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Interesting!

Who watches TV nowadays?

It's nothing but repeats and news full of doom and gloom.

Get outside and breath the fresh air.

With two tuners, can we expect this offering to be superior to Elgato's EyeTV 250 Plus, which can only accept one input at a time either a cable or an antenna?

Great!

Just in time to be completely ignored!

Maybe with two inputs I will have a better chance of finding a show I'd enjoy.

I read the product spec page on the ATI website and the "2 tuners" do not allow you to record/watch two things at once. It refers to the fact that there is an ATSC (over-the-air HD) and an NTSC (analog cable) tuner. What would be awesome is if there were 2 NTSCs so we could record 2 cable TV channels at once.

Another option is the HDHomeRun, made by Silicon Dust, but sold in a bundle by Elgato with their EyeTV software. The HDHomeRun puts the MPEG stream onto Ethernet rather than USB, so multiple computers on a LAN can access it. Also, I can hide the thing away in the basement where all the cabling comes together. It's pretty useful for recording ball games and the occasional PBS show. Of course you need a wired network; 802.11a/b/g won't cut it for HD MPEG-2 streams. 802.11N is supposedly fast enough, but your milage may vary. Also beware that recording HD uses a ton of disk space, about 7.5GB per hour of TV for 1080i.

Depending on what you watch, it may be more cost effective to capture things off air rather than relying on iTunes. The EyeTV software has a quick and dirty editor for cutting out unwatchable portions. Of course if you want any NBC shows, it's the only way to go.

I'd like to now if it is able to handle HD over Cable

You know I always used to root for the underdog.. especially after the P4 came out... but ya know AMD and ATI both fsucking suck...

their drivers suck, their hardware sucks.. their reliability sucks.. I am done.. Intel and Nvidia for me ALL DAY LONG..

When da hell is Apple going to make an iMac with a built in HD TV tuner and an iPod with built HD/FM Radio... sheesssh!!!

"Advanced Micro Device" has always sounded to me like something Ballmer would say (in a robotic voice) after he penetrated his MS Windows Pocket Pussy Live Home Edition SE '04.....

I waiting for nvidia to bring the 8800 to the Mac for MacWorld this year.

ATI is such a second class vendor now.

Also tell them it's "over the air" and not "off-the-air ATSC/HDTV broadcasts".

ATSC is "over the air" HDTV requiring a antenna on the roof/attic and someone broadcasting "free HD" without copy protection or scrambling.

What they don't sell anymore is a QualCom decoder so one can use the copy protection free/non-scrambled HD channels that are coming over the cable lines. (cable lines use a different digital signal than ATSC). For that you need to find used EyeTV 500 (and the EyeTV software)as it's illegal to sell them new.

Full HD on a 30" Cinema is awesome.

I want something with a Cable Card or able to decrypt Comcrap cable.

Al
I had hoped by now someone would come out with a unit that included a CableCard slot, dual tuner, and 500 gig hard drive to slave under (or beside) a Mac Mini via Firewire or ethernet to form a nice mini-stack home entertainment center.

Is AMD an asian company? The way they named their product: ATI TV Wonder 650 Combo USB for Mac, sure sounds like it. They should take a cue from Apple and keep it simple. Who sits around and thinks these stupid names up?

When da hell is Apple going to make an iMac with a built in HD TV tuner...?

Never will happen.

HDCP was designed to protect HD content from copying. Requires licensing (and being granted permission) a special chip for making HD compatible devices like TV's, projectors etc.

Without the chip, or copying it, results in a lawsuit to device makers.

The last thing the creators of HDCP want is HD on a computer where it's easy to copy.

Sure one can use a device like in the article to get a few "free HD" stations and Apple could integrate it in a Mac. But cable has a near 100% monopoly on the market that free "over the air" stations don't even have a chance anymore.

Cable companies even charge people for the "free HD" stations that come over their cable lines. Thus a EyeTV 500 comes in handy. Just don't tell the cable guy.

