TV tuner for my Mac

[jerni]

I'm on my way an hour and a half away to visit the nearest Apple store, and I'm interested in getting one of those TV tuners for my new gen Macbook. There's one called TubeStick and the other is Elgato EyeTV or something. Anyone familiar with either? I value your opinions so help me out.

[iphonewarrior]

I'm on my way an hour and a half away to visit the nearest Apple store, and I'm interested in getting one of those TV tuners for my new gen Macbook. There's one called TubeStick and the other is Elgato EyeTV or something. Anyone familiar with either? I value your opinions so help me out.

do these work for an older macbook? i have a new one also but i dont like taking it on my travels incase i break it :foot:

let me know

thanks in advance

[acosmichippo]

i used a pinnacle HD stick (http://www.pinnaclesys.com/PublicSite/us/Products/Consumer+Products/PCTV+Tuners/PCTV+Digital+PVR+%28DVB-S_DVB-T%29/Mac+HD+mini+Stick) for a few days, and it worked great. But, in the end, i decided to return it and setup a slingbox, which i like a lot more.

Do you mainly watch local stations or cable/satellite?

[iphonewarrior]

i used a pinnacle HD stick (http://www.pinnaclesys.com/PublicSite/us/Products/Consumer+Products/PCTV+Tuners/PCTV+Digital+PVR+%28DVB-S_DVB-T%29/Mac+HD+mini+Stick) for a few days, and it worked great. But, in the end, i decided to return it and setup a slingbox, which i like a lot more.

Do you mainly watch local stations or cable/satellite?

i watch a bit of everything really, i'm from the uk and we get something called freeview over here, i was looking getting one a couple of weeks ago, but didnt due to the fact i knew nothing about them!

i'm aware you still need to plug into some form of aerial (i think) but are they any good?

and yes i watch the standard analogue channels

[acosmichippo]

hmm... well, i'm not sure how the broadcasts work in England, but in the US we're making a big transition to digital over-the-air, so the picture is literally perfect high-def as long as you have a decent signal. They do still pick up analog signals, though.


There is an alternative to these TV tuner cards called slingbox (http://www.slingmedia.com/)... they work much differently, though. In short, they allow you to watch your home satellite or cable box (or any other video source, really) anywhere you have high-speed internet access. There is also more of an installation process with slingboxes than TV tuner cards. Anyway, just thought i'd mention it.

[iphonewarrior]

were doing the same in the uk, were changing over to digital as well, it makes more sense, we should have done it years ago!

i'll have a more in depth look at the market and i'll see what fits my needs, like i said, been a bit lazy really coming on here just asking questions when i should be out looking myself,

thanks for your help

[jerni]

Well when I went to the Apple Store Sunday I asked about the Elgato eyeTV and I found out it doesn't do what I need. I'm looking for a wireless tuner and from what they were explaining it would need to be connected to a coax connection. I'm not if she just didn't know what I was asking or if that is true. Slingbox might be something I'll look into.

[acosmichippo]

the pinnacle tuner i mentioned above has an antenna included... picks up analog and digital over-the-air waves.