[PLUG-TALK] Laptop without DVI or S-Video to TV

John Jason Jordan johnxj at comcast.net
Wed Jan 14 04:56:20 UTC 2009


On Tue, 13 Jan 2009 13:07:23 -0800
MJang <mike at mommabears.com> dijo:

> My wife has just ordered a MacBook, so her Gateway laptop (M520cs) is
> about to be retired. I was thinking about setting it up as a PVR with
> Mythbuntu, but realize that it doesn't have any sort of regular video
> output (no S-Video, no DVI, etc) just a VGA connection. It also has a
> PCMCIA slot, USB 2.0, as well as a 4pin FireWire connection.
> 
> >From what I've read, VGA to regular TV (we're not yet Digital) sucks. 
> 
> Are there affordable options for PCMCIA or FireWire connections to TV?

My main computer is my laptop. I have been planning on using my desktop
computer with Intrepid x86_64 as a media PC as well as its current
duties. In the process of searching for TV tuner cards I ran across
several that are USB and several more that are PCMCIA. I am not
interested in such devices, as I would rather have a regular internal
card. Therefore, I did not make not of makes and model numbers, but I
note they do exist and I do not recall the prices being any higher than
the usual run of other cards.

Having said that, I am strongly eyeing an HDHomeRun from SiliconDust.
Cheapest place to get it is Radio Shack online ($150 with free
shipping), so it's not the cheapest by a long shot. That is, some of
the regular cards go for as little as $50, or $75-$100 for one with
digital capabilities. The thing that attracts me to the HDHomeRun is
not that it has two digital tuners (although that is nice), but that it
is ethernet based. It has a 100 Gb ethernet connecter as well as a
cable/satellite/antenna input. It is external and sits on the top of
your computer, or wherever you want to put it. The advantage of being
ethernet based is that you can receive the signal on any computer on
your network. It does not come with a remote, but does have an IR port.
And SiliconDust supports Linux - they even make the Linux drivers open
source. According to MythTV's website it is fully compatible with
Linux, even the IR port works with LIRC.

http://www.silicondust.com/products/hdhomerun_atsc

I don't know if ethernet might solve your dilemma, but I thought I'd
mention the HDHomerun anyway just in case anyone else here has had
experience with one.



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