Putting Freeview onto an iMac?

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NonprayingMantis

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#151577 29-Aug-2014 13:58

I have a fairly old 32" TV in my kitchen which is on it's last legs.

Rather than replacing it with another TV, I was thinking about replacing it with an 27" iMac, but wondered if I could still connect up a freeview box (specifically, my TiVo) to the iMac and watch that on the iMac screen.

Or would it make more sense to just get a normal 32" TV for a few hundred bucks, connect the TiVo to that, and just buy a Mac Mini instead? Would certainly be a lot cheaper.

(it will mostly be used as a kind of HTPC - so likely no real need for the grunt of a full iMac)

thoughts?

wellygary

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#1117994 29-Aug-2014 14:45

Don't bother with the imac,
Buy a cheap 32inch TV and plug your Tivo into that, then think about if you want to connect a Mac Mini later.

The Current Gen Imacs "can" accept inbound video, but only from a Thundebolt source ( pervious imacs with a Minidisplay port could take HDMI from an adaptor, but HDMI to Thunderbolt adapters don't exist ( and it does not appear anyone is actively working on one)

Ragnor

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#1117999 29-Aug-2014 14:54

The SiliconDust HDHomeRun is an option if you want to watch TV on any computer on your home network (Windows, Linux, Mac)

http://nicegear.co.nz/htpc/silicondust-hdhomerun/

Behodar

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#1118001 29-Aug-2014 15:06

EyeTV is the de facto way of getting Freeview on a Mac, although you'd avoid the TiVo completely and do it all with the EyeTV software.

Edit: Site appears to be broken at the moment! Not a good look...

morrisk

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#1118062 29-Aug-2014 16:47

I have used the EyeTV Netstream device to have Freeview available to my iMac and Macbook and iPad for some 3 years now - has worked very well and it is good to be able to watch TV on these other screens when needed.

khull

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#1123204 6-Sep-2014 16:16

Have set up a HDHomeRun - it is a dual network tuner and then EyeTV. Not the cheapest software to purchase but well worth the setup