Elgato thinks small with EyeTV DTT Deluxe tuner

Stephen Withers
Wednesday, 09 July 2008 03:59

IT People - People

Bigger isn't always better. This is particularly true of USB TV tuners, which have a tendency to block adjacent ports unless an extension cable is used. Elgato has put its hardware on a diet, resulting in a tuner measuring just 57 × 17 x 9 mm.

The EyeTV DTT Deluxe is smaller than some of the flash drives in my collection, and according to the company it's so small that it can be plugged into a MacBook Air without fouling the headphone or video connectors.

The lack of size does not mean a lack of features. The package includes a telescopic antenna that connects directly to the tuner, a a rod antenna for situations that require additional flexibility of aerial placement, and an adaptor for connecting a regular (eg rooftop) TV antenna.

Also provided are an infrared remote control and Elgato's famed EyeTV software which provides PVR functionality including support for over-the-air and online EPGs, basic editing of recorded programs, export to iTunes (for syncing to Apple TV, iPods and iPhones), sharing recordings with other Macs on a LAN and with other devices via the browser-based 'Wi-Fi access' (which works over wired networks too).

HDTV is supported, but 720p and 1080i require an Intel Core 2 Duo based Mac, Elgato officials warn.

The EyeTV DTT Deluxe costs $A199.95/€79.95/£69.95.