EyeTV EZ

[Mike]

Elgato Systems has introduced EyeTV EZ, a new USB 2.0-based TV tuner for the Macintosh. The device is shipping internationally and costs US$149.
Ez ShopThe EyeTV EZ lets you hook up an antenna, cable or satellite TV connection to view analog raw, uncompressed TV signals. Unlike Elgato’s other EyeTV products, EyeTV EZ doesn’t use hardware-based encoding, so it has markedly higher system requirements (a dual-processor G5 is required for high quality recording, for example). EyeTV EZ can also connect to external devices including camcorders, VCRs and game consoles.

Powered by the EyeTV software, EyeTV EZ can be used to record programs — you can schedule recordings using TitanTV’s electronic program guide services in the United States (users in some European countries can use tvtv instead). EyeTV EZ works with both the NTSC and PAL/SECAM video standards.

Other system requirements call for 256MB RAM, Mac OS X v10.3.9 or later, built-in USB 2.0 port and 589MB of disk space for one hour of recorded video at video CD quality).

Source: Macworld (http://www.macworld.com/news/)

Just one question, why is Mac hardware more expensive? I bought an ATI TV Tuner for $110 3 years ago for my PC.

[Child of Cupertino]

Probably because


to account for the product development (firmware, drivers etc.) for a smaller userbase
because they know we're more willing to pay for it, versus those on the cutthroat generic Windows platform


Benefits of the platform, despite superficial cost assessments:


No annual virus subscription required
cheaper major OS upgrade fees -- but they're more frequent (sub-releases are free)
A more sturdy, trustworthy platform that imparts far less downtime than dealing with driver conflicts, Registration hassles and virus recovery efforts and data loss -- AND data mining -- that typically exists on the Windows platform.


Basically, time is also money, where I save my time (and money) by just doing my work ON my Mac, rather than WORKING ON my Mac. It's a slippery scale, and some people on the PC side will have less hassle than others, but the average in my view is that the Mac platform delivers a better user experience with greater productivity. And that counts.

[Mike]

Thanks. I'm actually looking at moving to the Mac next year.

[Child of Cupertino]

Cool. But do i recall correctly that you've been critical of the mac platform in the past? Or, am I confusing you with another Mike in this forum?

[Athlon_9800]

Cool. But do i recall correctly that you've been critical of the mac platform in the past? Or, am I confusing you with another Mike in this forum?

Isn't that always how it is? :)

I haven't got a Mac yet, but I'm in Computer Animation and Macs are alllll we use.

On a side note... damn is Maya a complicated program :hsh:

[Child of Cupertino]

Isn't that always how it is? :)

It sure was with you! You were a fervent Mac basher once upon a time. Now, you've been wanting an iBook (or something) for months!


I'm in Computer Animation and Macs are alllll we use.

Where are you studying? Sheridan?

[Mike]

Cool. But do i recall correctly that you've been critical of the mac platform in the past? Or, am I confusing you with another Mike in this forum?

That was me but i've doing webpages and a bit of graphics on the side. I'll tell you right now it's a pain when Dreamweaver crashes right in front of you while you're designing a new page.

[Child of Cupertino]

Tim's all into that, and he "switched". I'm sure he has lots of valuable insights, re: PC->Mac -- including too many experiences with Apple's recently crappy hardware quality control.

[Athlon_9800]

Where are you studying? Sheridan?

No, just Durham. Well, I've been hearing Sheridan's good reputation in their animation program is diminishing to say the least. I don't know, it's great at Durham actually. I had my doubts, but the faculty and students are awesome and the labs are new (as are the G5's and LCD's that accompany them :P). The program is built really well.

Anyways, I'm having a good time and I've got Maya on my PC here at home finally.

Oh, and I know I've been wanting a Mac laptop of some kind for so long, but I just couldn't resist spending a large wad on a new desktop PC, hehe. I'll get one eventually, I'm not hurting for a Mac as of yet.

[Child of Cupertino]

I've been out of the loop for a while as far as which school is 'the place" for animation/CG.

[Athlon_9800]

I've been out of the loop for a while as far as which school is 'the place" for animation/CG.

Heh, well I've heard it a lot lately. There's people in my classes that were accepted at Seneca and Sheriden but chose Durham, so I don't know. It's more based on talent when you're done, really.

[Tim]

dreamweaver runs great for me here on the G5. But it is a resource hungry app, and if windows or even OS X is a little off kilter it'll bust up everytime no matter what you run. I just find when you get OS X running real smooth it tends to stay that way longer than windows which will ball up faster with registry bloats etc.