Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Video, iMac
Who needs a TV when you have a Mac?
We've talked about this before on TUAW, but Scott Stevenson's latest post titled, 'The iMac is My TV and Stereo,' got me thinking about it once more. My Mac stores all my music, so it is my stereo, but can you replace your TV with your Mac? Now, in Scott's case it was easy since he only watches two shows, one of which is available on iTunes. However, I watch a few shows on a regular basis some of which aren't available online (legally, that is). It is tempting to cancel my cable, but I don't think I can do it.
Has anyone out there kidded their TV to the curb and embraced the 'a Mac is all I need' philosophy?
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)
boB Rudis said 3:05PM on 10-04-2006
No cable or satellite. iTunes and torrents for what we watch (and that's pretty much down to Lost in terms of TV at this point). The rest is either movies (DVDs) or gaming or surfing or (gasp!) reading a book or two.
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Mark said 3:41PM on 10-04-2006
Absolutely. Haven't had cable in 2 years. A 23" LCD plus a Power Mac and zip.ca. No commercials!
News.google.ca and other various news sites provide the daily dose of disaster news as well.
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webgdawg said 4:10PM on 10-04-2006
I have an iMac/Miglia/EyeTV setup in the kitchen. It is my all in one Computer/Stero/TV/PVR and works great.
I still operate on standard cable so no additional set top box is needed...
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Arthur Dayne said 3:12PM on 10-04-2006
Totaly oftopic---------------
OMG!! have anyone seen what's in www.macintosh.fr?
its about a new computer, the iOne it's advertised as "the first apple multiplatform computer"
(nice design)
----------------------------
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Chris said 3:14PM on 10-04-2006
My MacBook is everything. I word process on it, edit on it, watch tv on it (Elgato EyeTV for DTT stick). Literally, i just use my MacBook for everything. Hook up some good quality speakers when I'm home and its my TV, Hi Fi and Play Station.
I'm at university, and its much cheaper and more convenient than buying loads of other appliances.
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realityking said 3:13PM on 10-04-2006
At least in my room (I'm a student and live by my parents) there has never been a tv and there hasn't been a stero for years, it has all been done by my pc and in the near future my Mac is going to do it. Just get a TV Tuner from Elgato and your fine ;)
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Elliot said 3:14PM on 10-04-2006
Hell yes. My iMac G5 is hooked up directly to my stereo's aux in, and we watch anything that we want to see (maybe two movies a month, and an occasional Daily Show or Colbert Report) on the mac as well.
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jOe said 3:14PM on 10-04-2006
dido to number boB.
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_erock said 3:15PM on 10-04-2006
All I have to say is Mac Pro w/ a DVI to HDMI cable and EyeTV hooked onto it plugged into my 56" Toshiba DLP Television. Pioneer Stereo w/ optical audio plugged into the Mac Pro.
Rock on.
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Danny said 5:59AM on 10-05-2006
yeah just by an eyeTV....thats what im about to do.....its gonna work wonders......elgato.com
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Donald Burr said 3:18PM on 10-04-2006
With the release of the new 24" iMac, this scenario (replacing TV and stereo with a Mac) is almost feasible. Used to be that 24" was a good sized screen for a small room or apartment (we still have 27" TVs in our living room and bedroom). With Front Row, you can watch and listen to all of your media, including TV shows (and now movies) from the iTunes Store. And to solve the cable issue, just get yourself an EyeTV - that's what I use, and it works quite well. The latest version of the EyeTV software even works with the Apple Remote, giving you a Front Row-like interface to watching both live and recorded programming.
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hugacrv said 5:14PM on 10-04-2006
I lived in NYC for 2 years (small studio apt.) and had to ditch my bulkier gadgets... my G4 iMac served as a DVD player, stereo, and alarm clock in addition to all the other applications. No TV so I watched sports at the bar downstairs.
Though I love my big HDTV home theater and other miscellaneous gadgetry, I do miss my all-in-one Mac truly living up to that description.
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smockman said 3:24PM on 10-04-2006
Hell no!! How would I watch live sports?!?
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Mark D. said 3:25PM on 10-04-2006
Maybe if I had a mac-compatible usb2 tv-tuner, then an iMac could replace everything (and those remote remapper programs would be a nice icing on that cake.) I enjoy the background noise/information/entertainment of TV when I'm working so the tuner is really the bigger selling point over media integration for me (and partially the reason I have a pci tuner in my desktop pc, the other reason is recording.)
Of course until I pony up the cash for both the tuner and the massive iMac (and with 24 inches available there's no excuse for anything less) I'll be sticking with my TV/PC and MBP. Here's hoping, though!
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Pilster said 3:27PM on 10-04-2006
Back in the stoneage I used a Performa 5320. This shipped with a TV tuner built in AND an IR remote for proper couch potato behaviors. I still have it gathering dust in the spare room. It was all my entertainments. TV, CD player. Ugly, bulky and beige, granted, but it beat the new iMacs for out of the box home entertainment...back then...in the stoneage...
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Angel said 3:31PM on 10-04-2006
I watch a lot of TV on my Macbook (hooked up to a 24 inch Dell monitor), but in no way shape or form can it replace my home theater or even my 32in HDTV. But it has allowed me to watch more shows than average since I can now watch them while I do other things.
Also, like someone else said...live sports are a must for my husband.
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Deuce said 3:34PM on 10-04-2006
Not until all Football and Baseball games are on the net. mlb.com still restricts certain games, nationally broadcast ones and not football. That's all I need besides SportsCenter and Comedy Central. With 10Mbps, why not?
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Paul D said 3:36PM on 10-04-2006
After the post on digg yesterday of the means to turn Democracy into an auto-downloading machine via TV-RSS feeds, I plan to cancel my cable within this billing cycle!
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doug Gray said 3:38PM on 10-04-2006
Did it for 2 years on a imac G5, comcast cable box, elgato 200. just switched to a samsung 32 flat panel, on HDMI is the cable box, the other, a mac mini - everything except the audio and myriad of remotes is great. better than the imac solution.
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Jim Parsons said 3:44PM on 10-04-2006
A MacBook Pro (HD screen), a Miglia USB MiniTV HDTV receiver (terrestrial HD signals / a great UI on their software) with a 300GB external drive for storage, 275GB of iTunes (on a 2nd external drive) and a set of 500 Watt Logitech Z-5500 Dolby/DTS self powered speakers (AirTunes via AirportExpress when needed) get me right where I want to be entertainment wise. The HDTV signal strength is awesome from the 27th floor in downtown Toronto and who needs more than PBS and "The Daily Show" / "Colbert Report" combo? All I need now is an HDTV projector and I'm done ;-)
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