Filed under: Hardware
EyeTV Hybrid shrinks down, gains Win7 compatibility
Same price, same features (mostly) but a sleek and slender new look: yesterday Elgato introduced the latest revamp of its EyeTV Hybrid USB tuner for high-definition digital television. The US$150 widget gives you the option of watching over-the-air digital television in full HD glory, and can also tune in unencrypted (Clear QAM) and analog cable TV signals. If you've got an analog source like a VCR or videogame console, you can also route those signals through the EyeTV Hybrid to watch or play on your Mac (for those who don't need the analog option, Elgato also sells the HD tuner-only EyeTV One for $120).
The tuner ships with the EyeTV 3 software, enabling live TV, DVR functionality and shared recordings for your iPhone and iPod touch. With every new EyeTV Hybrid you get a one-year subscription to the TV Guide data feed, which provides full listings and enables the Smart Series recording feature; the software also can detect and display the embedded ATSC schedule information for broadcast shows. After the first year, re-upping with TV Guide will cost you $20.
Other than the slimmer profile, the major new feature on this model is the addition of driver support for Windows 7's Windows Media Center. Mac users may not care much, but this does let you use the same tuner if you're using Boot Camp, or you can loan it out to Windows-centric friends -- if you trust them to give it back.
You can check out our previous coverage and reviews of the EyeTV Hybrid for more.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Matt C said 2:22PM on 3-10-2010
Great.
Really expensive new hardware.
Same old crash-prone software.
I bought a Hauppage 950Q as it's bundled in a Nero liquidTV packge (~$35).
Bought the EyeTV software to run with it and it crashes on me at least three times a week.
A friend of mine has his 950Q plugged into his ION Win 7 machine, used Win7 media center and it is rock solid -- plus FREE (no additional cost for software or guide).
Ummmm, Apple, when are you getting in the TV tuner support game?
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almbernie said 2:28PM on 3-10-2010
I have EyeTV software and works flawlessly on my mac mini. No issues and I have been using it for over 2 years.
mr. Obsession said 2:31PM on 3-10-2010
No problems over here with performance, either - EyeTV has been running 24/7 on my Mini for a couple of years now with zero problems.
Which isn't to say that El Gato is perfect. They got super-shady last year and started charging people for features that were already built into the program (the live TV guide).
That was low.
Mr Lizard said 4:19PM on 3-10-2010
"Ummmm, Apple, when are you getting in the TV tuner support game?"
When they get bored with the iTunes store they'll jump right on that bandwagon!
J Dogg said 1:14AM on 3-11-2010
Anybody know if this has "issues" with the file size of the recorded show? I read that it was very big (over 1GB) for a half hour show. I am looking for a low-cost/easy solution for OTA HD with a TV antenna. I usually stream TV show files from my Mac Mini's external hard drive to my Xbox 360 using Connect 360. Thanks.
sokanomx said 2:31PM on 3-10-2010
I have been using an EyeTV for about a year on a suped-up mac mini.
I have crashes, aspect ratio issues, and freezing issues all the time.
I do however not have to pay comcast for all their channels and are much happier for that reason.
I do wish the software was more stable.
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chirho said 2:38PM on 3-10-2010
I use to use EyeTV on my 3.06ghz iMac but it was just crash after crash. Not a friendly mac like crash, either. I had to reboot every time or Eyetv wouldn't open again.
I've just gone back to good old normal seperate telly. It's nice having always working TV again :)
if iTunes had built in tuner support which didn't crash, I'd go back to a plug in tuner immediately!!
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Jordan said 5:03PM on 5-08-2010
No problems after 9 months of Eyetv on my mac mini. Maybe one or two crashes max.
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Sham The Sam said 7:11PM on 3-10-2010
They dropped FM radio support, dudes.
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Martin said 4:42PM on 3-11-2010
No way, brah
pagod said 8:23AM on 3-11-2010
I bought the EyeTV Hybrid about 1 month ago for the olympics, used it with the EyeTV Software 3 on my iMac 27" i5, my MacBook Unibody (both Snow Leopard) and now installed it for good on my Mac Mini 1.83GHz (Leopard), not one issue whatsoever. I'm only using the analog cable channels cos I'm definitely not paying extra for TV, but even for the little use I have of it I think the CHF 180.- are worth it, now I have a slim and apparently stable solution running on my server (i.e. I could *not* cope with any kind of crashes) and I can watch the occasional ice hockey game on the attached 80" screen. Works for me! :-)
Slimmer design for the receiver is probably nice, then again the previous version wasn't that huge either and offered some flexibility, being attached to a 10" USB cable.
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digitalsedition said 5:56PM on 3-11-2010
I'm actually surprised at all the reports of crashed. I plugged mine into a Mac Pro over a year ago, cabled it to a Comcast line, and haven't looked back. The ONLY issue I've had recently is that Comcast upgraded their signal so now you need a box and I don't see a way to get the EyeTV to sync with the Comcast box so I'm no longer able to use it as a DVR.
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