For those of you who don’t know what any of that means, it basically means that I can connect one of the satellite feeds from my Sky MiniDish into the box of tricks from Elgato and it will output those FreeSat HD pictures onto my home network to be consumed by any device I choose. I decided to dip my toes into the line-up today by ordering an Elgato EyeTV Netstream Sat, a single tuner DVB-S2 FreeSat network tuner. On first inspection, it looks quite Apple focused with a lot of detail on Mac OS X software, AirPlay support along with mobile device support for iOS iPhone and iPad devices but they do support Windows and Windows Media Center also which is enough for me to be happy. On my search for other products, I came across Elgato and their EyeTV product line. I’ve long courted SiliconDust and their HDHomeRun product line but they have let the European products stagnate and not updated them to meet the x2 standards such as DVB-T2 (Freeview HD) or DVB-S2 (FreeSat HD) which means that you can only get the SD (Standard Definition) variants of Freeview or FreeSat on the HDHomeRun.
#Eyetv device tv#
We don’t have sports or movies add-ons and we don’t have any other services like Sky Go, broadband or phone from them, this is just for basic TV with HD.I was pretty staggered that Sky will expect me to pay £40 for this basic service so I decided that now was the time to strike the IPTV drum. All we really watch on TV these days is FTA (Free to Air) content like BBC One, BBC Two, Channel 4 and the kids watch a little bit of kids TV too like Pop and CBeebies. Just because something is easy though isn’t justification for buying it, certainly when it’s £40 a month. I was happy enough to pay for Sky at £20 a month and actually, I didn’t even consider this was a promotional rate. Me and got an email from Sky at the weekend to tell us that our bill was going from a promotional rate to the standard rate, almost doubling to £40 a month. I’ve long wanted to break into the IPTV and streaming TV markets, originally with SiliconDust’s HDHomeRun product and now Elgato’s EyeTV Netstream and now is the time to strike.
#Eyetv device windows 8#
Sky Go and other new features have helped the situation for a number of people but it doesn’t help me using a Windows Phone or Windows 8 devices as none of their apps are available on these platforms (for clarification, by Windows 8, I mean impressive UI native Windows 8 apps and not desktop apps). The way that you are locked into their eco-system and how you watch media the way they want you and not what is most applicable to you to doesn’t appeal to me. A CableCard version offering three digital tuners, dubbed HDHomeRun Prime, is available for pre-order at for $249.99.I’m not the biggest fan of Sky TV even though I’ve been a customer of theirs for about eight years now.
#Eyetv device software#
You can also find a version without the Mac software online for $129.99. The HDHomeRun with EyeTV 3 software is available now for $179.95 through Amazon, the Apple Store, B&H Photo, and Elgato's own online store. Unfortunately, the EyeTV app only works if you're running EyeTV on a Mac, so no live TV streaming to your iPad or iPhone if you only have PCs on your network. The HDHomeRun also works with Windows Media Center and alternatives like MythTV and SageTV. If you need more tuners, additional HDHomeRun boxes can be added to your network.Įlgato ships the device with its EyeTV 3 software for the Mac to allow for those recordings, along with being able to pause and rewind live shows and export recordings to your iPhone or iPad.
#Eyetv device full#
You can also record shows in 1080i HD resolution and even schedule programs to be recorded over a full season. The HDHomeRun is a dual-tuner device, which means you view one show on one computer, and a second show on a different computer. The result? HDTV streaming to any computer on your home network, including iPhones and iPads via Elgato's $4.99 EyeTV app. The box connects to a cable source or digital antenna via a coax connection and to your router via Ethernet. TV tuner cards have always been a niche offering for people who want to watch shows on their computers, but Elgato is looking to take things up a notch with its new HDHomeRun device.