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EFF Reviews HDTV PVR Solution for Mac
enrico_suave points out this "PVRBlog post about EFF's Review of Elgato's EyeTV 500, an HDTV solution for the Mac. Well, a very speedy dual-processor G5 Mac, apparently. The Electronic Frontier Foundation has been doing a lot of important work defending our online and digital rights including opposing the dreaded FCC mandated broadcast flag (cue boos and hisses) Elgato and Plextor also have a Standard Definition homebrew PVR solution with an EyeTV and ConvertX PVR bundle (Wired review)." (See also this earlier review from a Slashdot reader.)
On Monday, comcast will install a $10 a month PVR with dual tuner and one that can record 15 hours of HDTV and 60 of regular TV. Why should I invest in a dual G5 power mac and an additional $350 to basically get the same functionality.
Well, that's a fine idea ... so it's probably illegal (in the US). In fact, such a box would constitute a "circumvention device" wich is, as far as I have understood, exactly the thing you're not allowed to have. Bah.
Glad I live in Europe.
"Good news, everyone!"
just think about not only being able to connect your iPod or DV camcorder or digital camera or flash media reader, but third party peripherals like this HDTV tuner to it. and it all being networked!
<--#insert file="witty.sig"--
I wouldn't be rejoicing just yet, you live under a central near-totalitarian government called the "European Union" that can pass any laws it wishes against your country, including laws that are just as bad if not worse than the ones currently enacted in the U.S. Its like the U.N. with relevance, and anytime a central power has control over other smaller powers there is a very real possibility for abuse that is very difficult to stop.
Why do you need such a great CPU? The article says it's because the hidef MPEG2 content is decoded in software. Huh? I though graphics cards started doing MPEG2 assist and later complete MPEG2 decoding years ago? It that feature just not in the drivers, or was it dropped due to cost and faster CPUs? Guess you should budget in some more for an MPEG2 decoder card, but they are not easy to find anymore (at least not as easy as they were), they tend to require passthrough (I've never seen pass-through DVI, and would it handle dual link for 30" screens?), etc. Seems like a big problem.
Only an antenna? If this thing can record HD and SD content (as long as it's digital), why not give it an HDMI connector so I could record off equiptment that has HDMI out? Or give it a DVI in for recording off that? Just an antenna seems.... measly.
Interesting though. The CPU problem is not as bad as it sounds considering how many people would currently want to use their computer to timeshift full glory HD content. If you have the TV and such for that and you can afford this box, you can probably afford a computer to play the file (or at least an MEPG2 decoder card).
Comment forecast: Bits of genius surrounded by a sea of mediocrity.
There is no reason for FCC to mandate broadcast flags! The FCC mandate is to keep broad casters spectrums form overlapping, and in the good old days it made sure news coverage of elections was actually fair and balanced note sarcasm here. Their purpose never was and never should be to impose big brothers will of what we watch and when we watch it. I'm sick of the government forcing the will of a large corporation on individual citizens. I'm just waiting for trusted computing to delete this before I can post it. Well that is my rant for today. Someone else get off the ass a take back out government will you. I've signed EFF until I'm blue in the face and it seems liek no matter what the corperation layer have more money and energy and find a new way around.
> Getting a good signal, on the other hand, is a problem. Does anybody have reccomendations on what Antenna to buy? I live in Berkeley, so the signal I'm getting is coming from San Francisco, which is across the bay. ~20 miles...
20 miles across the bay should be pretty good for reception.. not too many obstructions.
Most stations broadcast from Mt. Sutro, and all locals but KNTV (NBC 11/12) are UHF.
I have had good results with are the Radio Shack Double Bowtie indoor antenna (it's not carried in-store anymore, but they can special order it for you. It's only ~$15)
If you can put up an outdoor antenna (even just tacked up on a balcony) the ChannelMaster 4228 four bay bowtie works great for a lot of people.
Many people like the Silver Sensor indoor antenna. It's a very directional UHF antenna. But, it didn't work well for me in Mountain View.
I have also heard that the Winegard Square Shooter is good. But, I have no direct experience with it.
Yeah, but.. the screen on your 12" PB is only 1024x768, which is way smaller than "full frame" for HDTV. Have you tried outputting to a larger monitor or (ideally) an actual HDTV?
Aldo, Elgato's site says Dolby Digital 5.1 sound output is only possible on a dual G5. Does anyone know if any other machines (esp. an iMac G5) can simply pass the DD stream somehow?
Thanks
Justin
"Why would God give us a waist if we wasn't supposed to rest our pants on it?" - Rev. Roy McDaniels
I'm curious, how do you know he doesn't have a 17" PB?
Rick