TV on my Mac?

filter888 · Feb 16, 2008

Hi all,
Newby here, Probably get asked this lots but I want to put my shiny new 24" imac on my kitchen counter and watch ExpressVu televison on it using my UHF remote to change channels. Don't need anything fancy like HD or PVR just want to plug my coax into my mac and use it like a TV. What is the best & cheapest most compact option? What program should I run to watch it and what hardware should I use? I look forward to your responses and hope I can help out now and then too. Thanks!!!

TWM · Feb 16, 2008

I was also wondering the same thing...

bryphotoguy · Feb 17, 2008

ElGato

Montie Da Champ · Feb 17, 2008

EyeTV Hybrid, get it off eBay for less than elgato sells it

kfordham281 · Feb 17, 2008

Get the cheapest Elgato product and you should be set. I have the hybrid and it's as simple as plugging in the coax cable.

rsreid2000 · Feb 20, 2008

Just bought the Elgato for £38 and for my Imac and it runs fantastic. Blown away by the facilities built into to it. (FreeView, Records, EPG). Sits on the kitchen table and has saved me buying a TV.

drgrafix · Feb 20, 2008

Here in the USA, it'll be a good solution until next February 9th. After that, there are no analog signals, just digital... and this device can only capture OTA digital signals so you need to have a separate digital antenna and you'll get whatever network locals are being broadcast OTA. If you have a DTV setup, you might be able to use the breakout cable to connect to the set top box although some DTV receivers can't output to more than one device at the same time.

Digital TV delivered via cable needs a different type of tuner, so if you want ESPN, HBO, CNN, and others... you'd need a STB and output that signal into the EyeTV device.

The minute that somebody produces a reasonably priced (under $100) little devil like this that _HAS_ a ATSC tuner built-in, I will definitely buy one as I would like 200 digital/HD channels as opposed to four.

nextmac · Feb 23, 2008

Check out Hauppauge's line of USB tuners. NTSC/ATSC capable and very affordable.

For example, their WINTV-HVR-950 claims to work with Mac:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815116017

I don't have this particular tuner so I can't vouch for how well it works. But I do have a different model in a (ahem) PC and it works great. gets ATSC channels as well as regular NTSC stuff. I even hooked up my at&t U-verse tuner through it.

drgrafix · Feb 24, 2008

I received my EyeTV 250 Plus yesterday and it was fairly easy to install. I had ordered this particular model because it will tune digital cable channels and supposedly work with set top boxes as well. I don't know if it works with Direct TV or Dish Network boxes.

I subscribe to comcast's digital cable package and when I installed the device, I got all my analog channels plus a few digital and a few HD channels. I emailed Elgato asking how I go about forcing the system to show all the channels currently in my cable stream, but I haven't heard back. One of my TVs has a cable card, and I have a comcast STB connected to the other. The HD content shows up nicely on my 24" iMac, but I'm only getting about 5 of the roughly two dozen that are on my TV. Likewise, I get about 12 digital channels out of the 60 or so I'm getting on the TVs.

If there are any other EyeTV 250+ users out there, maybe you can share your experiences with us.

Aptmunich · Feb 24, 2008

If you have to buy Elgato make sure you enter a typo in the url:
http://www.elgato.com/elgato/int/404.en.html

drgrafix · Feb 25, 2008

That's not a bad deal, but there are actually as good or better deals from authorized dealers on eBay. BTW, I still haven't heard from ElGato re my questions on manually adding channels.

Mac_Biodiesel · Mar 5, 2008

nextmac said:
Check out Hauppauge's line of USB tuners. NTSC/ATSC capable and very affordable.

For example, their WINTV-HVR-950 claims to work with Mac:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815116017

I don't have this particular tuner so I can't vouch for how well it works. But I do have a different model in a (ahem) PC and it works great. gets ATSC channels as well as regular NTSC stuff. I even hooked up my at&t U-verse tuner through it.

Actually, I'm not sure the 950 works with the Mac. I think you need the 1145 for that. It's confusing, but that's what I get from reading this:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000RHVOJM/?tag=macforums0e4-20

Product Description
Hauppauge's 1145 MyTV.HD TV Stick for Mac is a USB 2.0 TV Stick with a Hybrid TV tuner receiver for both NTSC cable analog or over-the-air ATSC hi-definition digital TV. Watch and record television on a Mac desktop, notebook or laptop computer. It's Pocket Size form factor makes it the perfect traveling companion for use with Mac notebook computers. Ships with standing portable telescoping antenna. Compatible with Apple Mac Intel processor or PowerPC G5 or faster CPU. OS X version 10.4 or later.

Product Description
WinTV-HVR-950 brings analog cable TV and over-the-air ATSC digital TV to your PC or laptop! Watch and record TV in a window or full screen using high quality MPEG-2. Use the WinTV-Scheduler to record you favorite analog or digital TV shows. Play your TV recordings back to your screen any time.WinTV-HVR-950 is easy to install. Just plug it into your PC or laptops' USB 2.0 port and connect a cable TV or a TV antenna. Load the software from an installation CD and you're ready to start watching analog or ATSC digital TV on your PC or laptop screen. WinTV-HVR-950 also includes a portable digital antenna, so you can receive digital TV while you travel!ATSC digital TV brings you sharper pictures and enriches your PC's multimedia experience with near CD quality sound. WinTV-HVR-950's ATSC digital TV receiver adds great features to your TV viewing: high definition TV reception, automatic identification of channel names plus records high-definition digital TV programs to your PC's hard disk in an MPEG-2 format without losing quality.You're prepared for the future. If you live in an area where you can't currently receive ATSC digital TV, the WinTV-HVR-950 can still be used to watch and record analog TV from cable TV or a TV antenna. But you are prepared for the future! When ATSC digital TV comes to your area, WinTV-HVR-950 will also receive the new digital TV channels.Digital video recorder, too! Record your favorite analog or digital TV shows with one simple click. You can also use the WinTV-Scheduler to schedule your TV recordings on a daily, weekly or once only schedule.

I need to transfer VHS tapes to my MBP so I can burn them onto DVD. I don't really expect to watch TV on my Mac, but you never know. I'm not sure which device to get. There are so many! Elgato Hybrid, TV Micro, Hauppauge, etc. I don't want to spend too much, but I also don't want to get a piece of garbage.