Comments on: My other Mac is a DVR http://gigaom.com/apple/my-other-mac-is-a-tivo/ Fri, 25 May 2012 16:59:20 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ By: Rusty http://gigaom.com/apple/my-other-mac-is-a-tivo/#comment-306920 Mon, 03 Sep 2007 18:56:26 +0000 http://www.theappleblog.com/2005/06/27/my-other-mac-is-a-tivo/#comment-306920 For Macjunk: I bought a myTV.PVR and the software kept “encountering a problem” when I tried to load. Did this several times. Not sure how I did it, but finally got the software to load. Now, the menu items are My TVX, file, devices & window. My questions: how do I know if the hardware is recognized? how do I know if the hardware is even on? (I can’t find anything resembling a light). Why have I sat by my computer for an hour and can get no acknowlegement of the hardware’s very existence?
Thank you!

]]> By: Rio http://gigaom.com/apple/my-other-mac-is-a-tivo/#comment-306919 Thu, 12 Apr 2007 15:30:24 +0000 http://www.theappleblog.com/2005/06/27/my-other-mac-is-a-tivo/#comment-306919 Hi everyone,

I have read through some of the info nand comments on this thread about PVRs.

I have tried both the myTV.PVR for Mac (Hauppauge software) and the ConvertX for Mac (EyeTV 2.3.3 software).

I was surprised at the clear quality I got from the myTV.PVR (cheaper unit) but it’s software does not let you edit any of the recorded clips)

I was dissappointed at the fuzzy quality I got from the more expensive ConvertX 402U for Mac. Although I love the EyeTV 2.3.3 software it came with since it lets you edit (cut out commercials) before burning the clip to DVD format.

Can anyone suggest how to edit video clips in iMovie HD 6.0.3 because I’d rather use a clear clip from the cheaper unit?

Any help is appreciated.

Rio.

]]> By: Mimms http://gigaom.com/apple/my-other-mac-is-a-tivo/#comment-306918 Mon, 18 Sep 2006 11:45:39 +0000 http://www.theappleblog.com/2005/06/27/my-other-mac-is-a-tivo/#comment-306918 I know yhis is slightly off the track but.. I have been reading through the comments because I am looking for a connection for an Acorn Electron. Dug it out of my loft and would like to run it through my Mac but it needs “as you guess” an Tv coax connection. It appears that if I read correct, that there is no other choice than a card but at a cost…. Unless anybody knows different……views would be great.

]]> By: Macjunk http://gigaom.com/apple/my-other-mac-is-a-tivo/#comment-306917 Sat, 25 Feb 2006 04:31:48 +0000 http://www.theappleblog.com/2005/06/27/my-other-mac-is-a-tivo/#comment-306917 Honestly I can’t remember, I don;t currently have it loaded due to reloading but I can rmember it wasn’t the highest. The reason being was that even though it’s taking up more storage, it doesn’t mean you’re getting any better quality because your TV only has like a 320 resolution. So unless you’re recording from an HD source it’s pointless to go higher. I hope this makes even a little sense :D

]]> By: Larry http://gigaom.com/apple/my-other-mac-is-a-tivo/#comment-306916 Sat, 25 Feb 2006 04:15:04 +0000 http://www.theappleblog.com/2005/06/27/my-other-mac-is-a-tivo/#comment-306916 Thanks for the great advice. One more question… Which capture setting do you use on your MyTV.pvr? I really appreciate all the help you’ve given to me, and it looks like I’m just about on track.

