Customer Reviews and Ratings

3.0 out of 5 stars

Based on 34 reviews

  • 5.0 out of 5 stars

    El Gato Hybrid

    • Written by from Hickory

    Just got this to use with my Macbook 13 inch laptop and a 24 inch screen. I am using it connected to a Comcast Digital box. To say the least it works great!! Just got to program it to channel three on the eyetv software and use the cable box remote to change the channels!! It's that simple.

    23 of 29 people found this useful

  • 5.0 out of 5 stars

    Best little DVR out there

    • Written by from Utica

    Have had this for a few years now. Great unit! Great software! Easy to record and program content, and easy to save that content and convert to mp4 format. All from the provided software.

    As we all know, the cable companies are locking out the ability to back up your saved video footage, as they're dictated to by the copyright police. But with the EyeTV, you are left to your own to do as you wish when it comes to copying. Keep your footage in the EyeTV format or convert it to mp4 format, your choice, as it should be. Enjoy!

    6 of 7 people found this useful

  • 5.0 out of 5 stars

    Elgato Works Great

    • Written by from sunnyvale

    I've been running mine on a Mini continually for four years and never had a failure.
    I also like the programming software, very powerful.

    7 of 9 people found this useful

  • 5.0 out of 5 stars

    had one for 4 years

    • Written by from Akron

    I have had EyeTV Hybrid for almost 4 years. Works great. I don't know how some people say it doesn't work. I use it on my iphone 3g network also when not at home. Last week I connected my new 1080p Apple TV to my network and EyeTV wants to work only on the network unless airplay and file sharing are turned off on the Apple TV. I'm still trying to figure that one out.

    4 of 7 people found this useful

  • 5.0 out of 5 stars

    Great product!

    • Written by from Virginia Beach

    I bought an EyeTV Hybrid and I was impressed by the amazing functionality of it! It was expensive but…it's a very great product! Love it! 5 stars!

    11 of 17 people found this useful

  • 5.0 out of 5 stars

    Exceeded my expectations

    • Written by from Greer

    I bought my first Mac and used to have a windows media center edition. I was used to watching TV on my computer and taping things for watching later. I was nervous that Eye TV wouldn't match up, especially since there aren't many reviews. I have to say that I have been very pleased with this product and don't miss media center at all. The only negative is having to pay for the TV guide after 1 year. I like being able to edit commercials out of different shows for watching later. Great product!

    15 of 17 people found this useful

  • 5.0 out of 5 stars

    Worth the money

    • Written by from Monument

    We bought this device as a replacement for TiVo. We are very pleased with how this device met our needs and would recommend to others.

    I have seen no lagging. I have seen it pixelated, but this was related to my placement of the rabbit ears. Once I moved them, this was resolved.

    One complaint I have about this software is that the schedules and the recording are stored in the same folder on the computer. This is not configurable. This would be a nice upgrade. This poses a problem when running TimeMachine for backups TimeMachine allows me to exclude folders or specific files, but not types. I was able to get around this by writing an AppleScript to create a second folder that synchronizes all the schedules. Then Time Machine automatically backs up this synchronized folder.

    The device comes with a remote, and they claim the IR receiver is in the black strip of the device. I consider this remote worthless. However, Elgato has done a great job of working with Apple so the software works with the AppleRemote. We have an old one and it works flawlessly with our new MacMini. The IR receiver is clearly visible on the front of the computer and the AppleRemote works great for volume, playback control, and even navigating through on-screen menus.

    Primarily we use this to record programs broadcast OTA via rabbit ears and the HD is beautiful. We also have the ability to use this device with our DirecTV through S-Video or composite (RCA). It's nice to record something that is not OTA. This device does not interact with the DirecTV box, but using Auto-Tune on DirecTV and scheduling a manual recording on EyeTV, means we don't have to miss that football game that is only broadcast on the BigTenNetwork.

    14 of 18 people found this useful

  • 5.0 out of 5 stars

    Convenient tv on the go

    • Written by from Rancho Palos Verdes

    Not only can this plausibly replace a dedicated dvr, it's great for tv on the go allowing one to watch (and record) over the air (and analog cable) tv in the office, at a hotel room, or wherever ones laptop is. It's amazing how small this tuner really is.

    The video quality is as good as the source (for over the air HDTV, meaning awfully good), and there's a lot to like about the product. The biggest knock is that it can't (directly) handle encrypted digital cable (including HDTV), but that's not a flaw of the product at all. Blame the cable companies instead.

    72 of 78 people found this useful

  • 5.0 out of 5 stars

    Bought two

    • Written by from Windsor

    I always love my old TV with dual tuners which I can watch one channel with a smaller window showing another channel on analog cable. I missed this feature when I switched to digital cable. With two EyeTV tuners, I can record/watch two programs at the same time in full HD with an antenna. You can only listen audio from the active window. Cable is now history. Must have for NFL Sunday.

    17 of 20 people found this useful

  • 5.0 out of 5 stars

    Ditch your cable - buy an EyeTV

    • Written by from New York

    I bought my Hybrid a few months ago after reading an article about people canceling their cable and satellite services and switching to online sources exclusively for tv content. My wife and I had been talking about pairing back our cable service at around $70 a month anyway and some of the suggestions that were made in the article seemed to be reasonable (switch to netflix, hulu, and buy shows from Amazon and the Itunes store). Still I worried about live shows. I did some research and saw that for Mac users most people were pointing towards the EyeTV. I bought one along with a cheaper antenna and sure enough after a relatively easy setup process I was getting about 12 channels in full HD. I could watch shows like the Office (NBC), Letterman (CBS), and the simpsons (fox) easily and I could also schedule recordings of this shows. I can get sports in HD too if they are played on the networks. What’s nice is that PBS comes in great as well so I can catch Frontline in HD…or transfer it to my iPod later with the EyeTV (can’t stream when in the subway or on the plane…more or less) I live in a dense urban area so we happen to get a lot of channels via the antenna (all come in digitally). Either way, I am really happy we did it. I haven’t played with an Antenna since I was a kid and I happy to have rediscovered it in the digital broadcast era. Now I am trying to figure out the best way to connect a computer to our LCD TV to work along with Hulu\Netflix\Itunes and probably an extra EyeTV to go with it. I cancelled my cable tv service about 3 or 4 weeks after playing with the EyeTV. It’s definitely a bill I don’t miss…be brave you can do it to!! (70 x 12 months saves me $840 a year)

    149 of 159 people found this useful

  • 5.0 out of 5 stars

    It's like a Tivo, but better

    • Written by

    I got this so I could watch TV on my new iMac. I use it with a little Terk antenna and am totally amazed at how good the picture looks. It was easy to set up and I love being able to record my shows automatically. The EyeTV program has a lot more stuff than I expected. Only one negative...I'm recording so much, that I'll probably need a bigger hard drive soon.

    103 of 109 people found this useful