Recording digital tv from antenna-Help!

[Pilot]

No cable, no satellite.

When I try to research online how to record onto a PC I get incomplete info and what info I do get is usually assumes I have cable or satellite.

I want to record from an antenna.

They say I need a tuner for the PC. Ok, I get that. But on the packaging for the tuners, it says "watch TV shows on your computer". No, I want to watch TV shows on the TV. Why would I want to sit in the office and watch on an 18 inch monitor which only 1 person can really see at a time when I have a 47 inch TV? None of the tuners say I can record on the PC and watch on the TV, but the sales people say it will work. I don't really trust sales people, especially when it means to return it, I have to drive 35 miles each way.

So, question: If I get a tuner for a PC, can I record on the computer and play on the TV?

What other equipment and or software do I need?

We have an old laptop we plan to use & it has about a 160G hard drive. Is that sufficient? If not, how about using an external hard drive with it?

What else do I need to know?

I guess my frustration shows. Sorry about that. Please help.

Thanks.

 

[OKnewguy]

I think you might check out something like this.
Magnavox 320GB DVR and DVD Recorder, MDR513H/F7 - Walmart.com.
I had a similar Pioneer unit before the digital switch over and it worked well. This unit has the digital tuners and I believe will record in hd if you do not mind the space needed.
Dave

 

[techman]

You can play on the TV if you have a video card with an HDMI port. This can connect to any digital TV with an HDMI input. Can be somewhat inconvenient as the TV becomes the monitor in effect. I have two LG DVRs that have a digital tuner (for antenna) and I use them daily to record shows. They are not made anymore. Echostar made one called DTVPAL. Look on eBay and you might find one.

paul

 

[bearhawk]

I think you might check out something like this.
Magnavox 320GB DVR and DVD Recorder, MDR513H/F7 - Walmart.com.
I had a similar Pioneer unit before the digital switch over and it worked well. This unit has the digital tuners and I believe will record in hd if you do not mind the space needed.
Dave

I second the thought on using a dedicated unit for this. You will need a decent computer with a TV Tuner Card, and a good video card with HDMI output. And old laptop just won't give you the results you want..

 

[Airsafety]

TV tuner for the PC, HDMI output on the mother board or video board and some sort of media center software are all that is required. I use MS Vista because the media center is much better than in XP. Windows 7 is probably better, but I've not tried it.

FWIW, I have a blueray DVD player, but I don't have enough processor or memory to run BR DVD's - I'm not sure what it takes, but it is more than I have and more than what the box says it should take.

I have the PC connected to the HDTV via an HDMI cable and audio cable, but my TV also has a VGA connection I could use. The audio output from the TV is connected to the audio tuner which uses the surround sound speakers.

Have you looked at the Google TV units? Logitech has one that looks really good and it is a lot simpler to connect. I think there will be more of these units out before Christmas.

Another FWIW, we found that we hardly ever watched anything on cable and took it out. With the PC we not only have access to the media center for music and recorded and OTA TV, but also using a browser we can connect to Hulu and others. We have a VPN connection to the BBC iplayer and really enjoy the Brit shows.

 

[massey990]

I have the PC connected to the HDTV via an HDMI cable and audio cable

It's my understanding that HDMI includes audio better or equil to a fiber optic audio connection...if you have an HDMI cable connected it over-rides other audio connictions.

A TV tuner card (also known as a capture card) is manditory, the software that comes with the card will allow the user to record to the hard drive and playback. Most cards have several connection options and all the newer ones come with HDMI out.

Some of the newer TVs and even some DVD/Blu-ray players come with USB ports which let you transfer a move/video to a USB thumb drive and play it back directly or through the DVD/Blu-ray player connection.

 

[Larry Caldwell]

A DVI to HDMI adapter will let you play video from video cards that only have DVI output, but you have to run the audio cable separately.

High end TV sets also have a RGB input, which is the standard VGA monitor output. Once again, you have to run the audio cable separately. A 1080P flat panel makes a kickin' computer monitor.

 

[Alan L.]

.......................TIVO

 

[Pilot]

Tivo: Thanks, but it looks like Tivo has a monthly fee. I don't want another bill if I can what I want for a one time up front investment. And for the price of a Tivo unit and a year of service fees I can just about buy a computer that will work and never make a payment.

 

[dmccarty]

I was watching TV on my computer yesterday. There was something on TV I wanted to watch but I needed to do some work on the computer. I do have a 24 inch monitor so that helps watching TV and working at the same time.

You need the tuner.

The desktop that I was watching TV had Vista and now has Window 7. Both worked fine for recording TV shows. Tivo and other DVRs are just computers in smaller box. I record a few shows but I only watch them on the computer. The shows are recorded on an external USB drive.

Almost any PC should be able to record TV shows. The tuner is important. Some are HD, some are not. Some tuners take up a slot but there are others that are external. Mine is internal. Recording shows can consume quite a bit of disk space but external USB drives are pretty cheap.

HTPC(Home Theater PC) is one term you can search on for more info. Some HTPCs are made to look like another audio unit.

Later,
Dan