to export the video to iDVD to make full DVD’s, though this process is much more complicated than burning normal VCD’s and requires third-party programs to work.

The EyeTV software is also compatible with the Keyspan Digital Media Remote, allowing you to change channels, change the volume etc, from across the room.

The new version of the EyeTV software even allows for simple editing, which lets you easily crop out commercials or save only a snippet of an on-air interview or your favorite sports play.

Elgato Systems even recommends using the QCast tuner to broadcast the video from your Mac to your PS2 wirelessly! This would allow you to have your Mac sitting in your office, but watch the recorded TV shows through your PS2 in the living room. Technology is amazing…

All of that for only $200 seems like a pretty darn good deal to me.

I totally dig the idea of being able to stream media wirelessly from a Mac in one room and receive it in any other room with QCast and a PS2 ( sorta like AirPort Express and iTunes), but how would you control the tracks, etc. if you’re in the “other room” away from your Mac? The Keyspan Digital Media Remote sounds like it would work granted there’s a clear path to aim back at your Mac but if you have walls or cordless phones, you might be out of luck and thereby defeat the full convenience of a wireless network.

If I’m wrong or if there’s a solution, please enlighten me.

Thanks.

Curious