Network Computing is part of the Informa Tech Division of Informa PLC

This site is operated by a business or businesses owned by Informa PLC and all copyright resides with them. Informa PLC's registered office is 5 Howick Place, London SW1P 1WG. Registered in England and Wales. Number 8860726.

Review: 3 TV Tuners For The Mac: Page 7 of 7

The MyTV.PVR comes with a really interesting add-on: an integrated FM radio. Eskape supplies a hanging wire antenna with which I was able to pick up the stronger signals in the area -- a real antenna would be the better listening option.

The unit's remote handles all of the TV and radio functions, making your mouse and keyboard nearly obsolete -- unless you want to quit the software. The "Power" button on the remote had no effect when I tried to use it to shut things down. Apparently I was ignoring an order of preference that the software had for doing things its way. I finally clicked the close icon on the application's window, which worked -- but also brought up a warning box: "MyTV.PVR has quit unexpectedly." It's a bit of a rough edge on a product I had expected to be more polished.

MyTV.PVR sells for $134 to $150 from a variety of sources you'll find listed on Eskape Labs' Web site. Should you want one? It's the least expensive of the group and captures video in standard MPEG format that doesn't need to be converted before it can be played elsewhere. However, it has the rippled picture quality of Miglia's TVMax+ with a little of the yellow-tinged color thrown in from the PX-TV402U. It's up to you whether the advantages outweight the disadvantages.