What could I do with an iMac?

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spazz

266 posts

Ultimate Geek

#16920 4-Nov-2007 17:03

hey team..

hoping for some advice! I currently have a bravia v-series, but I'm seriously considering replacing it with a 24-inch iMac because:

- I love Apple
- I can run Bootcamp, buy a wireless X360 controller and turn it into a pseudo-X360
- I can watch HD content online on a 24-inch hi-def monitor
- I can rip DVDs onto it and watch them in hi-def

Sounds like fun! But.. what I'm wondering is, how would it work with my MySky decoder? I know you can run a PC through a TV, but can you channel TV into a PC? Could I link it up to the VGA/S-Video/Composite slot somehow? Because if it's a dead no then this plan looks DOA :(

Any advice/thoughts would be greatly appreciated :)

http://walkingisoverrated.com

gehenna

8497 posts

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#93705 4-Nov-2007 18:36

check out some of the elgato products like the eyetv range. www.elgato.com at a guess...

Fossie

1240 posts

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#93711 4-Nov-2007 19:06

Alrightey, I have a 20" iMac and have eyetv running with my 'hvr-900'. It works perfectly. The hvr is a digital/analogue hybrid which can get todays analogue tv but will be able to get the dvb-t service next year. (which won't work in mac os yet, as there is no software which supports mpeg-4 dtt..that I know of). It also works with the apple remote. The 24" iMac has a 1920x1200 screen which is nice, it's 16:10 so is taller than a 16:9 tv. You could also get the xbox 360 HD-dvd drive, and use that for watching HD movies in windows.

There is a problem with your plan though. It has no video inputs, so you can't use it as a screen on its own. If you get a tuner like the hvr-900, you can connect things such as your sky box via RCA or S-Video.

This is what sky looks like piped through 10m of coaxial. Mmm snowy.

spazz

266 posts

Ultimate Geek

#93714 4-Nov-2007 19:29

Haha ew alright, cheers for the reply.

From what I've read about the EyeTV 200, it seems possible for it to act as a 'go-between' - i.e., as a box which enables me to use the iMac as a TV, albeit from within a software app. And I wouldn't mind that - if I can use my MySky box as normal, but instead of being plugged into a TV is plugged into the back of the elgato box, which in turn hooks up to the iMac (via USB??), then theoretically it should work as per normal?

I think it's beginning to sound pretty sweet if that's the case..?

http://walkingisoverrated.com

Fossie

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#93716 4-Nov-2007 19:32

You wouldn't want to buy anything from elgato, way too over priced. The HVR-900 is exactly the same as the "Eyetv Hybrid".
But yep, they all hook up through usb to the back of the mac. Then the rca cables to the tuner.