Eyetv 250 Plus

Manufacturer: Elgato Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours List Price:$304.43 Our Price:$194.99 Features: Watch TV on your Mac Rewind, fast forward, and pause live HDTV Browse EyeTV menus in Full Screen mode with an Apple Remote Record hours of your favorite TV shows directly on your hard drive and edit out unwanted content Find TV shows and schedule recordings using the built-in Program Guide from TitanTV in the USA Description:

Reviews:

EyeTV 250 replaced with an Eye250 Plus
I had the original eye 250 and was extremely happy with him. Unfortunately he died on me after I moved my office. I do not know if there were a sudden rise of power, defective part or what. I connected it, felt an extreme odor and she had died. Fortunately I was in my one year warrenty thus I came into contact with the support of Elgato. You want to speak about the service to the stellar customers, I emailed the all information which they asked in the warrenty and they obtained again with me within 24 hour with the instructions of return. I followed their instructions, embarked the defective unit behind and announced the number of advance on their system of labelling on line. 10 days later I connect positive EyeTV 250 and was good to go. The software kept all my arrangements places from there including/understanding my programmed recordings. I very observed the news on my iPhone on the train the next day. The lower result is this is the best tuner of TV for the imper, it comes with powerful and easy to employ the software, and they have excel it service and are held ready their product. I connect my iPhone and all my synchro of exposures of TV to it... my round voyage 2 hours on the train is a whole fate better because of this product.


Great Poduct!
I've been using Eyetv 250 Plus for about 3 months and I must say it's a terrific Mac gadget. I recorded shows from analog cable as well as over-the-air HDTV flawlessly. The picture quality is excellent. I'm especially impressed with the online program guide and ease of use in general (e.g. installation, scheduling recordings, burning to DVD, etc.). The one thing that I wish is a better integration with Apple remote, as I'm constantly trying to minimize the number of remotes on the coffee table. Overall, Eyetv 250 Plus has been a great addition to my mac mini which I use as a media center connected to a plasma TV.

Pros:
- Analog/Digital tuner
- On board hardware processor
- Small size and quality build
- Ease of use with good functionality
- Good integration with OS X

Cons:
- This is a very minor annoyance. In full screen mode, "Exit" option from the top menu appears only when it starts for the first time and then disappears subsequently. This may be addressed in the new Eyetv 3 software (I'll test it tonight).



Awesome!
Works great. I love the hardware encoding so you don't use up CPU cycles. Built in video editor. Exports easily to itunes.


Great product for my simple needs



My uber-gadget
Elgato's EyeTV has become the most cherished and indispensable of my Mac gadgets. It enables me to watch and record TV programs, as well as to digitize my irreplaceable VHS clips. The software and hardware are elegant and straightforward. One of the rare products that does just what it says it will do.


Good, but not great
It is an interesting toy, but it video on my new iMac does not blow me party and the menus are so-so right with below the average. I like it, but does not like it. I had high hopes.


Worked great for transferring VHS to DVD
Easy to install and use. Worked great at helping me transfer my VHS tapes to DVD. I wish it had more input options, like component, HDMI, etc. for other uses down the road, but it works great for VHS transfers which was my main objective.


Buggy software ruins it for me



Performs as advertised
I've had the Eyetv 250 plus on my iMac for about one month. It was easy to hook up and the onscreen interface is easy to use and you can record something you see in the upcoming programming with two clicks. I have the screen up in the corner for business news but can go full screen (24"iMac is the bomb)very easily.

It does not have the resolution of watching a DVD , but it gets the job done.








AWESOME!!!!
It is a so fresh product with a nice quantity of options on the video of food in the imper. I could move some things of old VHS to a nice sure format of dvd. Prend a certain time to export the visual file for the use in the iMovie and the iDVD, but in value waiting. But pay attention - EyeTV can only reproduce some quality the vhs were initially. I am very happy with this. I can rest to work here with the things while the observation of my favourite shows without turning my head all the manner around to the glance to my TV. Great work, Elgato!


0 stars if I could go this low
My EyeTV 250 Plus STOP working in less than 6 months of intermittent usage.
Since Elgato does NOT talk to customers I sent them email and they have not
responded about the device no longer emitting a blue light (working). It's stays
warm to the touch but with no picture on my monitor. Elgato has not even had
the courtesy of contacting a customer with a MAJOR failure of their hardware.
I would advise anyone to not risk losing $200 on a product not even backed
up by the maker. This review could be changed if Elgato would acknowledge
my email and redeem themselves with some sort of appropriate action.

Roy Szanik


eyetv
This is a great little device, if you have a broadcast source and a computer that can go online. Programing from the online guide, and nice options for exporting for ipod, imovie etc. I highly recommend this.


Works Great
The Eyetv 250 plus works great. The picture is clear and the included software work perfectly. i can setup recording so i can watch my shows latter either on my computer or an apple tv. i can also export them to a video ipod. I think i will buy another one.


Great TV
Great way to turn your Mac into a DVR. Some trouble getting it to recognize stations available when travelling to a new area, but generally works as advertised.


Wonderful Product
At the same time as a imper and a iPhone, positive Eyetv 250 adds much blow for your male. You can record exposures of television like a regular DVR, and then play them above your network without wire or export towards you the iPhone.


Don't buy this thing
It's been about a month since I got the 250plus. I work at home and this thing has cut my productivity in half. I use the the EyeTV with an OTA antenna. Perfect reception and great software... watching Letterman now.


