Tivo VS Mac Mini?

[troublescoot]

I'm trying to figure out whether I should buy a TiVo system or go for a Mac Mini setup.

Here's my current setup (which annoys the hell out of me):

47" Vizio LCD
1 Dell Computer w/ Hauppauge Digital Tuner
Wireless Everything (for control)

What's most annoying about this is having to use Windows Media Center. What's great about it is that I can use my TV to surf the web.

I use a Macbook Pro for my web development, so I'm pretty Mac friendly. That's why I've been considering a Mac Mini (with EyeTV) to use as a DVR system, but I have little to no experience with TiVo but I've heard great things.

What would someone recommend?

[Johncv]

I'm trying to figure out whether I should buy a TiVo system or go for a Mac Mini setup.

Here's my current setup (which annoys the hell out of me):

47" Vizio LCD
1 Dell Computer w/ Hauppauge Digital Tuner
Wireless Everything (for control)

What's most annoying about this is having to use Windows Media Center. What's great about it is that I can use my TV to surf the web.

I use a Macbook Pro for my web development, so I'm pretty Mac friendly. That's why I've been considering a Mac Mini (with EyeTV) to use as a DVR system, but I have little to no experience with TiVo but I've heard great things.

What would someone recommend?

I would hold off on the Mac Mini, rumor has it that Apple is coming out with a new Mini and/or Apple TV that may include DVR function.

Unless you really need to use Windoz, I would sell the Dell and buy a TiVo HD XL with lifetime and wifi adapter and just enjoy and use the Macbook for surfing the web.

[Ferrari_Fan]

Well, Mac is better than windows....but I have read many times that Windows Media Center is really good...However, one problem with Win Media Center, or Eye TV or even Tivo is, shows cannot be transferred to iPod without converting to compatible format....it takes long time on MacBook.....

I had Tivo Series 2, I was very fade up of that...then gave up...decided to switch to Eye TV.....then read that it also requires conversion if want to play on iPod....then again....compatibility with Satellite Connections.....Finally switched to direct TV DVR....was very cheap.....but don't know how to transfer shows....anyway....settled on direct tv DVR because i realized that it is not that easy with other two options....just decided to watch tv on my time and forgot about transferring shows....so

[JYoung]

The man who led the Mac Mini project is a poster on this forum.

I believe he uses TiVos as his primary DVR.

[drewman]

Well, Mac is better than windows....but I have read many times that Windows Media Center is really good...However, one problem with Win Media Center, or Eye TV or even Tivo is, shows cannot be transferred to iPod without converting to compatible format....it takes long time on MacBook.....


Depending on what EyeTV unit you use, you can have it record in MPEG4 which will transfer to your iPod no problem.

I have the EyeTV 200 and a cable box that I control with iRed and an IR transmitter via USB.

I can record in MPEG2 or MPEG4. And there are no problems with transferring shows unlike TiVo.

I mostly use the EyeTV to record my kids' shows, then use comskipper to mark the commercials and edit those out. Then transfer to iTunes for house wide sharing.

Since you can't use EyeTV to record HDTV from any cable only network (no cable card tuner is available for EyeTV), I also have a TiVoHD that I use for the majority of my TV watching and has a high WAF.

I would say that if you like to fiddle with things and aren't too concerned with HDTV shows the EyeTV is a good way to go.

If you just want things to work, TiVo.

Or go for both like I did :)

[jsmeeker]

The real issue with using a Mac Mini (or any other computer) as a DVR is what your source of TV is.

You are going to be limited to OTA ATSC or ClearQAM for HD. If that's all you need/want to record, it can work nicely. If you have have digital cable, you can be SOL. If you want to do SD, it's easier, but again, you are limited to what you can get on analog cable.

[fyodor]

I would consider looking at SageTV (which has a macintosh version) or consider running Media Center.

I may be incorrect, but I don't think that EyeTV allows you to capture anything other than analog SD channels or unencrypted digital channels, which are often limited to locals.

Whereas SageTV supports HD analog capture from your cable box (not sure if this is in the mac version) and similar support is being developed for windows 7.

I think that you also need to consider how much time you are willing to spend on tinkering around and/or how much instability and configuration you want to do.

I used to have a computer PVR and I still miss the flexibility of it, but when I moved in with my then-fiance, I knew that she wouldn't tolerate having to periodically reboot the television.

I'm trying to figure out whether I should buy a TiVo system or go for a Mac Mini setup.

Here's my current setup (which annoys the hell out of me):

47" Vizio LCD
1 Dell Computer w/ Hauppauge Digital Tuner
Wireless Everything (for control)

What's most annoying about this is having to use Windows Media Center. What's great about it is that I can use my TV to surf the web.

I use a Macbook Pro for my web development, so I'm pretty Mac friendly. That's why I've been considering a Mac Mini (with EyeTV) to use as a DVR system, but I have little to no experience with TiVo but I've heard great things.

What would someone recommend?

[DavidO]

Tivo for your PC: http://www.nero.com/enu/liquidtv-introduction.html

[richsadams]

We have both a Mac Mini w/EyeTV (love it!) and a Series3 for our HT. Each have their own plusses and minuses. For "normal" TV work TiVo is fast and robust. For more in-depth media experiences the Mac shines. Some of the features overlap and one performs better than the other for some things. When it comes to computer-centric work, the Mac is by far the leader and can obviously do some things that TiVo can't. TiVo's forte is the elegant simplicity of "always on"; instantly working. So for us it really depends on what we want to do at the time. I'd guess it's about a 70/30 usage split TiVo/Mac at the moment.

I'd also wait on a Mac Mini. If the rumors are right there will be upgraded video graphics, possibly some DVR features (although I'm not so sure they want to cannibalize Apple TV), a larger hard drive and quite possibly BlueRay capability. The last would be a huge plus, allowing a lot of folks to ditch their current DVD player if they haven't gone BR yet.

[drewman]

You can get all the digital channels using EyeTV, you just have to have an external cable box.

I can receive all the HD channels using the cable box (get those for nothing extra since I am paying for them on the TiVo). But because my EyeTV box is SD and I am using the s-video out of the cable box I only get standard definition. All HD channels are letterboxed and actually look very good.

[RickStrobel]

For "normal" TV work TiVo is fast and robust. For more in-depth media experiences the Mac shines. Some of the features overlap and one performs better than the other for some things. When it comes to computer-centric work, the Mac is by far the leader and can obviously do some things that TiVo can't.I'm curious. What do you mean by more in-depth media experiences and computer-centric work?

[richsadams]

I'm curious. What do you mean by more in-depth media experiences and computer-centric work?Viewing DVD's, home movies, photos, web surfing, those sorts of things. Even some of the things TiVo is now capable of such as You Tube, Rhapsody, music and such is a much richer, usually easier and more more fulfilling experience on the Mac. That's not to say that TiVo does a poor job of any of those things that it is capable doing, it's just not as elegant at it. Conversely I have EyeTV on our Mac's (a terrific program) but quiet honestly TiVo does a much better job at managing all things television. I've thought about going with only the computer to handle everything, but as mentioned each does some things better than the other. So for the most part they tend to compliment each other. Just a button push on the Harmony remote and we're in business no matter what we want to do.

I really wish Nero would develop a Mac version of Nero LiquidTV / TiVo PC. It would make things a little easier but for now we're happy with what we have...well I am. The wife just rolls her eyes, but I can tell that she likes the options too. ;)