So it all depends where in the world you are. Cable companies got a tight grip here in the US.

Cable requires a Qualcomm decoder, not a ATSC.

So even if Apple put a ATSC decoder in all iMac's, not many people can use it in the US and it would add to the cost of Mac for everyone.

Sort of like keeping a dial up modem when everyone is using cable or DSL.

I want something with a Cable Card or able to decrypt Comcrap cable

You need to find a used EyeTV 500 and download the EyeTV software.

This will decode the Qualcomm cable HD stations.

As long as it's not scrambled and/or HDCP copy protected.

It might be possible to place the EyeTV 500 after the cable box on coax output, but I think when the stations are scrambled then decoded by the cable box that it checks for a HDMI/HDCP output from a authorized device.

Since the EyeTV only inputs coax...there are HDMI to VGA devices.

Can't tell you where, you must hunt hard.

It'll be a flop - the name is too damn long and no one will remember it. I guess that the 650 is there to indicate how many thousands of dollars they spent on figuring out a name.

Maybe something simple - like ATiTV? Could they drop the "A" & "V"? Guess not.

It may sound stupid, but companies that get so would up adding stuff to a box generally throw long, waisted names at them. Sort of like MS and the BS they clutter their packaging up with.

Apple showed them the way - keep it simple, like iPod.

"Cable companies even charge people for the "free HD" stations that come over their cable lines."

Pete, as many good points as you make, surely you know that any signal on a cable system requires processing and bandwidth, "and that shit ain't free".

Also, rebroadcast consent usually requires that a digital signal be kept in its native resolution, hence cable companies cannot downgrade it to analog to add to its "basic" package as they do the analog OTA signals, and thus they add it to a "digital" package.

AMD is an American company. Their chip reliability has not been a problem since the K-5 days. They were also the first chip company to break through the 1Ghz ceiling. Now all you AMD haters will flip around like a good fanboi if Apple should open up their hardware, right? Apple has made statements that they won't be using Intel forever, you know. Or does the fanboi mindset forget inconvenient truths?

AMD itself isn't so bad....but ATI (now part of AMD) has had reliability issues.

I have no problems with AMD, Intel, Motorola, or IBM; whichever suits my needs, I"ll go with. Apple may well switch, or at least add AMD into their arsenal; if it fits financially and electronically, go for it! My only problem is for the huge media giants that continue to rake in profits, skew the truth, and screw the public. All the while, they're sending their money to Washington to elect idiots who lie, cause wars, and proliferate the further degradation of a great country. This isn't my 2 cents, it's my dollar, and I'm tired of Bush and his cronies taking it.

So, what software does this device use? I have a couple EyeTV devices, a USB and a 500, that use Elgato software, and it's great.

"This isn't my 2 cents, it's my dollar, and I'm tired of Bush and his cronies taking it."

Uhhh....Hillary?

Hey TowerTone:

check out Ron Paul before you throw your money away at Hillbilly!

@Mac_ATTY

I wish Apple with EOL the iMac and come out with a real desktop. That glossy POS sucks.

opie: Good idea, let's re-elect the Republican party! This time I'm SURE it'll work out well for us!

opie
The only way Hillary will ever get money from me is if America has a collective (collective, get it?) brain fart and my taxes go even higher.

I like a lot about my fellow Texan, Ron Paul. His stance on the war is not one of them. It is good to have someone like him in the race to pull the debate that direction (conservative, not Libertarian) like Kucinich does for the left, only funnier....

MW:freedom

...surely you know that any signal on a cable system requires processing and bandwidth...

Sure and HD requires more so it should cost more right?

I got no problem with that, but how the cable companies are charging HD people with "free HD" channels like it's a premium when it fact it's becoming the standard instead of "free SD" stations.

So cable companies should be charging everyone a slightly higher rate, SD and HD owners alike for the "free stations" instead of making the HD only owners pay premium prices for "free HD".

