Elgato DTT Deluxe
World's smallest USB TV tuner
Review Elgato's previous EyeTV DTT Deluxe, which we reviewed in September 2008, was heralded as the world's smallest USB TV tuner. Just over a year on, and the company has launched a second record breaking tuner - one that's about half the size of its predecessor.
Elgato's EyeTV DTT Deluxe: ridiculously small
And there's another first: this is long-time Mac specialist Elgato's first product to ship with full support for Windows users, specifically Windows 7 drivers for out-of-the-box Media Center compatibility.
First, though, the hardware. The new DTT Deluxe takes up less room in the box than the wrapped pair of AAA batteries used to power the Freeview-friendly remote control Elgato ships with the tuner. The tuner is barely bigger than its USB connector and while it's not as tiny as the adaptors that come with many a wireless mouse, it's still very small indeed.
The Deluxe is decked out in matte black, though there's a sliver of gloss running around the side which is actually a window for the infrared remote. The IR signal is picked up whether the Deluxe is placed in a USB port on the left or right of your machine, though it doesn't work end on, so if your computer's USB ports are facing forward, you'll have to angle the remote sideways.
No, we mean it - it really is small
Being so small, the Deluxe won't impede adjacent USB ports. It fitted into our MacBook Air's port with ease and into the compact two-port hub we use.
COMMENTS
@AC
iPlayer doesn't (yet) do other channels and gobbles Wi-Fi bandwidth. TV broadcasts don't.
Pointless
Absolutly pointless if you can get a wifi feed and 'tune in' to iPlayer...Ok its smaller than a 3g dongle.
Surely a BT Remote would be the better option? (they needn't bother with a BT reciver or sell as an option) this could then facilitate Multiple Tuners and would eliminate the need for the dongle to be line of sight.. then this would then work for desktops, underdesk towers, slimlines with rear only USB etc..
@DGL
Focus on Linux? Why? A target market with 0.4% penetration and you have to watch television on the command line?
My, that makes sense.
Re: One at a time limitation
The eyeTV is USB based and is chucking more than 1.5Gb per hour () down the wire. That equates to a sustained stream of about 5Mbits per second. Elgato (like all the other USB TV vendors) tell you not to plug the device into an external hub, but only directly into your PC/Laptop, otherwise bandwidth starvation can be an issue. Remember that even the USB ports on your PC/Laptop go through an on-board hub and the available bandwidth will still be shared by all the devices plugged in to the machine.
Perhaps they fear that trying to handle two channels would lead to resource starvation - either processor, or bandwidth to the hard drive when recording. I have a TV card in one PC that can handle two channels, but then it is PCI...
@Dan 55
Well I have to agree, MythTV is almoust as bad as those supplied software packages. I mean who in their right mind would use a MySQL Server for that kind of thing.
The standard solution for DVB is however VDR.
