are USB DTV dongles any good?

[revjames]

I recently converted part of my garage into a gym. I like to watch TV while exercising. I have a hifi and power out there and planning to use a laptop with a dongle to watch TV.

Does the pc need to be online while watching?

Do I need an aerial?

Thanks

James

 

[batty]

I watched live TV on my PC for a bit but found it kept conking out don't think it could download it quick enough it was ITV and BBC though.

 

[steptoe]

Deffo need an aerial IME,. maybe a set top one may do you,

Viewing quality TBH a lot depends on the software you use to watch it with,

as you know, I DONT use windows so cant help with that,

but it works brilliant on (even) my ancient PC with Ubuntu and METV installed.

Oh, one other thing,. Get yourself a fan and blow it at your dongle,

mines starts to stall once its running a while and gets warm, aiming a desk fan at it has sorted that out 100%,

batty, that may be your problem too.

 

[mark1]

Don't know if you can get a wifi signal out your garage but if you can tv catchup is really good free view via the net! It's easy to sign up to and free, just google it.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[revjames]

Mark, I'm not sure I can get wifi out there. The gable end wall is 3' thick welsh stone! sounds like a bit of a faff tbh steps. If I can get a bit of cat5 out there then perhaps the iplayer or catchup TV might be the answer. All I want is something to take my mind off the fact I am running on a conveyor belt for an hr or more!

 

[Manator]

If I ran on a conveyor belt for an hour my vision would be so blurred I doubt I could see the laptop, never mind the programs on it

 

[batty]

what about a freesat dish i am going to put one on my office at the top of the garden when i get time got the kit from electrifix just got to put it up there.

 

[steptoe]

What about them plug thingies for talking your cat5 signals over the mains? Are they any good?

 

[revjames]

I already use one to get the broadband into the back room for the BT vision box. But that gives me an idea. There is a cat 5 running through that room that I dont need so I could run the BT vision box off that (would have to move and reterminate) but that would free up the network adaptors (mains thingy) to use in the garage. I also have free

The pic shows the area I use. basically stone walls and uneven flooring levelled out with timber and ply lined and a shelf and hifi added. I also have free weights and a bench in there and will add a cycle trainer soon too.

 

[sellers]

Does it have to be tv? I use a USB stick with movies on to watch on my tv.

 

[Robojin]

To answer the OP yes, WinTV products from Hauppauge work very well, and of course connect to an aerial to get the best result

Hauppauge Computer Works Ltd : WinTV-NOVA-T-Stick

For iPlayer and other devices an ideal would be an Ethernet connection, wired or via the mains with one of the Homeplug devices for

 

[UK-Fire]

powerline kits are good for just such an occasion. of course, running a legitimate ethernet cable will be better, but a powerline kit is easily better than wifi.

on the tv dongles, DScaler is quite a good decoder for tv cards/usb tuners, but its a bit of a pain to set up. windows media center used to be excellent for tv broadcasts. quality was good, and the interface was exceptional, but whether you have this is entirely down to what operating system you have (windows 8 doesnt include it in home premium versions, neither do most windows xp installations). another application may be xbmc, but i havent tried this myself so cant really say on that one.

otherwise, for live tv the iplayer is quite good (when it doesnt buffer), but, once again, i cant comment on the others. personally not sure if they have live at all but cant be sure.

 

[JP1675]

I've heard that Google Chromecast is meant to be good. And to be honest, most Google stuff is good. Also, it's cheap!

 

[Blue Duck]

3 year old thread yey!

 

[Doc Hudson]

powerline kits are good for just such an occasion. of course, running a legitimate ethernet cable will be better, but a powerline kit is easily better than wifi.

on the tv dongles, DScaler is quite a good decoder for tv cards/usb tuners, but its a bit of a pain to set up. windows media center used to be excellent for tv broadcasts. quality was good, and the interface was exceptional, but whether you have this is entirely down to what operating system you have (windows 8 doesnt include it in home premium versions, neither do most windows xp installations). another application may be xbmc, but i havent tried this myself so cant really say on that one.

otherwise, for live tv the iplayer is quite good (when it doesnt buffer), but, once again, i cant comment on the others. personally not sure if they have live at all but cant be sure.

There is very little point answering questions that are 2 years and 3 months old. It is most likely the originator has found their solution by now. All it does, is to clutter the forum for other users who are trying to locate current content to discuss. By all means read and learn from the forums extensive old archive of posts, Or if you have a question please do ask a related issue about an old topic. But do not trawl up old threads just for the sake of posting, Prior to your input all previous posts on this topic were made between 3rd and 5th Dec 2011. The date previous comments were added can be read toward the top left hand side of each post. Thank You

Doc H.

 

[revjames]

Indeed - I now have a boosted aerial signal in there and can get on wifi if I so wish. but thanks for the thoughts even if its 3 years late

 

[Ciatell44]

Decent for me, I still prefer the o'll ethernet connection if at all possible 

Or alternatively, I think some have Wifi built in no? 

 

[kme]

The powerline ethernet units are generally very good - I`m using one in a hotel, that has a detached annexe, to provide client wifi - we`ve got gigabit connectivity to the hub........

I`m using 500Mbs powerline units in the house - from smart (ish) TV & blu-ray to the switch. Seems to work well.