It just prolongs off the adoption of HD because people inquire about it and just find out the cable companies are going to take them to the cleaners even for the "free HD" and basic package. So they put off their HDTV purchases.

I have a Sony Vaio all-in-one desktop with Vista and Windows Media Center built in. When the cable guy came out to install my cable, I told him I don't have a TV and don't want the giant digital cable box, so bring a CableCard (since the computer has a CableCard slot). The guy brought it, but had absolutely no idea how to install it. Didn't bring drivers with him or anything. So I'm stuck with analog cable. Apparently this is an industry-wide problem. Cable companies in the US are required by the FCC to offer CableCard digital cable tuners to anyone who asks for one so we can watch TV on our PCs, but none of the cable companies train their people on how to set them up, so they're worthless.

Consider the HDHomeRun networked connected dual tv tuner solution with EyeTV software. It supports over the air and QAM cable and works with all the computers on your network. Only thing I wish there were a .mov file for Apple TV with channel changing capabilities and more.

Thank God, for PAL.
Here in the jolly old UK, we bask in glorious 625 lines of pure 4:2:2 colour, sent over a FREE digital terrestrial signal to my Freeview box. Who needs HDTV in the UK, when the bog standard stuff looks so darned good. Lots of channels to choose from as well. (stuff SKY, I say)
This has nothing to do with the AMD device, just thought I'd like a little rant...

no one has mentioned a Satellite card/decoder.

anybody know of such a thing?

Jooop

I'm surprised you really believe the name of the party defines the person. That is what George Washington warned us about in one of his speeches before leaving office that "loyalty to a party" would be more dangerous than any "enemy from without." Heres the quote from his farewell address,
"Let me now … warn you in the most solemn manner against the baneful effects of the spirit of party, generally. … The alternate domination of one faction over another, sharpened by the spirit of revenge, natural to party dissension, which in different ages and countries has perpetrated the most horrid enormities, is itself a frightful despotism."
So would I vote for a man who ran as a libertarian in the last presidential election cycle? You bet! I look at his voting record.

As far as the TV issue,I agree with Jim in the first couple of posts, "Who watches TV nowadays?" Or cable TV for that matter!

Jooop

I have to admit I had a brain fart. I passed on one of the easiest responses I could have used to try to raise your level of intelligence concerning history and thinking for ones self today.

You use Vista? You moron!

"Somebody tell AMD it's "Mac," not "MAC."

This is exactly why we need more women in positions of authority in corporations. No self-respecting woman would mix up a computer company with a make-up company!

"Maybe with two inputs I will have a better chance of finding a show I'd enjoy"

Spark,
I personally favor 3-input girls!

:D

If you gotta have TV on your laptop you need to know two words...

sling

box

I couldn't be happier with our 2 glossy screened iMacs, and I probably wouldn't have considered an all-in-one design AT ALL had they been saddled with horrible matte screens

@Jooop

Where are you? Come on response is good! How about I say something about Algore? I envision him as a kling-on at Apple Inc. We all know kling-ons are like from the future in their thinking, and that they all come from around Uranus. It is also known that they smell very bad, but only the bold ones say anything. Of course it has nothing to do with what they perceive themselves to be. Why they even believe they created the internet! In the end though paperwork took care of the problem as is always the case. Someone please say, "hanging chad or dimple of intent."

I couldn't be happier with our 2 glossy screened iMacs, and I probably wouldn't have considered an all-in-one design AT ALL had they been saddled with horrible matte screens

Yea your just so happy leaving the power off and staring at yourself in your $2000 mirror.

Here's a ball, go play in traffic.

When will AMD update their Mac offerings for Intel Macs? How about updating their site as well. The current one just sucks so badly!

This seems pretty useless if you can only watch over-the-air free HD channels. Without buying anything but a firewire cable (assuming you have a digital cable box with firewire) you can already record unecrypted digital cable HD (e.g., PBS) using the free program iRecord. Also, MPEG Streamclip is a great free program to use to play and edit recorded HD transport streams.