Equinux The Tube 2.9.7 Mac DVR Software Update
Filed in: TV Tuner Hardware
Nice to see ongoing software updates to The Tube v2.9.7 for the PC and Mac compatible TV tuner before year's end. Also there's a NEW LOW PRICE on the Equinux TubeStick
Hybrid USB Tuner. Especially welcome is the 12 hour delay for Online TV program guide updates. Earlier versions had an annoying tendency to keep popping up - wanting to temporarily interrupt viewing while it retrieved your local program guide data.Miglia TV mini HD Express For Mac
Filed in: TV Tuner Hardware
Miglia has been in the Apple Mac TV tuner market for a long time - though their presence in the US North American NTSC market has somewhat dwindled as they focus more on their native European base. A year and then some back, Miglia released a small Digital only TV tuner box - The Miglia TV mini HD express
supporting both ATSC antenna and Clear QAM Digital Cable - which is what's needed for HD on a Mac reception these days - and won't change in the foreseeable future.
Miglia once bundled EyeTV with it's tuners. After a fall-out with ElGato, they briefly shipped thier own 'MigliaTV (1.1.6 is the current version)' DVR application for Mac, but have since partnered with Equinux and now supply THETUBE software.
I recently made the switch to Digital TV retiring an older non-Qam Hauppauge WinTV HVR-950 Hybrid tuner that has long been supported in Eye TV 2.5 and remains so under Eye TV 3. Didn't really have a need for Analog video capture via it's S-Video and Composite dongle, or the now vanishing Analog television stations. Besides, I was ready for Pure Digital only.
Was quite pleased to find just much more SENSITIVE the Miglia HD Express tuner is than the 950 - picking up two more local DTV stations _using the exact same antenna and cabling_. This points to a truth everyone needs to be aware of: Whether it's a TV set tuner, a VCR's built-in television tuner or a computer tuner stick: different devices using differing components and designs can have varying degrees of signal sensitivity. And that difference may mean one or more stations you OUGHT to be getting.
The main reason for choosing the mini HD Express? FLEXIBILITY. I now have a choice in PVR recording software. I now use the Miglia Express with with both THE TUBE 2.9.3 and EyeTV 2.5 which I've owned from previous tuners. Both work great.
supporting both ATSC antenna and Clear QAM Digital Cable - which is what's needed for HD on a Mac reception these days - and won't change in the foreseeable future.Miglia once bundled EyeTV with it's tuners. After a fall-out with ElGato, they briefly shipped thier own 'MigliaTV (1.1.6 is the current version)' DVR application for Mac, but have since partnered with Equinux and now supply THETUBE software.
I recently made the switch to Digital TV retiring an older non-Qam Hauppauge WinTV HVR-950 Hybrid tuner that has long been supported in Eye TV 2.5 and remains so under Eye TV 3. Didn't really have a need for Analog video capture via it's S-Video and Composite dongle, or the now vanishing Analog television stations. Besides, I was ready for Pure Digital only.
Was quite pleased to find just much more SENSITIVE the Miglia HD Express tuner is than the 950 - picking up two more local DTV stations _using the exact same antenna and cabling_. This points to a truth everyone needs to be aware of: Whether it's a TV set tuner, a VCR's built-in television tuner or a computer tuner stick: different devices using differing components and designs can have varying degrees of signal sensitivity. And that difference may mean one or more stations you OUGHT to be getting.
The main reason for choosing the mini HD Express? FLEXIBILITY. I now have a choice in PVR recording software. I now use the Miglia Express with with both THE TUBE 2.9.3 and EyeTV 2.5 which I've owned from previous tuners. Both work great.
Macintosh TV : ElGato EYETV vs Equinux THE TUBE
Filed in: DVR Software | PVR Software
Equinux, makers of the TUBESTICK USB Hybrid Tuner and authors of MEDIA CENTRAL have been very aggressive with updates to their PVR software ‘THE TUBE’. As such they’re proving to be a worthy competitor to ElGato who’s long dominated the Apple Mac TV scene with EyeTV for many years.
