Snarkastic

[What I don't need is a dozen comments that begin, "I can't help you, but..." and then proceed to tell us all what kind of TV you have. Just spare us.]

Holly,

I have a system called "Slingbox" which allows me to watch recorded shows from my home TV on my laptop when I travel. I like it because I only pay a monthly fee for the service and I don't need it in the spring. It's very user friendly and the on-screen interface looks like a big remote controller
2 issues:

1. I don't know if it will work with your Powerbook.
2. My system is older - but it really doesn't have a tremendous amount of memory. I like I have 16 hours of recorded stuff on there and it maybe goes up to 20 hours total.

I don't know anything about Macs, but in general you'd need extra somethings. Like a tv tuner card and the attendant software. Although with this route, you probably wont actually be able to transfer the saved file, but would have to replay the parts of the game you want and record it again. Most DVRs won't directly transfer recorded material to your computer. This actually has me considering rebuilding my old desktop into a dvr itself for the fall.

I've tried figuring this out too and the best system I can come up with is a separate DVD burner. From what I've encountered, you'd have to do some serious electric work to hook up a fake Tivo to an external drive since they disable the USB port.

I think that Goathair is right - I was looking into something similar, and it seems like the easiest approach is to hook the analog video outputs from the NotTivo into a DVR-R.

Alternatively, there's a Mac-compatible equivalent to the Slingbox made by Elgato. Most of their website seems to be oriented towards UK broadcast standards but there are local resellers in LA to whom you could speak. The software bundled with it allows for segmenting programs and converting etc.

The only reason I've heard of it is that I read a blog post from a guy in the UK who uses it to watch tv from his local coffee shop on his iPhone.

Slingbox does work for Mac but in my experience the quality is terrible. I don't need to watch the games on my laptop; I just want the files themselves so I can cut 'em up.

I understand that you're just looking for the files - I just figure that if you're not willing to crack into the NotTivo, and analog feeds to DVD aren't good enough, then you're spending some coin. Whether that's on a Tivo or an alternative designed to work with Macs is neither here nor there - and of course it may be overkill in either case.

Oh, I'm totally willing to go off DVDs, if it comes to that, I'm just looking for a faster way via cables if I can get it.

Also why the eff do they disable the USB port? BOO.

I can't help you, but I have a TV that automatically transfers the games to my brain, no matter where I am in the universe. My brain then take the game film, breaks it into stats, facts, and other numbers. At that point, I dictate said facts, stats, and numbers to my assistant, who abbreviates and types it for me. I then analyze these numbers with another computer/brain program, cross reference situational data, identify any variables and put out a weekly report. I do this for all games.

Signed,

Phil Steele

They disable the USB port because people might actually want access to the data, but since we're only customers and not copyright holders / advertising sellers, we don't count.

This Archos doohickey is a media player that takes video-in from your DVR (via RCA cable), and then you can USB it into your Macbook. I think the format is .avi or something, because I have to convert it. I think the one I linked to is the version my roommate has.

http://www.archos.com/products/video/archos_604wifi/index.html?country=global&lang=en

Oooh. I can work with .avi. I dunno about dropping $500, though, being a vagrant layabout.

Elgato makes the eyeTV (ha ha). There's one that's a little USB dongle (love that word) that has a coax port on the other side. Comes with a remote and actually serves as a dvr on it's own as it records, pauses, fast forwards..blah blah blah. Pretty sure you could make this work. It's about $150 but sometimes they have refurbs on their site. I'm getting one at some point after recovering from the wedding/new computer/new phone damage.

He dropped $500 on that? My roommate's loaded and nobody told me? WTF?

I dunno, but that's what it's retailing for on Amazon.

PS-the aforementioned is sold at the Fruit's retail establishments, so it's safe to say I've read the box only a million times.

I just went through every available feature on my TimeWarner-provided DVR, and yes, the USB and FireWire ports are disabled. I'm canceling their service TODAY. Use.less. Tivo, here I come.

Cheaper than elgato with snazzier tech from a pro company:

http://www.blackmagic-design.com/products/videorecorder/

I'm succumbing to Tivo (see next post), but THAT is an intriguing little device that I may have to pick up regardless.