EyeTV Hybrid (2008) vs EyeTV 250 Plus
Mr. Uh Clem
new 2.53GHz 13" MacBook Pro. (Mmmmm, Firewire 800....) She's taking my
late 2008 2.2?GHz MacBook. (In't she *SWEET*?)
At the time of the original MB purchase, I got a Pinnacle HD Stick for Mac.
It worked sorta ok, but it often brought the MB's fans on and Elgato should
really be ashamed of EyeTV Lite. After getting the MBP, I noticed that
Other World Computing was selling EyeTV Hybrid (2008) refurbs for $89. That
seemed like a good upgrade given it gave me clear QAM and a full EyeTV 3, so
I got one. I planned on giving the Pinnacle stick to my wife. The Hybrid
works very nicely, and the MBP's fans don't come on when watching TV. But
the wife saw it and wants this setup too, so I'm contemplating getting
another Hybrid. The deal is even sweeter, because, by signing up for OWC's
e-mail newsletter, I can get a Hybrid at the reader special price of $75.
But there is a question in my mind. If I got her an EyeTV 250 Plus ($109)
instead, would the hardware encoder in it reduce the processing required
and maybe keep the MB fans off? Does that encoder only help with with
Analog TV and inputs? Or is the real problem the Intel Graphics in the MB
and no change in video source will help with that? As I write this, it
occurs to me that the 250 Plus does not seem to handle clear QAM - that
would be a killer.
Comments? Thanks!
--
Clem
"If you push something hard enough, it will fall over."
- Fudd's first law of opposition
Malcolm
> A month or so back, my wife decided she'd had enough of Windoze, so got me a
> new 2.53GHz 13" MacBook Pro. (Mmmmm, Firewire 800....) She's taking my
> late 2008 2.2?GHz MacBook. (In't she *SWEET*?)
>
> At the time of the original MB purchase, I got a Pinnacle HD Stick for Mac.
> It worked sorta ok, but it often brought the MB's fans on and Elgato should
> really be ashamed of EyeTV Lite. After getting the MBP, I noticed that
> Other World Computing was selling EyeTV Hybrid (2008) refurbs for $89. That
> seemed like a good upgrade given it gave me clear QAM and a full EyeTV 3, so
> I got one. I planned on giving the Pinnacle stick to my wife. The Hybrid
> works very nicely, and the MBP's fans don't come on when watching TV. But
> the wife saw it and wants this setup too, so I'm contemplating getting
> another Hybrid. The deal is even sweeter, because, by signing up for OWC's
> e-mail newsletter, I can get a Hybrid at the reader special price of $75.
>
> But there is a question in my mind. If I got her an EyeTV 250 Plus ($109)
> instead, would the hardware encoder in it reduce the processing required
> and maybe keep the MB fans off? Does that encoder only help with with
> Analog TV and inputs?
Yes.
> Or is the real problem the Intel Graphics in the MB
> and no change in video source will help with that? As I write this, it
> occurs to me that the 250 Plus does not seem to handle clear QAM - that
> would be a killer.
There are two versions of the 250 Plus. The newer one does handle clear QAM.
<http://support.elgato.com/index.php?_m=knowledgebase&_a=viewarticle&kbarticleid=16&nav=0,1,380,29,49&languageid=1&group=englishdefault>
Mr. Uh Clem
> On 2009-08-06 13:23:24 -0400, "Mr. Uh Clem" <uhc...@DutchElmSt.invalid>
> said:
>
>> a question in my mind. If I got her an EyeTV 250 Plus ($109) instead,
>> would the hardware encoder in it reduce the processing required and
>> maybe keep the MB fans off? Does that encoder only help with with
>> Analog TV and inputs?
> Yes.
I guess this would help for analog cable channels, but I'm guessing that
it would still leave a lot of processing on the MacBook, just displaying
the video would still require decoding by the CPU...
>> Or is the real problem the Intel Graphics in the MB and no change in
>> video source will help with that? As I write this, it occurs to me that
>> the 250 Plus does not seem to handle clear QAM - that would be a
>> killer.
> There are two versions of the 250 Plus. The newer one does handle clear
> QAM.
> <http://support.elgato.com/index.php?_m=knowledgebase&_a=viewarticle&kbarticleid=16&nav=0,1,380,29,49&languageid=1&group=englishdefault>
Oh, yeah, DOH!, further down this page
<http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/video/Computer_TV_Tuners_DVR_Input_Output>
is the one with clear QAM for a mere $180. Guess that pretty much
settles it.
Jolly Roger
"Mr. Uh Clem" <uhc...@DutchElmSt.invalid> wrote:
> Malcolm wrote:
> > On 2009-08-06 13:23:24 -0400, "Mr. Uh Clem" <uhc...@DutchElmSt.invalid>
> > said:
> >
> >> ... I can get a Hybrid at the reader special price of $75. But there is
> >> a question in my mind. If I got her an EyeTV 250 Plus ($109) instead,
> >> would the hardware encoder in it reduce the processing required and
> >> maybe keep the MB fans off? Does that encoder only help with with
> >> Analog TV and inputs?
> > Yes.
>
> I guess this would help for analog cable channels, but I'm guessing that
> it would still leave a lot of processing on the MacBook, just displaying
> the video would still require decoding by the CPU...
On my Mac mini (Intel Core 2 Duo, 1.83 GHz, 2GB RAM) EyeTV takes between
32 and 39% of the CPU while recording a show and playing another show at
the same time with a first-revision EyeTV 250. Without watching a show,
it drops to around 15%. Not bad at all.
--
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JR