| Product Summary | | Manufacturer: Elgato Systems | | Mfg Part#: 10020780 | | UPC: 00852095000751 | | Buy.com Sku: 206898357 | | Item#: C4HNV4 | | Buy.com Sales Rank: 12832 | | See more in TV/Audio Tuners | |
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| | | | Watch, record, edit and enjoy TV on your Mac and convert analog source video to digital files. EyeTV 250 Plus receives free over-the-air (OTA) HDTV, Clear QAM, and traditional analog TV. And thanks to EyeTV 250 Plus' built-in hardware encoder, it quickly converts analog video to high quality digital video without using your Mac's processor.
EyeTV 250 Plus comes with a composite video and S-Video break-out cable. Use it to connect a set top box (one that has analog outputs) to watch cable and satellite TV on your Mac. Connect a VCR or camcorder to convert analog video to DVD with Toast® Basic (included), or to convert to iPod/iPhone/Apple TV formats. The included VHS Assistant and iPod Assistant will guide you through the setup.
EyeTV 250 Plus comes complete with award-winning EyeTV 3 software to turn your Mac into the coolest TV in the house. Watch, pause, and rewind live television on your Mac at your desk or from the comfort of your couch. Search the Program Guide using multiple criteria and create Smart Guides to subscribe to TV series and topics of your choice. Save channel lists for different locations and switch between them easily. Edit unwanted content from your recordings, create Smart Playlists to keep them organized, and export them for post-processing in other Mac video applications. Click a button to put your own TV shows and movies into iTunes to sync with an iPod, iPhone, or Apple TV. Share EyeTV recordings with other Macs over a local network, or access them via Wi-Fi on an iPod®, iPhone™ and selected SmartPhones.
| | Features |  | Watch, pause, and rewind live HDTV on your Mac. | | Record TV shows and export videos to your iPod®, Apple TV™, and iPhone™. | | Convert VHS and camcorder tapes to high-quality digital video files. | | Includes Roxio Toast® Basic disc burning software | | Records high quality video and frees up your processor for other activities. | | No monthly service fees |
| | Tech Specs | | Analog/ATSCTuner | | Frequency range: 48-862MHz (VHF and UHF) | | Analog TV standards: NTSC, PAL, SECAM | | Digital TV standards: ATSC | | 5th Generation LG Demodulator | | Video Encoding | | High-quality real-time encoding | | Supports MPEG-2 and MPEG-1 | | NTSC resolutions: up to 720×480, 30 fps | | PAL resolutions: up to 720×576, 25 fps | | Variable and constant bit rate up to 15-Mbit/sec | | Audio Encoding | | MPEG 1 Layer II | | Sampling rates of 32 kHz, 44.1 kHz, and 48 kHz | | Compressed bit rates up to 448 kbit/sec | | Input and Output | | USB 2.0 | | Antenna input: Coaxial connector (IEC) | | S-Video in (via break out cable, included) | | Composite video in (via break out cable, included) | | Stereo audio (via break out cable, included) | | IR remote control sensor | | Power Supply | | 5V DC, 2A | | Dimensions | | Size: 104 × 64 × 29 mm | | Weight: 134g | | System Requirements | | Macintosh® computer with a PowerPC® G4,G5 or Intel Core® processor | | 256 MB of physical RAM (512 MB recommended) | | a built-in USB 2.0 port | | Mac OS X v10.4 or later | | Internet connection required to download Program Guide data | | Note: 720p or 1080i HD features require a Dual PowerPC G5 or an Intel Core Duo processor | | Box Includes | | EyeTV 250 Plus Analogue/Digital TV Receiver and Video Converter | | EyeTV 3 Software (CD-ROM) | | Infrared Remote Control with battery pack | | Power Supply | | USB Cable | | Breakout Cable for Composite, S-Video and Stereo Audio | | Quick Start Quide |
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http://www.buy.com/prod/elgato-eyetv-250-plus-video-converter-and-tv-tuner-for-analog-and-hdtv/q/loc/101/206898357.html
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| Customer Reviews |  | | Value |  4.5 | | Performance | 4.5 | | Ease of Use |  4 | | Overall Satisfaction | 4 |
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5 of 5 The Standard For Mac TV Tuner Monday, March 02, 2009
A Customer from Tulsa, OK
This is my second 250 -- I fried my first one with static electricity. The 250+ is great. Easy to set up and use. I got it originally for feeding in my VHS tapes and converting them to use on my AppleTV and to make DVDs - that project is still ongoing but I got hooked on having the TV tuner capability on my Mac. It is also easy to record live shows with.
