EyeTV

The EyeTV digital video recorder allows you to watch, record, and even pause "live" TV, skip commercials, have instant replay, or archive shows to VideoCDs playable in most DVD players. EyeTV will change the way you watch television!

El Gato Software only develop for the Apple Macintosh... at this stage there are no plans to produce a Windows version of the EyeTV

Installing the EyeTV

Back of EyeTV

To use the EyeTV you'll need to be running Mac OS X 10.1.5 or greater, have a spare Built-in USB port, 20MB disk space for the actual EyeTV application and at least 650MB disk space for each hour of video you wish to record.

Also, be sure to download the most current version of the EyeTV software from the El Gato website, which at the time of writing is v1.2.

download »

Update: A special Australian version of the software is now available and should be available from your local reseller.

To install, simply plug your TV antenna and/or another video source such as a VCR, DVD, or video camera in to the EyeTV and then plug the EyeTV into a powered USB port on your computer. (Note: you can not use the USB ports on the keyboard) and then run the EyeTV application, which will run you though a simple configuration process.

While there are currently no Australian preset channels, it is very easy to have the EyeTV to scan for them. I found that selecting Deutschland (Germany) as the country and then turning the Exhaustive Scan option ON worked the best for me for tuning the Australian Free to Air channels. Not having access to Foxtel or Optus Cable TV, I wasn't able to test that for myself, but understand it is very easy to configure.

Using the EyeTV

EyeTV Remote Control

Once you have tuned the EyeTV, actually using the EyeTV is very simple - Just use the EyeTV remote control application.

In the top left of the remote is a display window that shows you channel, along with the name of the program you are currently watching or recording, and how long it's been running for. You can also show elapsed time, total time and remaining time in this window.

The "+" and "-" buttons next to the display allow you to scroll through the channels you have tuned and enabled for viewing. You can also use the third icon in the row of buttons immediately underneath to bring up a listing of all enabled channels for quick selection.

The first icon in the row of Navigation Buttons, brings up a window that details the shows you have recorded, or have scheduled for recording at a later date.

In the United States, EyeTV users have the option of accessing an online television guide that can be used to automatically enter in the times and channels and other details of programs you wish to record, just like a video recorder. Unfortunately, at the time of writing, this option is not yet available in Australia.

Hopefully, this service will be added in the future. In the meanwhile, if you want to access an online TV guide, you can use the eBroadcast website to look up your shows and then manually configure the EyeTV with the appropriate times and channels.

ebroadcast »

The final button on the Navigation Button row is the record button. Clicking on this button will commence recording the currently selected channel. You then have some options to enter information like the program name and tell the EyeTV when to stop recording.

The EyeTV includes the ability to do some basic editing of your recorded shows and it's main use would be to remove commercial breaks and trim any leading or trailing footage.

Once you have recorded a show and/or edited it, you can then export the program out as a QuickTime movie, which can then be played on any computer that has QuickTime installed and if you have Roxio Toast 5 you can even export it out as a VCD that can be burnt to CD and then played back in most DVD players.

Purchasing an EyeTV

EyeTV Unit

In Australia and New Zealand, the EyeTV is distributed by Memory Solutions and can be purchased through most AppleCentres and Macintosh retailers and has a RRP of AUD$400 inc GST. To find you nearest EyeTV reseller, contact Memory Solutions.

contact memory solutions »

In the United States, you can purchase the EyeTV directly from El Gato Software.

purchase »

For other locations, there are a number of distributors - check out the El Gato website for your local distributor.

international distributors »

Credits

AUSOM, Australia's Leading Apple Macintosh User Group, would like to thank Memory Solutions, the Australian distributor of El Gato Software's EyeTV, for providing an EyeTV for use in their monthly raffle.

A copy of this article, with colour images, is available from my website, http://www.nicholaspyers.com.

Discussions about this article may also occur on the appropriate Australian Computer News Network (ACNN) mailing list(s). For more details, please visit http://www.zonian.net.au/lists.

Interested in reprinting this article? Any non-profit Apple Macintosh User Group (MUG) may re-print, free of charge, any of the articles written by Nicholas Pyers found at http://www.nicholaspyers.com/articles. There are just a couple of conditions, which basically boil down to letting us know - for the full terms and conditions, please visit http://www.nicholaspyers.com/reprints.

© July 2003, Nicholas Pyers