While the full version of EyeTV - now at version 3.1 - remains the gold-standard in Mac DVR software, I’m finding it’s deep interface with multiple windows to require a bit of juggling. That’s often a problem as simplicity suffers as more and more features are tacked on with each revision. The tradeoff is worth it for many users as the abilities to schedule, record, do advanced editing, and ridiculously easy to export to iPod or burn to disc functions have been integrated. I’ve been using EyeTV since ElGato’s first USB 1.1 speed tuner hit the market. Even back in EyeTV’s version 1.x era, it was a well-written Mac app, and it’s been an absolute pleasure to see it evolve.
TheTube - now at version 2.9.2 takes a different approach - Trying to maintain a SINGLE consolidated window which I’m enjoying more and more - and merely updating the sidebar content to reveal different program modes and functions. Rather than a ‘floating’ remote that EyeTV presents, TheTube keeps channel controls in a fixed position. This manages to offer the same functionality with fewer control buttons - and relies somewhat more heavily on additional Keyboard controls instead. Sometimes less is more. When I want to JUST WATCH TV on my Mac (which is MOST of the time) - The Tube is becoming my preferred app. It still has its rough-spots, but once Equinux got core PVR features in place around version 2.5, recent updates have added stability and polish.
In tribute to Apple’s own FRONT ROW multimedia app, MediaCentral, Equinux’s other app blends and integrates both TV watching with ways to access all sorts of other media from your DVD’s to Photos to YouTube to Podcasts to Skype and beyond. And for select tuners from Hauppauge and Pinnacle Systems - a special version of EyeTV LITE provides entry-level PVR functionality without all the bells and whistles of EyeTV 3 -- while presenting a FRONTROW like interface that’s menu-driven and easily managed with the simple buttons of an Apple Remote.
Lastly, both these apps increase their support of various, select 3rd party TV tuner hardware devices with each revision. Between TheTube 2 and EyeTV 3, well over 2 dozen select models of Mac supported Analog, Digital and Hybrid TV tuners in total now enjoy support. With careful shopping, a tuner such as with the Miglia TV mini HD Express for Mac can be used with EITHER retail versions of EyeTV or TheTube if you so desire. It all adds up to MORE CHOICE, and in the smaller world of Macintosh, that’s a *good* thing.
While the full version of EyeTV - now at version 3.1 - remains the gold-standard in Mac DVR software, I’m finding it’s deep interface with multiple windows to require a bit of juggling. That’s often a problem as simplicity suffers as more and more features are tacked on with each revision. The tradeoff is worth it for many users as the abilities to schedule, record, do advanced editing, and ridiculously easy to export to iPod or burn to disc functions have been integrated. I’ve been using EyeTV since ElGato’s first USB 1.1 speed tuner hit the market. Even back in EyeTV’s version 1.x era, it was a well-written Mac app, and it’s been an absolute pleasure to see it evolve.
TheTube - now at version 2.9.2 takes a different approach - Trying to maintain a SINGLE consolidated window which I’m enjoying more and more - and merely updating the sidebar content to reveal different program modes and functions. Rather than a ‘floating’ remote that EyeTV presents, TheTube keeps channel controls in a fixed position. This manages to offer the same functionality with fewer control buttons - and relies somewhat more heavily on additional Keyboard controls instead. Sometimes less is more. When I want to JUST WATCH TV on my Mac (which is MOST of the time) - The Tube is becoming my preferred app. It still has its rough-spots, but once Equinux got core PVR features in place around version 2.5, recent updates have added stability and polish.
In tribute to Apple’s own FRONT ROW multimedia app, MediaCentral, Equinux’s other app blends and integrates both TV watching with ways to access all sorts of other media from your DVD’s to Photos to YouTube to Podcasts to Skype and beyond. And for select tuners from Hauppauge and Pinnacle Systems - a special version of EyeTV LITE provides entry-level PVR functionality without all the bells and whistles of EyeTV 3 -- while presenting a FRONTROW like interface that’s menu-driven and easily managed with the simple buttons of an Apple Remote.
Lastly, both these apps increase their support of various, select 3rd party TV tuner hardware devices with each revision. Between TheTube 2 and EyeTV 3, well over 2 dozen select models of Mac supported Analog, Digital and Hybrid TV tuners in total now enjoy support. With careful shopping, a tuner such as with the Miglia TV mini HD Express for Mac
can be used with EITHER retail versions of EyeTV or TheTube if you so desire. It all adds up to MORE CHOICE, and in the smaller world of Macintosh, that’s a *good* thing.