One could contend that Elgato Systems ’ EyeTV products ( or hardware that uses EyeTV software system ) govern the Mac personal video registrar mart . Miglia takes a valiant snap at EyeTV ’s dominance with its EvolutionTV USB 2.0 digital video recording recorder , but falls short because its software simply is n’t as mature as EyeTV ’s .
Great hardware
The EvolutionTV USB 2.0 social unit is fashionable , have an anodized aluminum case and an infrared remote control that let you exchange channels while you catch lively TV — something Elgato includes with its mellow - last models such as the EyeTV 200 ( , July 2004 ) .
The 125 - channel TV tuner connects easily via a small adapter to a standard analog cable television TV connector . Digital cable exploiter can use the S - Video or composite - video connecter to get a signal into EvolutionTV ( but the whole can not alter channels ) .
Once a video signaling hits the gadget , EvolutionTV shines . It can encode video to MPEG-2 ( for traditional DVDs ) , MPEG-4 ( including a background that score the video compatible with iMovie HD ) , and DivX formats . Both MPEG-4 and DivX offer great quality at lower datum rate than traditional MPEG-2 ( the EyeTV 200 , for one , does not memorialise DivX ) . Beyond simple recording of telly program , EvolutionTV also can be used to file away sometime VHS family line moving picture to DVD with its built - in analogue - to - digital picture converter .
Immature software
EvolutionTV ’s software program is more or less where EyeTV ’s was two years ago , and substance abuser bear the price . In my three week of examination , I encountered several serious hemipteron , include scheduled recording that commemorate the awry TV transmission channel , missed recordings because the data processor would n’t waken from sleep , and corrupt MPEG-4 recording that would n’t open up in QuickTime or iMovie . The reading 2.5 software update address some of the issues ( like read the wrong canal ) , but some bugs persist . Many of them should be fixed in the lately released 2.5.1 update , according to the company .
On a brilliant note , Miglia has added new components to the EvolutionTV software program with each update . For example , the developers contribute clock time - shifting for watching live TV programs and integrated the MovieGate DVD - burning plug - in to the latest version .
Some important features , such as the ability to blue-pencil commercial out of MPEG-2 video , are observably missing — though Miglia says it trust to let in this capability in the next major update . Currently , the only room you may murder commercials from EvolutionTV - generated media is to use the MPEG-4 iMovie HD - compliant scope and do the redaction in iMovie . This option need re - encode the edited footage to MPEG-2 if you need to create a traditional DVD , but that takes time and you will give some quality .
Plug-ins
EvolutionTV expend a plug - in computer architecture to expand its potentiality . To facilitate schedule transcription , an iCal plug - in exportation the transcription fourth dimension and channel information to iCal so that iCal can trigger the recording mapping . A TitanTV plug - in lets users use theTitanTV Web siteto schedule telly recordings as many as two weeks in advance . The MovieGate plug - in makes it possible for exploiter to burn DVD from MPEG-2 recordings directly from EvolutionTV without any other software package . Watching alive TV from within EvolutionTV is simple and the unit feels snappy when change channels .
If you are already familiar with EyeTV computer software , but find the Miglia hardware beguiling , it is possible to buy EyeTV software for EvolutionTV for $ 79 . For some , this might be a equal made in heaven ( though the EvolutionTV ’s Leontyne Price then impart up to $ 358—$29 more than the EyeTV 200 ) .
Macworld’s buying advice
At $ 279 , Miglia ’s EvolutionTV costs $ 50 less than Elgato ’s $ 329 EyeTV 200 . Both PVRs offer great video timber and both have an infrared remote control . But until Miglia resign its next version of EvolutionTV software , the EyeTV ironware - software jazz band is the in effect alternative . And if you do n’t take a remote control , the Plextor ConvertX PVR ( , May 2005 ) is the best value , at $ 229 .
[ Anton Linecker is a technical video consultant and writer base in Los Angeles . ]
