While many laptops come with Windows Media Center, very few
actually have a tuner built-in, so TV viewing is not something you’d expect to
do with your PC. Now an elegant solution from Elgato makes it a reality.
Watching HD programming with virtually no setup hassles is now easy to do.
The HDHomeRun is a small, inconspicuous box that mounts near
your wireless network router. Connect one Ethernet cable from your wireless
router to the HDHomeRun box. Connect a
coax cable from your cable or satellite provider to another connector on the
HDHomeRun. Finally, install the simple software to your PC and start tuning in
your stations via Media Center.
I was amazed how easily it was to watch live HD content on
my laptop. With a large Dell Studio 17” laptop like mine, this could easily
replace a small TV set. The picture looked great. Mac users get EyeTV software
so they can also watch. With the dual tuner in HDHomeRun, you could actually be
watching one program on your Mac and recording another program on your PC.
One thing to be aware of however, the HDHomeRun cannot pull
in encoded broadcasts, so you will not have access to every station your cable
or satellite provides. In my case, I got all the local stations, the PBS
channels and maybe a total of 19 stations in my remote rural location.
By going to http://www.silicondust.com/support/channels/ you’ll be able to see what digital channels
are available in your area. The listing will also give you the resolution
available as well as the aspect ratio for each station.
Recording a TV program is done losslessly –
which means you get the full clarity of the digital broadcast for a great
recording. Just make sure you have plenty of free hard drive space as TV shows
can eat up large chunks of space.
Check out HDHomeRun on the Elgato website
or through a variety
of online or bricks and mortar retailers.
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