EvolutionTV

It’s a little expensive, weighing in at $279 and shipping in mid-March, but the EvolutionTV is the newest addition to my ever-growing technolust list.  This coupled with an over-clocked Mac mini might just be my new entertainment hub. ElGato already has EyeTV out on the market as a competitor, but EvolutionTV has the added bonus of ripping the shows straight to MPEG-2/4 and DivX, along with TitanTV compatibility and iCal integrated scheduling. The straight-to-DivX option means I can record more shows on less disk space, which is great for mobile viewing on my 12-inch Powerbook, and its aluminum case will nicely match all of Apple’s current gear. Also, unlike my current PVR setup (using my ReplayTV box to capture shows and then transfering them to my Mac with mReplay), using EvolutionTV to convert the video directly to MPEG-4 means I can drag The O.C. directly over to iMovie 5 to edit out the commercials and burn to DVD, then I can make copies of the DVD and go sell the copies on the streets of Manhattan for $10 a pop....er, I mean, copy those shows on TV Land that will never be released on DVD...no, wait, I mean copy that educational show I saw on PBS over to a DVD after making a substantial donation to the continued funding of public broadcasting. *cough cough*