The software worked quite well on my Mac Mini when used with a keyboard and mouse, but the software suite just isn’t quite ready to be fully controlled by a remote control like I was hoping to do with the dedicated home theater Mac Mini. The app also allows you to edit your recorded videos in order to trim out unwanted sections (such as cutting out commercials from the recorded shows) and even save the output as a compressed format for portable devices such as the iPod or iPhone.

This allows you to watch TV, schedule recordings (and “season passes”) and browse the program guide.

The Elgato device comes with their latest version of the EyeTV Software. Recording video game snippets sounded like a cool option at the time, but if I were to do it again, I’d opt for the EyeTV Hybrid TV Tuner Stick). However, the 250 Plus which I picked up has an analog input which in theory would let me record additional sources to the computer - such as converting old tapes or recording video game gameplay.

(Quick side note: Elgato does sell another device which does NOT require a power adapter and some reports have stated that it is able to pull in OTA signals better. While this was great for my Mac Mini media center (which doesn’t really move), it did mean that it wouldn’t be easy to take the USB device as a travel companion and grab TV from different locations while on the road. However, after connecting to a larger antenna which is mounted in the attic, I was able to pull in all the major networks. When using a smaller “digital OTA antenna” I wasn’t able to get all of my major network channels (CBS, NBC, ABC, etc). The scanning channels process took quite a while for both sources, but the cable source returned better initial results. I tested the device with both cable and antenna and the results were a bit mixed. Setup was pretty standard fare - plug in USB connector and power outlet, install software, connect antenna or cable source. The Elgato EyeTV 250 is a USB device for the Macintosh that allows you to watch and record TV broadcasts from over-the-air (OTA) or clear QAM (unencrypted digital cable) signals. The short answer is… “no”, at least not quite yet. I picked up the Elgato EyeTV as part of my experiment to see if I could cut out my DirecTV service entirely.

Elgato eyetv w review