Elgato Systems on Monday introduced the EyeTV 500, a new digital video recording (DVR) system for North American Mac users that lets users record both digital standard definition television signals and ATSC-based high definition signals broadcast over the air in North America. Based on the EyeTV 400, the new 500 model uses FireWire and lets users record television programs straight to their hard disk drives, where the shows can later be watched or burned to VideoCD or DVD using Roxio’s Toast Titanium software. EyeTV includes software to interface with TitanTV.com’s online program guide and edit out unwanted content like commercials.
EyeTV 500 carries a regular retail price of US$349, but Elgato’s Web site lists a special offer through July 5 for $299. System requirements call for a G4/500MHz or faster with built-in FireWire; Mac OS X v10.2.8 or later; 256MB RAM and up to 8GB of hard disk space per hour of recorded HDTV. Elgato said a dual G5 is required for HDTV playback at full frame rate. The EyeTV 500 also requires an antenna to receive ATSC signals.