TV on Snow Leopard

[Avvocato Effetti]

Here is the question.

I want to watch HDTV on my MacBook Pro running Snow Leopard.

What's the best hardware/software combo to set up to get that done?

 

[mmntech]

Elgato EyeTV. Pretty much the definitive tuner for Mac. Theres the USB key sized EyeTV Hybrid or the bigger DVR EyeTV 250 Plus, which has a built in decoder.
http://www.elgato.com/

The 250 Plus is on sale right now for $150. The Hybrid is also $150.

 

[Zaap]

Software: hands down I'd recommend EyeTV. IMHO it's the best TV software on any platform.

Hardware: Right now, I'd recommend the EyeTV Hybrid tuner. Currently you can get it bundled with eyeTV and remote for $150, which is a great deal for a complete Mac TV tuning solution. The hybrid is nice because it does NTSC and FM as well as ATSC/QAM.

Otherwise: I'd recommend my fave, the HDHomeRun from silicon dust. It's more of a 'whole house' TV solution, as it delivers dual channels of ATSC/QAM (no NTSC) to every computer on your (wired) ethernet network. (Does not work via wireless).

ATSC/QAM works great on a Mac. If you need to tune a source through a digital sat or cable set top box, then it get a lot more complicated (and expensive) on the Mac as far as channel-changing hardware and software.

 

[ChAoTiCpInOy]

Slingplayer?

 

[Avvocato Effetti]

Thanks for the input.

Here is a draft of what I propose to do.

Purchase an additional Time Warner setup box with DVR. This will be a dedicated setup box to feed a Slingbox.

Purchase a Slingbox and connect it to the above setup box and to my wired Linksys home network.

Replace my current Linksys router/wireless B access point with a new AirPort Extreme (dual N) base station with a built-in hard drive.

Plug in both internet modem and sling box into the Airport Extreme. Distribute wired ethernet and wireless dual N through the house. One issue, the AirPort extreme doesn’t have enough ethernet outlets for my current setup.

Pick up and control HDTV on my MBP through its integrated dual n capability.

What am I not thinking about?

 

[sjwaste]

I have a Slingbox Solo installed remotely so I can watch my teams, and that's basically my setup, minus the DVR and LAN aspect. However, both ends of my setup have Fios, so we usually get bitrates in the ~2000kbit range. Works great.

I can only imagine how much better it'd be on the same LAN. One word of caution, the Slingplayer software for OSX is a bit behind Windows. There's no guide built into the app itself, for instance, so you'd have to use the DVR's guide.

 

[Avvocato Effetti]

Do you think the bit range of the dual n will give me a good stream? Will the Slingbox buffer the transmission if I want it to?

 

[sjwaste]

Most likely yes and yes. I mean, I'm on 20 mbit Fios in both directions and get good bitrates. Wireless N offers way more than that over short distances.