The 250+ can access your cable provider's (or OTA) Clear CAM signals which for my install, with Cox cable, gives me about 8 HD channels and 5 digital radio channels on my computer.
I have never had a problem with Elgato's tech support or customers service.
Great Product! Was this review helpful?  
5 of 5 Excellent! Monday, September 01, 2008
A Customer from Bend, Oregon
I bought this unit to do two things: Record some TV programs and digitize our old Hi-8 and VHS movies. I am only interested in over-the-air TV, so the unit's lack of cable decoding wasn't an issue. In fact, the lack of ability to accept cards or other decoders is perhaps eyetv's only shortcoming.
Eyetv is amazing. One of the nicest things is that elgato pretty much thought of everything in the software area. Setup was a snap and we were watching TV on our Mac within 10 minutes of unpacking eyetv. The first time I double-clicked on the application, it walked me through the entire setup. Two of the steps were automatically scanning for broadcasts in our area (I'm using a Terk amplified antenna which is also excellent) and then setting a TitanTV account (free) to deliver programming information.
Image quality from the TV is great. While I'm only using a 20" Apple Cinema Display, the quality looks comparable to what we get on our much larger LCD projection TVs using a rooftop antennal. Tuning is trivial: the included remote works just like a standard TV remote. There's also an on-screen remote that replicates the important functions and makes the handheld unit redundant for most of what I do.
I've converted a couple of hi-8 tapes so far. The process was a breeze. Although I'd read that eyetv 250plus lacks S-VHS inputs, my unit indeed has a breakout cable that includes S-VHS. Worked like a charm.
Eyetv saves recordings (or A-D conversions) in their own format. They provide two choices for burning to DVD. Included in the package is Toast 8 Basic Edition, and eyetv nicely automates the process of burning. It's fast and requires nothing special from the user. But the resulting DVD is pretty plain. I prefer to edit in iMovie HD and then burn with iDVD. Eyetv easily converts the recording for use in iMovie and then automatically exports the result to iMovie and opens the program. You can then edit and theme to your heart's content like you would with any other iMovie project.
Again, the eyetv software makes everything easy. You don't need to remember anything: just go to the Help menu, choose the action you want (like "convert a VHS tape"), and a "helper" window pops up and walks you through the steps. I was again impressed because most "help" is just text + pictures and you need to transfer and do the steps in the program. But with eyetv, the Help really leads you through the process: you do the step shown, then click "next", do the next step and so on. And the settings and options you choose from are right on the help display, so you're really interacting with the application by executing Help instructions.
DVD results were as good as I expected from my old tapes. Some of these were 15 years old, and they looked acceptable. Definitely not up to current DVD standards, but every bit as good as I'd gotten with my old HollywoodDV unit.
I was worried that eyetv uses only a USB 2.0 connection to the Mac: I've always preferred FireWire for A-D video conversions. I saw no issue with eyetv, though, and the resulting resolution, again, was visually comparable to what I'd gotten with an older FW unit.
So overall, I've been so pleased with this product that I'll be buying each of our kids one for Christmas. 'Nuf said... Was this review helpful?
1 of 1 customers found this review helpful.
3 of 5 ALMOST Plug N Play Wednesday, August 27, 2008
A Customer from Virginia
EyeTV 250 Plus with v.3.03 software: When you finally get EyeTV to work, it works well, but it is frustrating getting there. Numero Uno: I have at least two USB devices that cause EyeTV to be "unable to initiate device". There is no troubleshooting check list of things that cause "unable to initiate device". Disconnect ALL USB devices to get started or it is hopeless. If this fails you may have to delete four com.elgato.xyz.plist files. I will credit EyeTV that they answered my first trouble ticket very nicely. With persistence, I was able to use that information to eventually get a stable system (see Numero Uno as key). If you are in troubleshooting hell, downloading the channel lineup takes way too long and seems so irrelevant when all you are trying to do is get a video picture on the screen. I am an Apple fan since 1979. It is my hope that EyeTV will eventually become rock solid with great troubleshooting information trees like Beyond TV 4.6 for Windows PC Was this review helpful?
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