My tv & My tv/fm

[KathyMac!]

iBook List3/15/03 1:00 AMibook at lists.themacintoshguy.com

> Anyone using one of the MY tv products on their iBook and care to report on
> satisfaction level? The one that does not capture vidio is called My tv to go
> .. If you can also listen to fm radio it's call My tv/fm.

Hi,

I'm using MYTV2GO on my G4 DP 1GHZ with 22" Cinematic Display but I can (and
will) also use it on my keylime clamshell iBook.

I bought it from eBay and it had been zapped with firmare that made it
useful only in Jaguar (no longer useable in OS9).

My thoughts are that it is "OK".

I came from years of use on the Apple TV Video card and the accompanying
Apple Video Player software - first with my Performa 638tv Mac and again on
the 6500 PowerMac Tower. The internal tv card and Apple's tv video software
was the bomb.

This new device is USB and with it comes a few minor irritations. For
instance, the audio and the video do not sync automatically. Instead, there
is a control panel for "Delay" in which you can alter the delay to match
them up. This is a general weakness of USB and not with this particular
product. Anything you use for the iBook that is USB will have this. But once
you adjust the Delay slider it's fine. The drawback for me was that I ran my
audio out of  the satellite dish in the other room to my power amp/receiver
in my Mac studio, bypassing the audio in of the Mac (which I prefer to save
for other things). However, the audio MUST be routed into the Mac and TV2Go
device along with the video so that the "Delay" function is enabled. You
cannot bypass the computer and run the audio separately into stereo
equipment. Long story short, I did a workaraound using my mixing board and
patchbays and if this is just for iBook use it's probably not an issue for
you.

The quality is good and the user interface is nice. I still prefer Apple's
Video Player but if you cannot get internal options this USB solution is
good. The actual device called MYTV2GO is a perfect size for the iBook - the
other one called MYTV is much bigger.

I guess overall I am happy with it. For my G4 I will still keep my eyes open
for a PCI based solution - perhaps another video card with built in TV
options. But for now this is nice to have. I admit I have not actually used
it on the iBook yet but will soon. It's very cool to have tv on your Mac!

Kathy