TV Tuner

[Aperture]

Hi, I want to get a TV Tuner for my 17'' iMac G5. I'll be using it with the basic cable since our digital box won't be in reach, and I want to connect an xBox 360 to it and play at a decent quality.

I've looked at the EyeTV Hybrid and EZ (discontinued, but can still get on Amazon).

Will either of those suffice?


Thanks, Kevin

 

[rspeaker]

The eyeTV 250 has an encoding-bypass mode for playing games (to allow for lag-free play,) and also has a dedicated encoder for recording. I have a 1.83GHz CD iMac with 1GB RAM, and use the TVMicro (ie eyeTV Hybrid) for recording; I sometimes wish I had gotten one with a dedicated encoder.

I just hooked my PS2 up to it (using an RF adapter), and it played fine for about 30 minutes, but then FPS got really bad... I've never had any issues with my PS so I'm blaming it on the Micro. Get an eyeTV 250; I can't imagine you'd be sorry.

 

[Aperture]

Thanks for the reply. I'll look into the 250, but I was wondering what about the quality of the image?

I was also looking at hooking up the 360 directly to a Dell LCD over a Composite > VGA connection. Im just not sure if the price will be worth it that it will provide that much better picture than the 250.

So, can you say the picture quality was near/at TV quality?


Thanks, Kevin

 

[michaelsaxon]

I'm using a Miglia TV Max and have found it to be outstanding. I'm coming from Windows, where I used both Media Center and a Leadtek solution and I find the picture quality to be superb, it encodes in DivX, it doesn't seem to affect the Mac's performance at all, and the software is easy to use (it integrates with Toast as well for burning DVDs).

http://www.miglia.com/products/video/tvmax/index.html

(I just realized this is an old post that I replied to-- dunno why it showed up under my "new posts" query... oh well!)

 

[crazzyeddie]

Thanks for the reply. I'll look into the 250, but I was wondering what about the quality of the image?

I was also looking at hooking up the 360 directly to a Dell LCD over a Composite > VGA connection. Im just not sure if the price will be worth it that it will provide that much better picture than the 250.

Thanks, Kevin

Why not just get the VGA connector for the XBox? Then it will display at HD resolution on the LCD... (you are getting a widescreen LCD, right?) Nothing currently available will let you hook up composite or vga to your Mac to record or display HD.

TV quality = not that spectacular, compared to HD directly into an LCD.

 

[VicRattlehead]

I'm using a Miglia TV Max and have found it to be outstanding. I'm coming from Windows, where I used both Media Center and a Leadtek solution and I find the picture quality to be superb, it encodes in DivX, it doesn't seem to affect the Mac's performance at all, and the software is easy to use (it integrates with Toast as well for burning DVDs).

http://www.miglia.com/products/video/tvmax/index.html

(I just realized this is an old post that I replied to-- dunno why it showed up under my "new posts" query... oh well!)

question about the miglia tvmax, i have basic cable service no digitial/hd etc, ill be able to set it up to watch regular cable channels and flip like i would on the normal tv? also ill be able to record things and play them on my iPod vid? i think thats the way im reading it. just want to make sure.
thanks.

 

[Joony]

If your cable provider has unencryptd HD channels, go for the Miglia TVMini HD. But it doesn't have analog inputs though.