Elgato Eyetv 200 Digital Video Recorder (10020221) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)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!

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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 inRequires 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)

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