Great product
I've been using a Dish PVR and a TiVo for SDTV, and I am transitioning to HDTV and wanted the ability to record HDTV off the air (and to watch SD signals from the other boxes while working on my new Mac Mini). I chose the EyeTV 250 Plus over the EyeTV Hybrid, because I wanted to offload as much work as possible from the Mac Mini (which has the wheaties to do it itself, but if for only $60 more I can offload...). I presume the user interface presented is the same (very easy to use and intuitive, as it is the same software). The TiVo is still the gold standard UI in my book, but the EyeTV ranks close to it and well over the Dish PVR (old admittedly, I still have a 508).

The only complaint I've had is that some programs recorded from the local PBS affiliate have been glitchy, and I suspect it is a problem at their end as they compress their HD signal more, and have 2 SD side channels riding with the HD. Recordings from the ABC, CBS, and NBC affiliates have been flawless so far.

SD signals displayed on my HDTV at greater than original resolution will show artifacts (at least until I get some kind of upconverter) whether they come through my EyeTV 250 Plus into my Mac and in via HDMI or directly (via S-video).


Glitchy software, probably not worth the trouble
I tried to decide between a cheap video tape recorder and EyeTV, and went to seek the last. If I had it to still make more, I would obtain probably just the cheap video tape recorder. With a certain number of occasions the software gave me arguments and made me waste the invaluable spare time treating him. The major problem was the software losing its configuration so that it cannot show the "guide of crucial program". Even before leopard I had this and other problems from time to time, like lacks to record for any explained reason, but with the levelling with the problems of leopard are now the constant. Just because their Web site and to seem of packing nice, do not suppose this will as surely function as the iPhoto or the other software of APPLE often has. The thing to be considered is: I need another piece of software and hardware on my imper with which I will have to treat by improving OS, the argument configuration, energy with their Web site, etc... Of how much I do have need really to record exposures of TV and to function with the TV on my imper in any event? Can I ask the person in my family which wants that this uses just a cheap regular video tape recorder?


Who needs a TV any more?
The EyeTV 250 Plus is a great little gizmo. It basically turns your Mac into a Tivo, with the ability to record as many TV shows as you can fit on your hard drive(s). The editing feature is easy to use -- it takes only a couple of minutes to remove all the commercials from a one-hour TV show.

Even though it comes with a remote control, I use the computer interface exclusively, as it is faster and provides access to every feature (also, I noticed that the IR input on the EyeTV box was picking up signals from other remotes, so I ended up covering it with a small piece of tape).

Recorded shows can be exported in a variety of formats, or can be left in their native MPEG-2 format for burning to DVD without any intermediate transcoding. The EyeTV comes with Toast Basic, which I have found to be good enough for my needs. With Toast, I can burn multiple recordings to a single DVD, with a main menu similar to what you get on a commercial DVD.


Great product, very easy to use
This product is exactly while it is described. That took approximately 5 minutes to install and I did not have any problem. The software can be placed at export towards itunes automatically. My only felt sorry for is that you cannot obtain the lisitings TV for Canada.


Easy set up. Was archiving old Hi 8 tapes within minutes.
I wanted something that would alow me to both watch basic cable television on my computer and archive old hi-8 tapes. Elgato makes this very easy to do with the eyetv 250. I was able to record the entire tape with the included software and then select clips of that recording to export into different formats. While I was recording a new tape onto the computer I was able to export a previous recording into different file formats. This allowed the entire process of archiving our hi-8 tapes go much quicker.

The program guide is also a huge improvement from what I was using with my PC. I had been using an Adaptec product for the PC that did the same thing but was not nearly as user friendly. The eyetv 250 is much easier to use and like everything I have added to my new iMac it just works.


Simply the Best
I have the positive installation of Eyetv 250 on my iMac with a screen of 20". I mention only the size of screen because a screen of 24"serait still better. The fact that a window cannot remain on other windows is little one annoying, but that is a problem of APPLE, not Eyetv. The window to look at the TV should not be very large to observe what is a clear crystal image absolutely thus with the real estate (size of screen) you can just draw aside the window of Eyetv at the side and continue with surfer or work on a project while looking at the TV. I have in the beginning have a wall assembled 15"tv hanging above the office to look at the TV. Useless to say this left for good. The Eyetv establishment was a breeze. Could not have been much easier. It discovered all the channels available and installed the guide of program for me very quickly. The size is marvellous, no large box resting on the desk. I did not play with recording much, however, it is right a click of a button to start to record. Almost too easy. At a certain point I will play with the device of recording more and will burn some exposures or films (advertising films of without also) to a DVD with toast. I have the full version of the toast, however a version of lite comes with Eyetv as well. It is really excellent produced.


So far - so good
I was happy with all except the quality of the image. But this proved to be at my end. I added a fall amp of good quality and the image cleared up admirably. BTW which was N suggested documentation. I like the devices much. Good blow for the male.


Flaky performance
EyeTV 250 by chance positive problems outside, presenting the red and blue bands horizontal in the video. I located this in EyeTV (to connect the visual entry to a TV makes the lines leave; Disconnecting EyeTV and the connection of it makes inside still also the lines leave). After 4 or 5 periods of restarting I can usually obtain a full recording undistorted. This evening, after restarting of 5 times, the deformation continued to jump to the top (sometimes 5 minutes inside, a couple of time 30 or 40 minutes inside; very frustrating). I will return this one and see whether it is right a defective model. But I am concerned that this thing is simply flocculent by design (I employ cables of quality of studio of emission and nothing differently in my system poses this problem). I will update if the nine functions better.



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