tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-600983210163594176.post-28197238924893096402008-05-09T13:57:00.000-07:002008-05-09T15:53:36.234-07:00<div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><img style="text-align: justify;display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; cursor: pointer; " src="http://bp0.blogger.com/_h0ThY8jARUA/SCTBP1DfN1I/AAAAAAAAAXw/VD0yP9E7OeI/s320/eyetv3.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5198492347576301394" /><div style="text-align: justify;">I've been using <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">EyeTV 2</span> for the past few years with my <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">iMac G5</span> / <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">TwinhanDTV Alpha</span> digital TV tuner combination, and since then I have not looked back.  The convenience of pre-recorded digital TV means that I avoid watching live TV nowadays.  I much prefer watching the shows I have recorded at a time of my choosing, and with the option of skipping those annoying ads.  But as good as EyeTV 2 is, it was missing what I consider to be an essential feature- the ability to create a list of TV shows that you want to have recorded in future, no matter when the shows are broadcast.  Eg. a list of titles/keywords that can be run against the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_program_guide">EPG</a>, with the resulting matching programmes automatically scheduled for recording.  If I want to record each weekly episode of <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/tv/goodgame/">Good Game</a>, and all <a href="http://www.columbo-site.freeuk.com/">Columbo</a> movies that happen to be broadcast at obscure times, then I shouldn't need to manually scan the EPG and schedule everything myself.  <br /></div><img style="text-align: justify;display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; cursor: pointer; " src="http://bp3.blogger.com/_h0ThY8jARUA/SCTBelDfN2I/AAAAAAAAAX4/M9FS9G40vLQ/s320/good_game.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5198492600979371874" /><div><div style="text-align: justify;">Thankfully, Elgato's <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">EyeTV 3</span> provides a solution to this problem in the form of<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"> smart guides</span>.  A long-overdue feature, smart guides are highly-configurable and work as advertised.  Smart guides can be created to simply record all future shows matching a particular title, or more complex smart guides can be designed to use a combination of fields such as <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">repeat</span>, <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">channel</span>, <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">director</span>, <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">year</span>, <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">description</span> and more.  So it is easy to schedule a series for recording on a particular channel based on its name, with recordings limited to non-repeats only, and keeping a maximum of three recordings.  Precisely what I was looking for.  Of course there are many other new features in version 3, but for me, the inclusion of smart guides alone makes the US$39.95 upgrade for EyeTv 2 users an essential purchase.  In fact, somewhat of a bargain I would say...</div><div style="text-align: justify;">(image from elgato.com)<br /></div></div>Ferris GTIhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10974622756608777257noreply@blogger.com