This is by far the best TV card I have ever used. Let me say that the software for this TV card is where the money is. The EyeTV PVR software that is included in this package, alone, is worth $500 dollars in my opinion. I was skeptical but this software will record TV shows in very very high quality. I was able to record shows that look as good or better than shows sell on iTunes. Exporting to iPod takes one click.

What about commercials you said? no problem. The software has a built-in easy to use, editing features that has a timeline of the show where you can set markers where a commercial starts and ends. You can then snip out these commercial parts and you'll end up with an iTunes like quality show, commercial free. Over the weekend I recorded TNT movies, stripped out commericals and transferred to iPod. This TV card and software combo gives new life to my iPod. The only thing is I need to get an 80G iPod, now that I can put on shows of my own. Did I mention the recorded shows are in extremely HIGH quality??? I did. OK! just want to make sure :)

My iMac 24 inch is screaming with joy. I meant to say that I am screaming with JOY. I am a PC guy for almost 20 years. I used to hate the Mac and now I am using the best OS in the world and love it. I am ashamed to admit that to my fellow tech nerds :)

4 people found this helpful

I've only been using it for a day now and so far I think it is a very cool product. I have had to force quit once. Be aware that it will not even run on a 1.1 USB port. I tried it with my old 867 Powerbook(1.1 USB) and it wouldn't even launch. I think the eyetv250 will work over usb1.1 because of it's built-in decoder. Because of no onboard hardware decoder it can not buffer live TV - no going back to review or pausing

I have little to no over-the-air reception at my home so I am using it via analog cable. It was easy to configure the schedule software. I'm just looking to get material over to my iPod becasue Tivo has yet to do this on the Mac platform.

I'm using it on my PowerMac Dual G5 2.0 with no performance problems. However while recording and encoding to ipod at the same time the fans whirl up on this noisy Mac. The other cool thing is it creates a Playlist in iTunes so the converted iPod videos are loaded onto the ipod automatically.

It supports Apples bigger ipod files (640x480) with the option to use a faster conversion or smaller file sizes. I'm using the smaller file size and a 30 minute show equals 187MB

I'm rating it 4 stars only because I have yet to use it for an extended time. After installing it imediately updated the software from their website to 2.3.3

4 people found this helpful

I use the Tv Micro on my iMac and it works like a charm. It was easy to install and set up. The picture is clear. I especially appreciate the ease with which you can schedule programs to record directly from the program guide - much easier and more reliable than programming a VCR. It does take a lot of memory, but that's a small price to pay for such an excellent utility.

One person found this helpful

This little device was awesome, at first. Simple installation, it scanned all our channels, and we were able to watch TV off our iMac from bed! We used it a lot in the first couple of weeks we had it.

Then the tip broke off. There was no reason for it, we didn't bump it, move the computer around, kick the cable, anything. We simply went to unplug it and the tip (that connects to the RF cable) broke off rendering it useless.

If this were better made, it would easily have 5 stars.

2 people found this helpful

This product has alot of potential. The software looks good and is easy to navigate, but I had problems with software bugs using my Mac Mini 1.5 GZ with 540 MB Ram using Tiger. The software would sometimes work and sometimes not when trying to record videos at VCD quality or really any quality for that matter. When I would try to close the software app, it would lock up and refuse to close everytime. Even, Quit Process/Force Quit in Activity Viewer would not close it. Eventually, I returned the product for a refund.

The tuner is excellent and design is good. I just couldn't get the software to perform to my expectations. One good thing is that the software does have an excellent export feature for use with Video Ipod or other file formats. Too bad that there is compatibility problems. Do not recommend.

One person found this helpful