Tv tuners for mac mini tv#
Whilst Apple has it’s Apple TV set-top boxes, they are primarily designed to stream media from iTunes libraries on Macs or PCs on your network, from iTunes Match or from selected third parties such as MLB, WSJ, Netflix and the like. Even if you don’t fancy getting handy with tools, plugging in a large external drive to house your media is sufficient, even over USB 2.0. It runs silent, draws little power and can be upgraded relatively easily if you are confident and competent with paint stripper (yes, seriously!) and a screwdriver.
Tv tuners for mac mini mac#
Pretty good, but by no means perfect, the Mac mini is an excellent candidate – for a media server – either connected direct to your television or used remotely. In this tutorial, I’ll examine some of the possibilities and options for making a Mac mini into a media centre. This is going to be the real-deal, Siri-enabled, iCloud-attached, iOS-controlled, large flat-panel to dominate your living room! Apparently.īut since Gene has been banging on about this for three years or more (Apple has it’s “hobby”, and Gene has his), the Mac mini makes for a pretty good media centre in the meantime. Don’t mistake this for another Apple “hobby” it’s not going to be a set-top box. It's up to you whether the advantages outweight the disadvantages.According to analysts – Gene Munster, of Piper Jaffray, in particular – Apple is soon to launch a revolutionary Apple TV device. However, it has the rippled picture quality of Miglia’s TVMax+ with a little of the yellow-tinged color thrown in from the PX-TV402U. Should you want one? It’s the least expensive of the group and captures video in standard MPEG format that doesn’t need to be converted before it can be played elsewhere. MyTV.PVR sells for $134 to $150 from a variety of sources you’ll find listed on Eskape Labs’ Web site. I finally clicked the close icon on the application’s window, which worked - but also brought up a warning box: "MyTV.PVR has quit unexpectedly." It’s a bit of a rough edge on a product I had expected to be more polished.
Tv tuners for mac mini software#
Apparently I was ignoring an order of preference that the software had for doing things its way. The "Power" button on the remote had no effect when I tried to use it to shut things down. The unit's remote handles all of the TV and radio functions, making your mouse and keyboard nearly obsolete - unless you want to quit the software. Eskape supplies a hanging wire antenna with which I was able to pick up the stronger signals in the area - a real antenna would be the better listening option. The MyTV.PVR comes with a really interesting add-on: an integrated FM radio. And as with the Plextor ConvertX, the color leaned slightly to the yellow side and wasn’t correctable using the available adjustments from within the software. The side-by-side comparison using the PIP image from the Vizio TV set showed no ripples. They weren’t intense, but they were noticeable - and on every channel. Unfortunately, there were some ripples on the TV screen.
I had the unit up, connected (to TitanTV for its programming guide), and running in less than five minutes. The process involved the usual shuffling of the MyTV.PVR application into the Mac’s Application folder and then running it. Installation was just a matter of following the Quick Start Guide (which, for a “quick start,” was fairly comprehensive). You can sit it on top of your Mac its rubber feet should give it enough elevation to still allow the Mini to cool.
Although it's white like the Mini, at 1.25 x 6.25 x 5.75 inches it’s a bit smaller and has rounded sides. As with the Plextor PX-TV402U, there’s no mistaking the MyTV.PVR for a cloned Mini box. Eskape Labs is a division of Hauppauge Computerworks and the source of the MyTV.PVR USB tuner and similar Mac-friendly items.