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Difficult to setup the TV Guide program guide using either the digital or analog TV signal. With my high quality cable connection, I was able to receive only 5 digital or 30 analog stations–each with different settings. There was a remote record feature to allow recording your favorite program while away from home that worked well but I was unable to configure all of the features of the device to perform in unison. I am a longtime user of the Mac (beginning in 1986), however I at a loss while trying to set this device with my system. I truly believe Elgato has a fine product. But, if I could not get the EyeTV Hybrid TV Stick for the Mac to work, it has no value.
Rating: 2 / 5

By J. Frank on Feb 5, 2010

I purchased this product a year ago and it work alright for a year. The hardware started to get flimsy but still worked. The software and software support by Elgato is far from par. They do not allow for customer calls…only email. This means at least a day between questions from customer and service center. Also, the technicians were more interested in the “usual” problems. My problem was not usual and they could not believe the at it was anything but that and finally concluded that it must be hardware. The hardware was tested on other systems and worked fine. I rate this low because of the software and software support. I will never buy an ELGATO product again.
Rating: 2 / 5

By Chaz McGoogle on Feb 5, 2010

Overall the device works as described and is worth the purchase. However there is a significant shortcoming that needs addressing that was the reason for me giving it only three stars.

If your entire family shares one Apple computer with several accounts, you have to be careful as to how you implement using the eyeTV. Only one user at a time can run the software, and because of that only one user at a time can be recording a show, and because there is only one tuner, that one user who is recording can only record one show at a time. Also the program needs to be running to record a show which means you can’t be fully logged out and your family better not log you out.

Say your son wants to record a certain show, and mom wants to record her own show, and I want to record something else. There is no good way to manage that. My son cannot be running the program and the rest of the family running it too. So whose shows will get recorded? Everyone would need to make sure the correct person is running the software at the correct time to be sure their shows are getting recorded. I have to do a quick log-out so that eyeTV is still running in the background if someone else is using the computer. The software for eyeTV was not designed with multiple users with multiple accounts sharing one computer.

As a work-a-round, you could decided to set up a user account called “TV.” The whole family could share that one account and everyone uses that one account to set up their recordings, being careful to not overlap shows at the same time. But that has it’s own problems by defeating the features of the iMac like setting my kids time limits. The other thing you can do is decide who in the family will do all the recordings and make sure that person is always running the program. That is what we’ve decided to do in our family.

What would make this a perfect product is if in one package, the unit had two or three tuners, and multiple versions could run at the same time. Then each member of the family could set up their own recording schedule and there would be less worry of overlapping shows. If the eyeTV had that capability, I would have given it four stars. A better written owners manual would have earned eyeTV five stars. The manual does not address the program’s shortcomings and is very basic without many finer details.

The product does work as described. For one user who never has to record more than one show at a time it is a perfect product. I don’t regret the purchase and I recommend the product, it just falls short in a major way when dealing with a family of users sharing one computer who might want to record more than one show at a time.

Rating: 3 / 5

By Midwest Guy on Feb 6, 2010

It does everything it advertises and perfect for what I needed BUT, the USB stick became very hot and now, the light does not come on. Still works fine but I may have to get an exchange since I had it less than 30 days.
Rating: 3 / 5

By Mike S on Feb 6, 2010

I have had this product for a few months now and love it. I am able to watch and record programs in HD and SD. I also purchased the eyeTV iPhone app ($4.99). It work great. I can watch live TV or recorded shows over 3G and set up recordings using the iPhone. Very cool.
Rating: 5 / 5

By weekend photographer on Feb 6, 2010