Study: TV tuning a 'must have' for computers
According to a Jon Peddie Research report, TV tuners are a 'must have' for computers and the study further claims that up to 30 million computer users have the ability to watch TV on their PCs.
That number seems incredibly high to me, considering my own purchasing habits and what I see on the market. I've owned probably 7 or 8 computers in the last five years and only one had a TV card in it. I'm also weary of how many people go to the extra effort to make it work. Of the 5 or 6 apartments and homes I've lived in over the past few years, only one place had a perfect setup: live cable in every room (and near my desk) that didn't require a set-top box. When it works, it's great, but in my experience it's tough to get everything working together.
A lot of cable companies let you get the basic cable without the set top box. Which for me means I can get up to channel 80 with out the digital cable box. So that is what I get on my PC. It's great since I no longer need to keep a tv in the computer room, I can just watch in a window (or the background) Granted if you're in an apartment you may not want to spend the money to have other cable outlets installed. But it's pretty cheap to do when you have the cable installed (I think it's like $20 or sometimes free) If you own a home I think it's worthwhile to go ahead and put a cable outlet (as well as a phone jack) in every room even if you're not planning on using them right away. There is nothing worse than wanting to move things around then not having a jack.
But then again that is what extension cords are for, the spare bedroom I made into my computer room has neither a phone or cable jack. I just run them on a long cord from the next room, and don't have a problem at all (and that phone line runs my DSL)
Since having this computer that came with an ATI All in wonder card (tv & recording) I don't think I would ever go back to having one without.
Posted by: Rapunzel | July 25, 2003 at 09:54 AM
Yeah, if I had a spare cable outlet near my desk setup in my current place, I'd be all over this. I have a two monitor setup, which I could even use to keep TV full screen in a seperate window.
I'm also curious as to what HDTV on a PC looks like. I have a spare LCD monitor, though the HDTV cards look pretty expensive, but it might be a cool project PC to build and review on this site.
Posted by: Matt Haughey | July 25, 2003 at 10:12 AM
Couldn't help but smile about the "I'm also weary of how many people go to the extra effort to make it work" statement after reading your report yesterday on upgrading the HD. Truth is, I'll do what I want to do regardless of the time commitment... and it sounds like you will too. I'll bet there are many more like us, and I do think TV tuners on PCs could be around 30 million. Think of all those people who buy from CompUSA/Best Buy/Fry's who want the latest only to dialup.
Posted by: Jason | July 25, 2003 at 11:25 AM