Thanks again,
Larry

]]> By: Macjunk http://gigaom.com/apple/my-other-mac-is-a-tivo/#comment-306915 Sat, 25 Feb 2006 02:50:42 +0000 http://www.theappleblog.com/2005/06/27/my-other-mac-is-a-tivo/#comment-306915 Excellent to hear Larry. The program to use depends a lot on your desired end result. Everyone has their own preferences on what programs work “best”. For me I have found that as a general use I like to encode with MpegStream Clip and convert it to DV format (this is fairly quick). Then you can open it with iMovie very quickly and edit out the commercials and any extra stuff at the beginning and end of the clip. From iMovie you can export it to a Quicktime format and choose the quality (web, CD-Rom, email, Custom, etc) and by choosing the different qualities the size will vary. I can get a 30 min show down to approx 50mb and still ahve it decent quality on a computer. Or from iMovie you can go into a DVD project in iDVD if that is your goal. Like I said, its really a personal preference though, but I have found Mpegstream Clip to be quicker than D-Vision but D-Vision does an excellent job as well.

]]> By: Larry http://gigaom.com/apple/my-other-mac-is-a-tivo/#comment-306914 Fri, 24 Feb 2006 19:21:24 +0000 http://www.theappleblog.com/2005/06/27/my-other-mac-is-a-tivo/#comment-306914 Macjunk,
Success! I was able to send in my defunct unit and I received a working one just this week. I did a couple of test recordings (Survivor, South Park, & Simpsons), and I was surprised at the file sizes. In “Live” mode, an hour of Survivor came out to 2.3GB. Do you have any tips/tricks for me to “trim the fat”? I’ve downloaded half hour shows that are under 200MB. I saw that you use D-Vision for encoding, so I downloaded that tool as well. Would you recommend capture settings and encoding/re-encoding settings that I can implement in order to decrease file sizes?

Thanks for all your help,
-Larry

]]> By: Larry http://gigaom.com/apple/my-other-mac-is-a-tivo/#comment-306913 Sat, 04 Feb 2006 17:45:29 +0000 http://www.theappleblog.com/2005/06/27/my-other-mac-is-a-tivo/#comment-306913 Wow! Thanks for getting back so quickly.

My unit is displaying the white screen. I have tried different inputs and radio with no success. After a long search, I was able to find another person who was experiencing the same problem. He contacted Eskape (Hauppauge) and found out that there was a batch that didn’t work well with USB 2.0 (it worked fine w/ an older Mac USB 1.1). LONG story shorter, he got an RMA and a replacement that works fine. I’ve contacted them and have not heard back yet. In the mean time, I will try your suggestion.

Thanks again for the quick reply,
-Larry

]]> By: Macjunk http://gigaom.com/apple/my-other-mac-is-a-tivo/#comment-306912 Sat, 04 Feb 2006 04:28:05 +0000 http://www.theappleblog.com/2005/06/27/my-other-mac-is-a-tivo/#comment-306912 Larry,

Yes, I have had great success with it. I have actually used it on several setups. My current setup is a G5 20″ iMac 2.0 Ghz, 2 GB ram, 10.4.4 …I have also used it on all versions of 10.4, also on 10.3.7, 10.3.8, and 10.3.9. I’ve used it on two Mac Minis (a 1.25 Ghz and a 1.5 Ghz) an iBook (1.4 Ghz) and a 15″ Powerbook (1.5 Ghz). What exactly is it yours is doing? Are you getting the software to start? Is it starting but the screen stays white? Have you tried using the different inputs on your myTV.PVR device? You may want to look in /Library/Preferences/ for the file com.eskape.TVPrograms.plist and delete it, also look in /Users/Your User/Library/ for the file MyTV/x.plist and delete it, then reboot (not absolutely necessary to reboot but I always do when getting rid of preference files), and then try your program again. See what happens.

]]> By: Chris Baker http://gigaom.com/apple/my-other-mac-is-a-tivo/#comment-306911 Fri, 03 Feb 2006 19:31:04 +0000 http://www.theappleblog.com/2005/06/27/my-other-mac-is-a-tivo/#comment-306911 I finally returned my myTV.PVR because I was having so much difficulty with not being able to do anything with the files. I don’t want to have to spend 2 hours trying to get a 30 minute show to a DVD–every time.

Ironically, I then found a way to convert the files.

But really, the SW wasn’t that great and I had to leave the software running and/or the computer on (i.e. no sleep) all the time.

I just went ahead and got a TiVo instead.

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