EyeTV 200 or ConvertX PVR for the Mac?

[budugu]

I am looking for a DVR with mpeg4 (hardware encoding) for my imac G5. what are the option other than those two and which do you think works the best? I am leaning towards the EyeTV 200. But i am a little apprehensive of the $300 price tag. Even though the Elgato systems page claims it can do hardware Mpeg4 ... none of reviews mention that. Any help or opinions are greatly appreciated

thanks

 

[mr_matalino]

I have an EyeTV 200 and I enjoy it. There are a few setbacks and it doesn't have that "mac" feeling to the software, but it works well. I can edit commercials out from an hour long program in three minutes and export it to mpeg4 (they are almost done with a software update to export to ipod format) or a number of other options. I usually buy hardware from cnet.com because its cheaper.

http://www.cnet.com/

click "shop" in the upper right hand corner and enter in the product name. You can also enter in your zip code to determine shipping/tax and then sort by best price. That's how I do it. There are many websites like this that you can buy indirectly from the manufacturer at a savings to you. You just need to know where to look.

 

[henryholz333]

I'm also looking for one too.

 

[Tastannin]

Go for EyeTV, it's worth every penny! I have an EyeTV 200 and it works like a charm. If you record your shows in MPEG-2 then you can export to Toast FAST because there is no re-encoding involved, it will just multiplex and burn straight to DVD! I love it. It can also work as an analog to digital converter to bring in your old home movies into any of EyeTV's supported formats.

Also, if you get the EyeTV, then you can get EyeHome which allows you to playback your content off your Mac to your TV. I don't have it, but it sure sounds nice.

 

[m-dogg]

I have the Eye TV 200 as well and I'm happy with it. I don't think a lot of reviews mention MPEG4 because it was added via a software upgrade after it originally came out. Many of the reviews found online are from when the Eye TV 200 was first rolled out, and MPEG4 wasn't an option at that time.

They've also recently made an "export to PSP" option and have said that they will be adding an "export to iPod video" option as well. I don't have either of these devices right now, but eventually I will and it's nice to see that they update the software to keep up with new formats/devices...

I've never tried to convert VHS tapes, but it is on my to-do list for a couple of vacation movies I have. I plan to export to DV and fix them up in iMovie/iDVD...

 

[budugu]

I have the Eye TV 200 as well and I'm happy with it. I don't think a lot of reviews mention MPEG4 because it was added via a software upgrade after it originally came out. Many of the reviews found online are from when the Eye TV 200 was first rolled out, and MPEG4 wasn't an option at that time.

They've also recently made an "export to PSP" option and have said that they will be adding an "export to iPod video" option as well. I don't have either of these devices right now, but eventually I will and it's nice to see that they update the software to keep up with new formats/devices...

I've never tried to convert VHS tapes, but it is on my to-do list for a couple of vacation movies I have. I plan to export to DV and fix them up in iMovie/iDVD...

Thanks for the input. I am looking for a Mpeg4 hardware based encoder (if it does not turn out i will use the software encoding). Transfer to ipod sounds very interesting. I am just waiting for the next generation of ipod videos to show up. I generally donot burn DVDs ( quickly realised that it in itself is another house keeping job!!). I am interested in EYE TV because of the simplicity of the set up. I was looking arround Elgato website and saw this refurb EYE TV500 for 200$ (where as EYE TV 200 was 300$). Why is a better model cheaper? I generally watch only the free channels on my cable tv (NBC, PBS, FOX etc). Do you guys think i should get the 500 vs 200?

 

[donshank]

the eyetv 200 Does do hardware mpeg-4 encoding.
what the previous poster meant was that they Enabled the hardware encoding of Mpeg-4 via a software update.
with the EyeTV 1.8.3 software you there are now options in the Device Settings menu to set your EyeTV unit to various qualities of Mpeg-2 and Mpeg-4

i love my eyetv 200