TubeStick
Equinux The Tube 2.9.5 Mac DVR Software Update
11/25/09 22:12 Filed in: TV Tuner Hardware
Nice to see a little update to The Tube for the PC and Mac compatible TV tuner - the Equinux TubeStick
from Equinux at year's end. 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.What's new in version 2.9.5 of TheTube:
• Global scanning option. Scans all frequencies, regardless of your selected country
• Support for the new aluminum Apple remote
• Improved stability under Mac OS X 10.6.2
• Restores the iMovie and Apple TV export options
• The Tube will no longer automatically 'unexpectedly' quit if you remove your TV device
• Over the air EPG updates are now delayed for 12 hours if you select "update later"
• Resolves an issue with Miglia Analog TV tuners
• The default volume setting is now louder
Macintosh TV : ElGato EYETV vs Equinux THE TUBE
03/05/09 01:18 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.