Product Description

Plug the Pinnacle TV for Mac stick directly into your computer's USB 2.0 port to start experiencing the power of digital and analog TV ¿ complete from your desk or the comfort of your couch. The ultra-portable stick along with the convenient antenna and mini remote make it easy to take your TV for Mac with you anywhere you go. The provided EyeTV software enables full playback controls including pause, rewind, fast forward, skip, slow-motion. Record your favorite shows manually or from the built-in TV Guide. You can even capture video from your VCR, camcorder or game console with the included AV cable.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #35004 in Consumer Electronics
• Brand: Pinnacle
• Model: 82301001791
• Platform: Mac OS X
• Original language: English
• Dimensions: 8.12" h x 2.62" w x 5.37" l, 1.00 pounds

Features

• Watch live HD or SD TV on your Mac
• Instantly turn your Mac into a personal video recorder
• Mini remote control and portable telescopic antenna included
• Take the ultra-compact tuner with you wherever you go
• View full screen TV or only partial screen TV when you have other tasks that need to be completed simultaneously

From the Manufacturer

Key Features

• Ultra-compact USB 2.0 analog and digital TV tuner with remote control and portable antenna
• Enjoy the stunning picture and sound quality of free-to-air HDTV (ATSC)
• Take control of TV--never miss an important moment with pause, rewind and replay
• Record your favorite TV programs--schedule recordings with integrated Electronic Program Guide
• Includes Elgato EyeTV Lite TV viewing and recording software

• Tuner
  • Digital TV standard: ATSC (HD up to 1080i and SD)
  • Analog TV standards: NTSC, PAL, SECAM
• Inputs
  • TV Antenna F-Connector 75Ohm
  • S-Video (via included adaptor cable)
  • Composite Video (RCA, via included adaptor cable)
  • Stereo Audio (1/8" jack, via included adaptor cable)
• Remote control support
  • Pinnacle remote control (included)
  • Apple remote control (separately available)
• System Requirements Macintosh computer with a PowerPC G4, G5 or Intel Core processor (For HDTV reception, a Dual PowerPC G5 or an Intel Core Duo processor is required)
• Mac OS X v10.4 or later
• Free USB 2.0 port
• 256 MB RAM (512 MB required for HDTV reception)
• Hard disk with minimum 1 GB free space (20 GB recommended for TV recording)
• CD or DVD drive

• USB 2.0 TV tuner stick for digital (ATSC) and analog TV (NTSC)
• Mini remote control including batteries
• A/V input adapter
• Telescopic antenna
• USB extender cable
• CD-ROM with Elgato EyeTV Lite software, drivers and documentation
• Quick start guide

Customer Reviews

Amazing!
I just unboxed this 15 mins ago and it's up and running and brilliant!

There aren't a whole lot of digital HD channels yet here in brooklyn, about 10 that I can pick up in fair quality, and about 4 in great quality.... but you can pick up all your regular analog channels too. NBC HD looks amazing and the color fidelity is more than I expected.

I have a macbook pro core2duo 2.2ghz. Receiving the NBC HD channel takes about 90% of 1 of the 2 cores of this processor on Activity Monitor -- does not skip or jitter, no lag running other applications. I've posted a screenshot of it on this review also... but the small size doesn't do it justice. Native resolution is about 1420 x 800 in HD.

The software it comes with is also quite intelligent... eyeTV Lite.... and the remote is functional and almost has a Front Row kinda feel, appropriate for an apple device. Has tivo like controls built into the remote... you can pause live HD, and record-- yes. I didn't think it would work so easily, but it works without configuration. Comes with a free subscription to TitanTV to receive your program guide info. You can also plug a cable box into it and use the titan TV software to get the cable guides..

The device itself is compact, and I expect it'll be easy to "pack your TV" along with you anywhere you go.

It also functions as a DV bridge and has inputs for S-video, yellow RCA video, and a headphone like line-in for audio (you'll need a RCA to mini patch cable if you wanna use RCA audio inputs)... so you can hook up your cable TV, VCR, playstation, xbox, anything that uses standard outputs -- and use your computer screen as a TV replacement.

Overall I got much more than I expected. A+

Thanks.

Works Great on a MacBook
The Pinnacle TV for Mac HD Stick is a nice compact product and comes complete with everything you need to watch television anywhere. With the included antenna, you can watch regular TV broadcast channels and HDTV as well. It can also take cable/sat TV as well. All you really do is insert the USB hookup with the antenna or cable TV line and install the software. Once installed and work with the setup, you are good to go.

The quality of the programs looks great in HD, and is a great alternative to purchasing a HD television. I use a Macbook (1st generation), and it meets all the requirements to view high definition programming.

One of the small issues is that when you set-up your channels, it does an auto scan. If you live in a place that has some difficulty getting reception, you might want to do your autoscan somewhere near a window where the antenna can lock-into the channels. Once autoscan is done, you should be OK. It took me a couple of tries to get all the channels that are available.

Excellent as a capture device
I purchased this product to connect to my MBP to capture from VHS tape. The product works flawlessly. Audio & video sync perfectly and the integration with Toast is awesome. That makes it very simple to capture and convert to DVD. It allows conversion to different file formats (AVI MPG etc)in case you want to save a digital file rather than burn directly to DVD, which is nice for me because I like to keep an archive copy on a portable drive.

I took off 1 star because when you convert to AVI MPG DVD etc, you don't have much control over the output filesize. If you are capturing a 1.5+ hour long video, chances are you will not be able to fit the conversion to a standard DVD, you will need a dual layer burner.

The over the air HD reception is a neat feature, but wouldn't be and wasn't my primary reason for buying. It's tough to receive OTA HD signals from INSIDE so your channel selection will be limited without an external antenna.

Things to note:
1. You will need a 2 RCA to 3.5mm stereo audio patch cable to connect left and right audio from the source (like a VCR or DVD)

2. The package comes with a lite version of EyeTV. I highly recommend upgrading to the full product right away if you are planning to use this a a DVR. The lite version just doesn't cut it. Even if you choose not to upgrade go directly to EyeTV and download the latest lite version as the one on the disk is outdated.