SageTV for Mac...

[DArthur]

I think this calls for some excitement:

http://forums.sagetv.com/forums/showthread.php?t=20190

Looks like The Mac will finally get a decent DVR app...

Anyone care to be a beta tester?

Darryl

[jwcrash]

I'd love to...but don't have the appropriate hardware.

Can't wait to see how the final product turns out, though! Finally, some competition for EyeTV.

[Further]

Can't wait to see how the final product turns out, though! Finally, some competition for EyeTV.

For me, EyeTV is really awful. I am really looking forward to SageTV and hope that it can replace EyeTV in the Mac world. I also hope that they will support a wider variety of hardware than what they currently offer.

[Andrew67]

For me, EyeTV is really awful. I am really looking forward to SageTV and hope that it can replace EyeTV in the Mac world. I also hope that they will support a wider variety of hardware than what they currently offer.

Doubtful. They'll have to write drivers for other hardware for that to happen.

[Further]

Doubtful. They'll have to write drivers for other hardware for that to happen.

True, but take a look at this page: http://sagetv.com/requirements.html?sageSub=tv
This is a list (you have to scroll down) of all the TV cards they now support. They also say that hardware support is one of their highest priorities. If they are going to now support the Mac, then they need to look at the relatively few TV cards for the Mac. Besides, isn't it true that most of these TV cards use the same chipset anyhow?

[Andrew67]

All of those cards are released with windows drivers by their manufacturers. I'm sure that hardware support is one of their top priorities, but only in so far as they want their software to work with as much hardware as possible. There's a subtle distinction there that shouldn't be overlooked. I could be wrong, but I'd by shocked if they start writing drivers on their own.

[Further]

You are probably quite correct that they will not write drivers on their own. However, I still think there are good reasons to be optimistic about this. EyeTV software, for example, supports at least three companies hardware (Elgato, Miglia and Terratec). IAC, if you look here: http://linux.omnipotent.net/article.php?article_id=12435 you'll find a discussion about drivers for Linux TV cards and if you look here: http://linux.bytesex.org/v4l2/drivers.html you'll find the actual drivers.

I'm not a technical genius, but if these drivers work under Linux, I don't think it would take very much for them to run on Macs, since Macs are running Unix.

So, I'm not saying you're wrong, just that I think there are good reasons to be optmistic that Sage will be useable with other Mac TV devices.

[pkscout]

I'm not a technical genius, but if these drivers work under Linux, I don't think it would take very much for them to run on Macs, since Macs are running Unix.

Linux and BSD Unix (the core of OSX) are very different beasts. There is likely to be somewhere between a fair amount and a butt load of work to port the divers over from Linux. It's not just a matter of clicking the "recompile" button is some development tool.

[dtsfanoh]

I am interested to know more about SageTV. I am a long time EyeTv user.

[Further]

Linux and BSD Unix (the core of OSX) are very different beasts. There is likely to be somewhere between a fair amount and a butt load of work to port the divers over from Linux. It's not just a matter of clicking the "recompile" button is some development tool.

Well, I think there may be good news. Apparently the current version of FreeBSD (the OS X system) already has driver support builtin for several TV cards. For more technical information, you can look here:
http://www.freebsd.org/doc/en_US.ISO8859-1/books/handbook/tvcard.html

However, this discussion started because the beta Mac SageTV supports only one TV tuner device and I hoped that more would be included. Considering that this is only beta version, it does seem reasonable that the final version will support more devices and, if FreeBSD already has drivers for several tuners already builtin, then it will be even easier.

I'm using EyeTV now and it is terrible. I expect that Sage will be much better.

[bommai]

I have never used eyeTV before because I did not have any tuners. I just ordered an eyeTV hybrid and am waiting for it. In what way is eyeTV terrible? I have heard good things about them.

[Further]

I have never used eyeTV before because I did not have any tuners. I just ordered an eyeTV hybrid and am waiting for it. In what way is eyeTV terrible? I have heard good things about them.

Well, it may be just me, though I kind of doubt it. I have standard cable and EyeTv can't give me a clear picture for most channels, although my TV can. The EPG performance is even worse. For some shows in the program, I get error messages like "no information available." Elgato, the company that makes EyeTV, choose to use a big international EPG supplier (I live in Europe) and they provide very bad service, plus want me to pay a subscription fee after one year.

The first unit I bought was defective and they were willing to send me a new one, but first wanted me to ship the defective one back and then wait until they had tested it before they sent a new one.

But, again, there are many people on this forum, who do not have these problems, so I can't say what kind of experience you might have.

[Devax]

This is very interesting. I'd love to hear experienced users give an opinion of the interface between the two:

1. Which is easier to use
2. Which is more robust
3. Which records better

etc.

[bommai]

A very satisfied eyeTV Hybrid user in the U.S.

I finally took the plunge and ordered an eyeTV Hybrid from buy.com for $128 total.

I use a PowerMac G4 Dual 1.25GHz machine. I use a third party USB 2.0 PCI card since this machine came with only USB 1.1 on the motherboard.

I installed eyeTV 2.3.1 software and plugged the eyeTV Hybrid into my USB 2.0 port. Voila. Everything worked instantly. I used a $8 rabbit ears antenna. I live near Kansas City, Missouri and I picked up all the local HD stations. I don't care about analog, so I did not even try scanning them. HD programs look breathtaking on my 20" Dell LCD. I believe due to the processing power or lack of it, the shows are played back at reduced resolution but it still looks great. I can pause, rewind, etc. I can also schedule recording (locally as well as remotely through http://www.titantv.com). I am able to mark the commercials in recorded programs and cut them out by compacting them. I am also able to transcode the MPEG2 transport streams into H.264 (this takes a long time though).

I am completely satisfied with it. The program guide requires that you get a free account from http://www.titantv.com. You have to put your login name and password into eyeTV so that it can login through the software itself and display the program guide. It looks and works great. Recording takes very minimal processing power. Playing back is ok too since it is doing it at a reduced resolution.

Once I buy a faster mac or the new iTV device, I plan on watching my recording there. The nice thing is that all my recordings are in full resolution including dolby digital for the future.

[hotwire]

I hadn't seen anything posted here yet. SageTV has just released a public beta for Mac OS X. You can find a link to the release notes here. (http://forums.sagetv.com/forums/showthread.php?t=25097)

[Andrew67]

I downloaded and installed it. Looks like something I could use, but... No support for Elgato hardware at the moment so my EyeTV 500 is holding me back.

[nightfly13]

Sorry if this is dumb, but if not Elgato hardware, what can you use for capture? BTW, anyone know if a capture card that can take PAL signals?

[Andrew67]

The SageTV FAQ lists a single USB tuner. There was a mention of HDHomeRun support in their forums and that's good news.