TiVo, ReplayTV, EyeTV
Hi. For a while now I've been wondering about these 3 products. I have a few questions about them.
What are the features on each one?
Which is best?
Which one is best for integrating on a network using a TV to view iLife documents?
Are they the same type of products? ive read EyeTV is different sort of.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks
Logan
What are the features on each one?
Which is best?
Which one is best for integrating on a network using a TV to view iLife documents?
Are they the same type of products? ive read EyeTV is different sort of.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks
Logan
Comments
Let's start with cost:
A unit will run you $250 to $350 (Sony has a do anything unit for $450). Plus the "TiVo Service" which will run you $13 per month or $300 (!) for a lifetime membership thingy. (This is the "TV Guide" funtionality -- I don't know if the units still function without subscription -- The old ones used to).
I bought early when the monthly service cost $10 and the lifetime service only cost $200.
Home Networking costs an additional $99 one time charge.
I think the way it breaks down is TiVo has the better UI, but the Replay has the better features.
I can't speak for the other two specifically, but let me throw in an Open Source solution: Freevo and one other one that I don't remember.
Not necessarily cheaper because you have to build your own unit. Correction: Not build as much as upgrade a PC into a Home Theater PC with an additional hard drive and TV tuner card.
Screed
Originally posted by hmurchison
I'm a future ReplayTV users. I believe currently that ReplayTV is more "consumer" friendly. The UI may not be as glitzy as Tivo but I know I have Ethernet and component outputs standard. I know I have DVArchive to easily offload my files. I have Automatic Commercial Skip. I just hope Denon/Marantz doesn't make any boneheaded decisions.
On ReplayTV or TiVo (i looked at EyeTV, not what i want) can you watch your ilife things (movies, photos, itunes) on your tv (which i assume you can) AND I was wondering if you could stream/save recorded tv shows to your mac anyone know?
http://dvarchive.sourceforge.net/
The Killer App for ReplayTV.
* See what shows your ReplayTV(s) have recorded right from your computer
* Automatically finds your ReplayTVs
* Download shows from your ReplayTV to your computer to watch, archive, burn to DVD/VCD, etc
* Automatic support for Replay 4xxx and 5xxx Series units
* Turn your computer into a virtually unlimited capacity ReplayTV show archive
* Schedule automatic downloads of shows from your ReplayTV to your computer
* Schedule automatic purging/deleting of shows you don't like but which your ReplayTV keeps recording
* Watch previously downloaded shows OR watch shows directly from your ReplayTV without having to download them first
* Control your ReplayTV remotely (turn it on, off, delete shows, etc)
* Manage your ReplayTVs photos
* Control your ReplayTV from your computer
* Has a clean interface that allows you to see and use all your ReplayTVs from one place
* A whole heck of a lot more!
From Dealmac's Forums:
Re: EyeTV First Impressions
Author: BigGuynRusty (Registered User)
Date: 04-23-03 13:03
EyeTV is an incredible little box. I have been reporting on EyeTV here since its beta days. In my personal opinon it blows Tivo away. Here are some cool things you can do with EyeTV:
Edit and burn your recorded shows to VCD
Turn your home movies into VCD's
Use multiple EyeTV's at once. I have recorded up to six different shows at once.(Two per USB port, I have run six on my DP450 with an add-on USB card)
It records fine from my digital cable box, can't control the channels, but when I do record something from the digital side, I hand tune it. The analog side of the cable works fine with EyeTV.
Plays VCD's in OSX
I use the EyeTV software on my Pismo and stream the video wirelessly from my DP450, have the Pismo plugged into my 42" television, looks beautiful.
Just a wonderful peice of kit, I am very happy with the output, the software just gets better and better.
I'll add:
1. No subscription issues. You can use Watson, TitanTV.com, or program manually without cost.
2. No show recommendations based on genre.
3. Software is what really stands EyeTV away from Formac Studio DV/TV, because Formac's offering produces better quality (DV=huge files).
4. EyeTV wakes or boots your computer minutes before recording, and then puts it to sleep based on your Energy Saver Prefs.
5. As said above, a "wonderful piece of kit."
6. $199
EyeTV has 2 quality settings, the highest quality setting produces good results IMHO.
PVR's won't take off until they're cheap. I mean Good Gawd who can afford multiple units at $500-600 a pop. When VCR's are $50
Originally posted by Logan
But on EyeTV can you record shows to view on your computer but as well as your TV? Because i want a unit that can be viewed on my comp and on my tv
Not exactly. TiVo and Replay are set-top boxes, made for hooking to your TV. They have some ability to connect to the computer, but it's a secondary consideration.
EyeTV is made to hook into your computer. It's primarily for using your computer's hard drive for storage, and your computer's screen for playback. It can play to a TV if you have a way to display your computer's image on TV, but that's not the EyeTV's purpose.
I have also downloaded shows from my replay and burned them to disc.
There is a photo feature where you can load pictures to your replay to show up as a screensaver, but I disabled it to make more space for my shows.
I guess, with the right setup, you could output it to a TV directly, but not out of the box.
Originally posted by Nordstrodamus
I have a replayTV 4504 and love it. It's connected to broadband so I get more up to date TV scheduals. I can watch and share shows over the internet with my Dad who also has a 4504. Also, I watch shows streamed to my mac over an airport network as I eat my breakfast.
I have also downloaded shows from my replay and burned them to disc.
There is a photo feature where you can load pictures to your replay to show up as a screensaver, but I disabled it to make more space for my shows.
How do you do all this? What program do you use to stream it etc or does it come with ReplayTV?
Originally posted by Logan
How do you do all this? What program do you use to stream it etc or does it come with ReplayTV?
It's an open source program called DVArchive. It's free and it can do a lot, including acting like a virtual ReplayTV so you can actually download your replay shows to your mac to clear space on your replay and still watch them on your TV.
For my particular setup I have a cable modem connected to a hub connected to my replayTV and an airport base station that distributes Ips over the wired and wireless network. Recorded at regular quality it streams to my mac without interruption and that's with the old airport (11 mbps). I imagine the new airport extreme could stream the high quality stuff.
Originally posted by Logan
This also goes for ReplayTV, could i connect it to my computer/network without plugging a hardwire ethernet cable into it? like if i had a wireless receiver for the airport that connects to the Replay box instead of a wire?
For the eyeTV I believe they have it set up to work with the Keyspan IR remote.
For ReplayTV, at least one of the models supports a wireless adapter (USB I believe), but I can't speak about how well the streaming would work if the airport base station is splitting the wireless bandwith between the computer and the replay.