After the first year, each year of TV Guide channel listings will run you around $20. I used an HDHomeRun PRIME to test both apps. At present, Plex's DVR and TV features only work with SiliconDust's HDHomeRun CONNECT, EXTEND, and PRIME tuners. Viewers, Plex also offers apps that can serve up any free episodes streaming online from ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, the CW, and more. Along with TV shows, Plex will aggregate your photos and DRM-free movies and music (which excludes anything you've purchased from the iTunes Store, alas), pulling in artwork, episode descriptions, and other cool info automatically.
While Plex has offered Mac media server software for years, it's only recently added live TV and DVR functions. EyeTV also boasts built-in AppleScript support, which Plex lacks.
It works with Geniatech's own hardware, which is designed for European markets, as well as third-party tuners from SiliconDust, Hauppage, Pinnacle, and more. It was the first Mac DVR solution, and for a long time, the only one. Meet the contenders EyeTV's been around for more than a decade, first from Elgato and now from Geniatech. I endured MythTV's lengthy, byzantine, frustrating installation process only to find its interface subpar at best, and I wouldn't recommend it. TV listings cost $25 a year through SchedulesDirect. If you're particularly tech-savvy - or just have a high threshhold for aggravation - you can turn to, a Linux-spawned free DVR app. SiliconDust says it also hopes to enable premium channels like HBO.īut HDHomeRun's interface is just so-so, and it lacks Plex's other media-aggregating abilities and EyeTV's fine-tuned recording skills. At $35 a year, HDHomeRun offers one of the cheapest Mac DVR options, and unlike Plex, it can play and pause live TV from your Mac. SiliconDust, makers of the popular HDHomeRun TV tuners, have built into their standard TV app.
At $8 a month, it's one of the most expensive long-term options for Mac DVR service. It also offers built-in, non-destructive commercial skipping, a feature with which Plex and EyeTV both struggle. Records video on your Mac, but will only stream it to an AppleTV, iOS devices, or a web interface. The cable industry demands hefty fees for the keys to unlock those codes, and none of the current Mac apps has yet been willing or able to shell out that much cash. It's important to note that no Mac DVR apps, including EyeTV, Plex, or any of the following rivals, can currently display or record encrypted premium cable channels such as HBO, Showtime, or Starz, even if you're a subscriber.
A quick word about the also-rans The other players in the Mac DVR arena have their merits, but they all fall short in key ways.
But only one of them is your best bet for squirreling away hours of The Walking Dead. We've sifted through the growing pile of Mac DVR solutions to compare the two top contenders: veteran EyeTV and relative newcomer Plex. A once-sparse market for Mac DVR apps now overflows with increasingly powerful and user-friendly choices for recording your favorite TV shows, via antenna or cable. There's never been a better time to trade your cable company's rented DVR for your own Mac-based solution. Eyetv Epg Proxy For Mac 9,8/10 1485 votes