Analog - SCHMANALOG! I Want My Digital Mac TV

I never really was a TV set kinda guy. Been using my Apple Mac as my PRIMARY television ever since the first Mac TV Tuner Gizmos first hit the market around the year 2000. First it was a XLR8 USB video capture gizmo using my VHS VCR to tune and send tv to and through it. Then a long since gone 'LifeTV' unit, then a crappy Eskape Labs gizmo - until ElGato and EyeTV came along and defined what a great experience watching and recording TV on a Mac could be.

Fast-Forward to today - With the Analog to Digital TV switchover looming, it was time to prepare for the future. Did have some success with my analog Miglia TVmicro and a DigitalStream DTA 9000 converter box seeing crisp digital television for the first time. But ok, now I was forced to swap cables to watch the 4 analog channels I can get - versus - the ONE digital station I can get out here in the woods. So off to Amazon I went - and there I found and orderd the Mac AND Windows compatible Hauppauge WinTV/myTV 950 Mac Tuner. Model 1145 is specifically bundled with BOTH the Mac OSX version of EyeTV LITE - and Windows PC TV software. This is the same OEM hardware as ElGato uses for it's Eye TV Hybrid - but at $65 it's nearly half the price; a good choice for frugal shoppers, or Cross-Platform Dual-OS users - but note you only get the LITE version of EyeTV - and not the full-featured version El Gato bundles with it's own units.

Best 3rd Party Cross-Platform TV Tuner Choice




So there you have it. I can now sorta see ALL FIVE local stations auto-switching between analog OR digital on the fly. Well sorta. SORTA being cuz I'm 55mi from the transmission towers - and Digital Television in particular is telling me I need a BETTER, LONGER-RANGE TV antenna, so off to Amazon or eBay I go again to find me some serious big honkin' antenna to reel 'em in.

Best Mac TV Tuner : Tune In - Tune Out

I've bought ALOT of computer gizmo's since my first foray into personal computing in 1982. I'll spare you Ancient History of the early days, but yes, I was one of those guys who combed thru HEATHKIT electronics catalogs _before_ the 'Personal Computer' era official kicked in.

.....alot of stuff utterly left out here... Revised: check out www.mac-digital-tv-tuners.com for a bit more info on turning your Mac into a TV set and home entertainment centerpiece.

Elgato's EyeTV has GOT to be the best gizmo I've EVER bought. Not just for my iMac. Ever. I love being able to record, rewind, pause and resume the little TV I do watch. Why Apple hasn't integrated PVR - TiVo like functionality into it's Macintosh line long ago is just stoopid. And now, it doesn't make sense to as we are rapidly approaching the mandatory HDTV era and analog TV (and the gizmos) will almost instantly become obsolete. Perhaps after the major switch to digital. In the meantime (and Elgato is keeping up with digital tuner models) EYETV ROCKS.