The Notebook Review forums were hosted by TechTarget, who shut down them down on January 31, 2022. This static read-only archive was pulled by NBR forum users between January 20 and January 31, 2022, in an effort to make sure that the valuable technical information that had been posted on the forums is preserved. For current discussions, many NBR forum users moved over to NotebookTalk.net after the shutdown.
Problems? See this thread at archive.org.

    LCD HDTV to Laptop

    Discussion in 'Hardware Components and Aftermarket Upgrades' started by Hiker, Oct 4, 2008.

  1. Hiker

    Hiker Notebook Deity

    Reputations:
    448
    Messages:
    1,715
    Likes Received:
    1
    Trophy Points:
    56
    I only have an old TV and have never used Media Center to record TV so bear with me...

    If I use my Media Center laptop with a new HDTV, in order to record TV shows, will I need a separate tuner for the laptop, or can I get away using the TV tuner (from the TV with cables and still record?

    My laptop only has vga, s-video, firewire, and USB, of course. I imagine I'll need some cable converters, but I'm not sure which ones.
    I have cable, only using the straight cable, no box.

    Any help here?
     
    Hiker, Oct 4, 2008
    #1
  2. jonlumpkin

    jonlumpkin NBR Transmogrifier

    Reputations:
    826
    Messages:
    3,240
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    105
    Most laptops do not have an analog in. The VGA and s-video ports on your laptop are OUTPUT ONLY. The one thing that might work is if you have a cable box with firewire out (unlikely), and it is enabled (even more unlikely), you will be able to hook it up to your laptop and record the bitstream that way.

    You will probably need to buy a tuner for your laptop. You can choose USB, PCMCIA, or ExpressCard depending on what your laptop has. The Hauppage WinTV-HVR-1500 will a good choice if you want to get ATSC/NTSC/QAM HD from your cable to a newer laptop, and retails for $100. If you also want to be able to record analog input (RCA/S-video) from a cable/satellite box, VCR, etc. You will need a larger box like the Hauppage WinTV-HVR-1950, it retails for $149.
     
    jonlumpkin, Oct 4, 2008
    #2
  3. Jaycee8980

    Jaycee8980 Notebook Deity

    Reputations:
    93
    Messages:
    702
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    If I am correct, a Slingbox would work well also :) Check them out. Nifty gadgets to say the least
     
    Jaycee8980, Oct 4, 2008
    #3
  4. Hiker

    Hiker Notebook Deity

    Reputations:
    448
    Messages:
    1,715
    Likes Received:
    1
    Trophy Points:
    56
    Thanks for the help. I'll probably get the WinTV-HVR-1950
     
    Hiker, Oct 5, 2008
    #4