Satellite TV on Your PC: the Basics

When it comes to watching TV on your computer, you can go down one of two roads: the hardware one or the software one. If you take the hardware road, what you're going to buy is called a TV-PC tuner card. This comes either as a card that you install inside your computer that creates an external socket for your TV aerial, or as a USB device that will happily plug into the outside of your machine. This will allow you to receive television signals directly to your computer, and is handy for someone who has recording options on their computer that they can use for television content. This option, however, will not allow you to get any TV content that you are not already getting or entitled to either through a paid subscription service of free public television content.

If you take the software road, you are entering the land of "Internet television," which is at once a land of promise and a land of confusion. Here's what it entails:

1) There is plenty of free stuff available legally online by way of video clips and streaming content. This stuff can be anything from an amateur video on You Tube to streaming news clips associated with a professional news agency. Many satellite TV stations also stream live on the web, and there are a handful of websites that link you to this content.

2) You can opt to buy a software application (for anywhere from $25 to $125) that will provide direct links (often numbering in the thousands) to national and international satellite television programming. The software in most cases is downloadable online, and will open the chosen content in a standard media player.

Both of these first two options can be hit or miss as far as finding what you really want. And no, you cannot legally get MTV or HBO for free. What you do find is often a grab bag of foreign language and religious programming, and your search will be rife with browser incompatibility problems, applet errors, broken links, and endless buffering. If you do go with the proprietary software solution for a very low price, you can count on getting what you pay for.

3) You can also use peer-to-peer (P2P) applications to share video files with others. The technology itself is legal, but distributing and/or receiving protected television programming is not. But in this case at least you know what you're getting.

In the coming years, paid satellite TV subscriptions will go down in price and the offerings that are available for free will go up in quality. TV programming online will also improve, and the practice of micro-payments for certain content may help drive this change. In the meantime, searching for satellite TV programming online, often from other countries, will continue to be an unpredictable and often surreal experience, but it can also be a serendipitously rewarding one.

Drew Surrey writes on a changing TV culture in the age of the Internet and digital technology. For more on your TV to PC options, check out http://satellitetvonpcreviews.com/

Watch Satellite TV on PC - New Software is the Next IN Thing

Watching satellite TV on PC is cool. If you have been doing so, you should know that the only way to watch satellite TV on PC is to use the PCTV card. Now, PCTV cards are not the cheapest peripherals around. Installation is also required in order to get your PC up and running to receive the satellite TV channels. Its 2007 now, time to brush off this old method and make way for special proprietary software that would enable your PC to receive satellite TV feeds. One touch, one installation of simple software and your PC transforms itself into a Satellite TV, ready to display hundreds of LIVE channels worldwide from more than 3000 stations. Are you ready for the change?

Watching satellite TV on PC using software is fast making its way into America and many nations' homes as the most popular way to watch TV. There are many merits in doing so:

1. Wide Variety of Channels

Traditional satellite TV providers normally offer a few hundred channels to their subscribers. However, not all the channels are entertaining and to users? liking, though a few hundred channels is quite a wide selection, we human beings are choosy creatures. The more the merrier, isn?t it? You can watch satellite TV on PC using software and access to channels from thousands of TV stations worldwide. With a range of programs that include kids programs, movies, TV shows, sports, news and events, surely there are some channels that suit you and your family?s preferences.

2. One-time Low Cost of Usage

Most would think the cost involved is no different from the satellite TV provider. You would be pleasantly surprised to know that there is no monthly subscription fee to pay at all. On the contrary, one only has to pay a low one-time fee for the use of special proprietary software that would turn your PC into a satellite TV. Hint here is that it will cost you lesser than the price of a few CDs or a good meal at the local restaurant. Another plus point here is you no longer have to pay additional charges for set-ups and the favorite Live Sports channel you always craved for. Simply install the software on your PC and it is ready for viewing.

3. Quality of Satellite TV Channels

The trouble with using satellite dish is the inconsistency of the quality of satellite TV channels. Viewing may be interrupted sometimes due to weak transmission of signals, making the whole experience unpalatable. Imagine watching an important football game and experiencing disruptions in the TV channel in the midst of a goal. This can really be dampening on our moods. If you watch satellite TV on PC using software, this problem is eradicated. The quality of satellite TV using the dish pales in comparison with watching them on PC. The satellite TV channels on PC are clear as transmissions of channel feeds are smoother.

The benefits to watch satellite TV on PC using software are numerous as you can see. Since the introduction of this software into the market, many folks have switched allegiance, choosing this option over monthly satellite TV subscriptions with the cable or satellite TV operators. This is proving to be a real threat to the providers. As a consumer, it is to our advantage to seize this money-saving opportunity. Visit my blog to find the resource you need to watch satellite TV on PC in a few moments from now.

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Davion is a successful webmaster, author and fan of TV shows. Discover how you can instantly watch satellite TV on PC, tuning into hundreds of LIVE world channels of news, movies, music and kids program at Watch-Satellite-TV-On-PC.blogspot.com.