Eyetv vs Cable company pvr

[chugs]

Ok, so I'm mulling over options for creating a home theatre with a limited budget (around 800-100 total, with pvr, and some output to play audio/mp4/etc off a computer. I haven't bought the TV yet, but it's likely a 37" Dynex LCD TV with HD input (onsale at futureshop this week )

Now the cable company (rogers in Canada) is offering a PVR HD box for 399 plus 3 bucks a month (I know rip off), which seems to be the simple alternative, but quite a bit of money and may stretch the budget a bit too wide

I was hoping to design a system around my macbook (unibody 2 GB 2 GHZ Intel core 2 duo) and an eyetv 250 plus...basically it would be analog cable either straight or through a digital box into the eyetv, into the computer, and out to the tv via a mini displayport to hdmi adapter (which i purchased from monoprice and works quite well). I seem to like the capability the eyetv has for pvr, as well as recording straight onto the HD with conversion to iphone (for those long long commutes)...plus it seems cheaper at 200 plus 20 a year for the tv guide service.

My question is does anyone have a setup similar to this? I realize i may not get the HD digital channels via the box and may have to resort just using the coaxial cable straight to the computer, but in terms of quality of analog broadcast onto the tv, speed, etc, does it rival that of a digital box or would it be worth going for the pvr option (and buckling down and earning a bit more )

 

[jahama]

eyetv 3.0

I'm running eyetv on a mac mini, but instead of the 250 I've got the hybrid. The good thing about the hybrid is that it can also pull HD via ATSC (over the air) or clear QAM (off the cable). Not sure if rogers is transmitting any of their HD channels via clear QAM. Here in Hawaii, Time Warner has the local broadcast channels available via clear QAM as well as a couple of others.

I've also got turbo264 going to help convert the recorded shows to "iphone size" files, and they're available via wifi.

The remote could use a little work, and searching for shows requires a keyboard. But plex provides a nice interface for accessing online content as well.

 

[chugs]

What are you using for a display?

 

[mdgolom]

Ok, so I'm mulling over options for creating a home theatre with a limited budget (around 800-100 total, with pvr, and some output to play audio/mp4/etc off a computer. I haven't bought the TV yet, but it's likely a 37" Dynex LCD TV with HD input (onsale at futureshop this week )

Now the cable company (rogers in Canada) is offering a PVR HD box for 399 plus 3 bucks a month (I know rip off), which seems to be the simple alternative, but quite a bit of money and may stretch the budget a bit too wide

I was hoping to design a system around my macbook (unibody 2 GB 2 GHZ Intel core 2 duo) and an eyetv 250 plus...basically it would be analog cable either straight or through a digital box into the eyetv, into the computer, and out to the tv via a mini displayport to hdmi adapter (which i purchased from monoprice and works quite well). I seem to like the capability the eyetv has for pvr, as well as recording straight onto the HD with conversion to iphone (for those long long commutes)...plus it seems cheaper at 200 plus 20 a year for the tv guide service.

My question is does anyone have a setup similar to this? I realize i may not get the HD digital channels via the box and may have to resort just using the coaxial cable straight to the computer, but in terms of quality of analog broadcast onto the tv, speed, etc, does it rival that of a digital box or would it be worth going for the pvr option (and buckling down and earning a bit more )

I have three computers running EyeTV to record TV shows. Since I use these shows while I work out at the gym, I can edit out the commercials and easily convert for the iPhone which you can't easily do with a PVR. Plus I can watch the shows on any of my Macs over the network.

Does the company offer you the option to rent a PVR? Verizon her the Hd one is $15-$20/month. If something goes wrong with it, they need to fix or repair. Not sure what happens if you own it which is one of the reasons I stopped using Tivo.