eyetv

Apr 27 2009

mini PVR with EyeTV and ConvertX

No, this isn’t the first Mac mini – PVR tutorial, but new products and
software have made this more interesting than ever before. And, with the best options available, this will be the last Mac PVR tutorial you’ll need to read.

minipvr mini PVR with EyeTV and ConvertX

The Hardware

The Software

  • Elgato’s EyeTV (included)

There are plenty of hardware options that will turn your mini into a PVR. I selected the ConvertX for its hardware encoding, which takes the processing load off your mini (the EyeTV Wonder does not hardware-encode incoming video, and is not recommended for use with the mini). It also has the widest array of hardware encoding options including MPEG 1, 2 and 4 and DivX.

What’s more, the ConvertX is the least expensive of the lot (excluding the EyeTV Wonder) that comes bundled with Elgato’s easy to use software. And while we’re on that subject it is worth mentioning that the EyeTV software that comes with the ConvertX interfaces with TitanTV – a free online programming guide. Using TitanTV you can cue recordings from the web with a right-click.

titantv mini PVR with EyeTV and ConvertX

Getting back to the nuts and bolts, you’ll find that the ConvertX comes with everything you need, with the exception of a coaxial cable. The EyeTV software installs in seconds and requires no reboot. EyeTV scans your channels and sends you to TitanTV to register.

eyetvprograms mini PVR with EyeTV and ConvertX

Encoding options are what set this configuration apart from other setups. With the ConvertX and EyeTV you can capture to VCD (MPEG-1), DVD (MPEG-2), QuickTime (MPEG-4) or DivX. Within each format there are options for longer play or higher quality, with DivX offering the best compression to quality ratio. EyeTV exports to about anything QuickTime can
handle and to all your favorite iApps for editing and burning. EyeTV also has a built-in editing interface that allows for quick deleting of commercials.

eyetvedit mini PVR with EyeTV and ConvertX

But lets not forget the options: on the install disc, Elgato has included the key-maps to control the software using Keyspan Digital Media Remote software. So, your presentation remote can double as your TV remote. And, if this weren’t enough, the ConvertX also sports RCA and S-Video analog inputs, so when you’re not recording TV, you can transfer video from older cameras and VCRs.

The performance of the unit was as-expected. You can set aside you concerns of over-taxing the mini. With hardware encoding you won’t notice any slow down watching or recording. In fact on my mini I watched a recorded clip with the incoming television window still open at full resolution without a hiccup.

With superior hardware encoding options, the ConvertX is a unique
combination of TV tuner, PVR and analog video encoder. And, shouldering the processing load for you Mac it is perfect for the mini. The EyeTV software guarantees that you’re not missing anything by picking a less expensive PVR.

Of course, you don’t have to take my word for it. Here’s a matrix of tthe PVR hardware options out there for Mac:

border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="2">
style="font-weight: bold;">PRV
Price Resolution Hardware
Encoding		 Encoding
Formats		 EyeTV
Software
ConvertX $210 720×480 Yes MPEG 1, 2, 4 and DivX Yes
EyeTV Wonder USB $137 720×480 No MPEG 1, 2 Yes
EyeTV 200 $286 720×480 Yes MPEG 1, 2, 4 Yes
Evolution TV $240 720×480? Yes MPEG 2,4 and DivX No
myTV.PVR* $139 720×480 Yes MPEG 2 No

* This product has abysmal reviewer ratings

Please direct comments/corrections on the article to the author, brian AT macmerc DOT com.

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Apr 27 2009

iPod must-have Freeware

I couldn’t believe that in the history of Freeloader Friday we’ve only covered iPod freeware twice. It’s time to set the record straight with free essential software for your Mac’s best friend.

This week’s I’ve chosen quality over quantity. All of these picks have found their way to daily use on my Mac, and I think they will on yours.

Yamipod iPod manager

This (Yet Another) Manager for your iPod is the only one you’ll need outside iTunes. Despite the dull name, this free app digs into your iPod’s hidden music database (which is also home to your videos, if you’re that fortunate) and allows you to copy music from the iPod to your Mac. It also allows you to import, create and manage playlists, import and export songs and add and edit lyrics.

yamipod iPod must have Freeware

As if that wasn’t enough, Yami also copies RSS feeds and other notes to your notes folder. For those of you who aren’t real excited about using unsupported software with your iPod, you’ll be happy to know that Yamipod isn’t as careless as some. It records a backup of your music database (one of the most vulnerable parts of your iPod) on every launch. So, its easy to revert if something goes wrong.

iSquint iPod video encoder

This one will only be on interest to iPod with video owners. But if you have one, you want this. There are a million lame iPod video encoding apps out there, and most share one big problem: encoding time. Even iTunes suffers from long encoding times. Enter iSquint.

isquint iPod must have Freeware

In my experience, iSquint is about twice as fast as EyeTV or iTunes. The author has built in easy presets that create great looking movies. iSquint gives you control over file sizes and format. You can optimize your video for iPod only viewing or TV via iPod viewing. The software queues encodings and is regularly updated for performance.

Fetch Art album art importer

You can rip your entire Pink Floyd collection, and iTunes will give you track names. But when you load them on your beautiful new 60 gig and they just look naked in the “Now Playing” display. Don’t let your ripped or otherwise acquired music play second fiddle to iTunes Music Store purchases.

FetchArt iPod must have Freeware

Get artwork not only gets album art for your songs, it automates the process. Highlight the song, choose Fetch Art from the script menu in iTunes and the AppleScript application finds the image on Amazon. Highlight multiple, or all, and the application will return art for the list, letting you select which to import.

Adding video, art and newsfeeds is easy. And the search for an alternate iPod manager is done. Rock on.

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Apr 27 2009

AMP your Mac’s Webserver Part 2

After Part I we should all have an operationalwebserver. Hopefully its running SSL , which will allow us to encrypt our browser sessions when we log in remotely. Any old box can serve up web pages. Our mission now is to unleash the truly Mac part of our machines over the web.

Getting Your iLife Over the Web

Accessing your Mac via web browser can be fast, safe and easy (not to mention simpler that setting up a VPN). In order to access these services on your Mac, you must configure your home network to be accessible from the web.

Machete and iTunes2web

Machete installs scripts that let you access your iTunes music from any web browser. You can search and play your tunes through a very Mac-like front end. If you’d rather not expose your music files to the web,iTunes 2web will let you browse through your library (without play access) via the web. If you’d like to control your home music remotely, we can do that too with this tutorial.

Web iPhoto Access (WiPhA)

Browse your iPhoto library (and create a photocast) on your Mac from the web. Thumbmnails and search help you organize your photos in a nice clean interface. And you can photocast without a .Mac account. Did I mention security and AJAX?

eyetv FTW

Record TV on your Mac with EyeTV? With this simple PHP script you can access your recordings, see names, channels and times and even download the MPEG files through a web interface. eyetv FTW will even let you see what is recording.

Other Useful Tools

WebDesktop

Now that we’ve made out Mac accessible from the web, why not set your Mac’s homepage as your desktop? Windoze has Active Desktop that turns your wallpaper into a browser. Now, we can do it on a Mac too.

To complete our remote administration round up, we’ll want to grab Relay, an AJAX file management tool with image preview. You can drag and drop between folders. You can remotely manage your MySQL database with TurboDbAdmin. This snazzy free tool lets you view and edit your databases in a familiar interface. Last but not least, you can run a web based email/calendar system with Zimbra. This Open Source rival to Outlook/Exchange lets you tag and manage your email and collaboration.

Apache, MySQL and PHP open a whole new platform of web-based applications to your Mac. Have fun!

Brian

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