Does the current apple products support or do anything remotely close to what the above mentioned do? I would love for my mac to access cable/satellite, record it, and then even burn it to a superdrive.
Kickaha has it. So far no internal options exist for Media Center like Macs. Elgato seems to be the odds on favorite for external options. I think the door though is opening on plenty of opportunity. AVC will allow for savings in the size of files saved. Only caveat is the processing power needed. Personally I think Apple should make a stab at a Media Center Mac because they've done so well in all the technologies required to do it right. We'll see if they see the light. It's one thing to scream about Digital Hubs but we're going to look pretty silly as we watch our PC brethern recording and playing back HDTV using their ATI All in Wonder HD cards. That's why I suggest Apple get smart and be the first manufacturer to put HDMI Connections on computers. That and support for HDCP 5C copy protection instantly allows support for ATSC broadcast HD not to mention Hirez audio outputs in multichannel. There is no other connector that is going to have such widespread support within a few years. Unfortunately Firewire is being pushed out of the space.
Thank you both for your posts. I'm going to check out the El Gato site.
I agree with you totally hmurchison... Mac is known throughout to be the best at audio/video anything. It only seems natural to me if Apple, now seeing that tivo and the pc media center edition is doing so well that they make something like an iControl/iTv or something like that, which seemlessly works with the rest of the iLife products. HD is finally looking like it's ready to start hitting the mainstream more (ie, Voom), and all of these new audio cards have Dobly digital, ES, and DTS 5.1-7.1 built in. Seems only right to have your sweet looking mac acting as center stage to handle everything.
(Watch Apple release something that even blows my ideas away)
I'd better stop rambling like this... or this thread will be moved to the future hardware. Sorry guys!
I don't think HDMI is a big deal; a DVI-HDMI cable is cheap.
Steve better wake up. People in the US watch an avg of 5 hrs a day. Comcast didn't get huge by having no market to market to. Apple need to heed the HDTV revolution and how it makes it so easy to integrate computer technology.
As for HDMI it doesn't seem like a big deal. Only AV buffs really know what it is. However here's the thing.
DVI is nice but limited by cable length. HDMI cable runs can be much longer.
Firewire missed it's opportunity to become the standard for Audio and Video in HDTV. So it's going to be phased out of the next 5 years.
SPDIF doesn't support uncompressed Multichannel. No go here.
That leaves us with HDMI. It's new but on a path to becoming ubiquitous. You will have to have HDMI to receive copyright protected broadcasts at full resolution on newer equipment. Plus we have the multichannel uncompressed audio.
While Steve Jobs is blowing smoke up Mac users asses telling them they have something special in the "Digital Hub" concept PC users and companies are forging ahead with actual product that integrates in home theaters and eventually home networks. Apple is good but all they've done is created nifty apps that don't talk well beyond Macintosh borders.
Where are the Mac developers creating DVR software. Where are the 3rd party DVD player applications with added features? Where are the ATSC tuner cards??
Apple grows too fond of hearing it's own voice and marketing prattle. While PCs aren't as elegant as Apple solutions I admire their developer gumption and desire to make things work. I only wish Apple had that fire sometimes.
This is an area third parties can thrive. Apple shoudn't penetrate every market, just those that (A) provide mac users with inferior user experiences (iPod, iSight), and (B) in core categories where the Mac is falling behind PC's (Safari, Mac OS X).
I think elgato's offerings are great. I have EyeHome and EyeTV USB. I'll be getting EyeTV 200 soon. There are now several third parties in this area, all with compelling products.
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www.elgato.com
I agree with you totally hmurchison... Mac is known throughout to be the best at audio/video anything. It only seems natural to me if Apple, now seeing that tivo and the pc media center edition is doing so well that they make something like an iControl/iTv or something like that, which seemlessly works with the rest of the iLife products. HD is finally looking like it's ready to start hitting the mainstream more (ie, Voom), and all of these new audio cards have Dobly digital, ES, and DTS 5.1-7.1 built in. Seems only right to have your sweet looking mac acting as center stage to handle everything.
(Watch Apple release something that even blows my ideas away)
I'd better stop rambling like this... or this thread will be moved to the future hardware. Sorry guys!
I don't think HDMI is a big deal; a DVI-HDMI cable is cheap.
Originally posted by wmf
hmurchison, you forget that Steve hates TV.
I don't think HDMI is a big deal; a DVI-HDMI cable is cheap.
Steve better wake up. People in the US watch an avg of 5 hrs a day. Comcast didn't get huge by having no market to market to. Apple need to heed the HDTV revolution and how it makes it so easy to integrate computer technology.
As for HDMI it doesn't seem like a big deal. Only AV buffs really know what it is. However here's the thing.
DVI is nice but limited by cable length. HDMI cable runs can be much longer.
Firewire missed it's opportunity to become the standard for Audio and Video in HDTV. So it's going to be phased out of the next 5 years.
SPDIF doesn't support uncompressed Multichannel. No go here.
That leaves us with HDMI. It's new but on a path to becoming ubiquitous. You will have to have HDMI to receive copyright protected broadcasts at full resolution on newer equipment. Plus we have the multichannel uncompressed audio.
While Steve Jobs is blowing smoke up Mac users asses telling them they have something special in the "Digital Hub" concept PC users and companies are forging ahead with actual product that integrates in home theaters and eventually home networks. Apple is good but all they've done is created nifty apps that don't talk well beyond Macintosh borders.
Where are the Mac developers creating DVR software. Where are the 3rd party DVD player applications with added features? Where are the ATSC tuner cards??
Apple grows too fond of hearing it's own voice and marketing prattle. While PCs aren't as elegant as Apple solutions I admire their developer gumption and desire to make things work. I only wish Apple had that fire sometimes.
I think elgato's offerings are great. I have EyeHome and EyeTV USB. I'll be getting EyeTV 200 soon. There are now several third parties in this area, all with compelling products.