AAUG Reviews

by Ronald Schoedel, AAUG Member

TV Max is the latest analog TV for Mac solution to come along in a recent string of several devices from various manufacturers. Miglia has designed the TV Max to complement the Mac mini, which is the computer of choice in many home entertainment systems. From that perspective, the TV Max would be right at home in a permanent installation, as opposed to a mobile computing solution. It is not a mobile device, though Miglia markets a solution for that market segment as well, called the TV Micro.

TV Max allows you to watch live TV on your Mac, record programming, and convert old videotapes to digital video for burning to DVD. While watching TV, you can rewind, pause, and skip forward through live TV programming (obviously, the fast forward only goes through programming that has been recorded so far, for example, if you have paused. It does not allow time travel into programming that has not aired yet!)

The included EyeTV 2 software downloads electronic program schedules, schedules your recordings, manages your recorded content, exports to iPod video, and interfaces with Toast 7 and iDVD recording software.

The face of the TV Max features a small power LED on the left, much like the Mac mini, and on the right is the infrared (IR) receiver for use with the included remote control. Many device remotes are difficult to figure out, but the TV Max remote includes just enough buttons to access features easily and all are clearly labeled with words or icons indicating their function.

The reverse side of the TV Max, from left to right, includes a TV input (for coaxial cable or antenna input), an S-video port, red, white, and yellow RCA jacks for composite connections, a power plug, and a USB port for connecting to the Mac.

The several connectors on the back allow you to have multiple sources hooked up at once to your TV Max, which sets it ahead of other smaller units that allow only input at a time. This means your TV antenna or cable, as well as a VCR or TiVo box, can all be hooked up at once. The EyeTV software allows you to select which input is active for viewing or recording.

Speaking of recording. Once recorded, your old home movies can be manipulated and archived just like all the rest of your recorded content. Favorite home movies can reside side-by-side with TV content in your EyeTV library for easy access.

I won’t rehash the EyeTV software, since I included an exhaustive review of it as part of my review of the EyeTV 250 hardware unit a couple months ago. Please refer to that review for extensive detail and screenshots on the excellent EyeTV software included with the TV Max. It is sufficient to say that TV Max works so smoothly and seamlessly with the EyeTV software that it truly does comprise a well-integrated complete package.

It is important to note that this device is for use with analog TV signals. If you intend to use it with digital cable, you will not be able to change channels with the TV Max but instead will have to use your cable box to change channels, and hook up the cable box to the coax input on the back of the TV Max like a regular video source such as a VCR. In order to record programming, you can make sure the cable box is set to the correct channel, and then use the timer function in EyeTV to capture the signal from the inputs rather than from the tuner. In some respects, attaching the TV Max to a TiVo unit gives you a great way to automatically capture programming from your TiVo and make it iPod- or PSP-ready.

The inclusion of DivX recording is a nice feature, as DivX recordings can allow you to compress multiple hours of TV programs to fit on one DVD. Nice! TV Max has a built-in hardware compressor, so it does all the heavy lifting of video conversion and compression, leaving your Mac’s processor to do the things it needs to do without any additional workload brought on by using the TV Max.

Minor caveats: Although a Mac mini is likely to be the most commonly used Mac alongside the TV Max, it will work with any Mac running 10.4 (Tiger) and with built-in USB 2.0, and with a G4 processor faster than 500 MHz. It will not run on OS 10.3.9 or lower (users of Panther or lower need to upgrade). TV Max is not compatible with HD programming, either. For that you will need Miglia’s TV Mini HD.

I am fond of the TV Max for its slick appearance and the way it so simply interfaces with all my existing home entertainment equipment. The fact that it is especially matched to the dimensions of the Mac mini makes it a welcome addition to that particular piece of hardware. I don’t want to belabor the point, but Miglia deserves kudos for making such a brilliant piece of hardware whose aluminum and white plastic enclosure so precisely matches the appearance of the Mac mini.

TV Max gets a solid 5 moose rating. While it is unfortunate that it cannot directly change channels on cable boxes, its DivX compression options and its stylings make up for that shortcoming. (for those interested: I have done a bit of internet research and found some devices called IR-blasters that can overcome the channel-changing issue. Combine those with TV Max and you have the perfect set up, I am sure.)