Digital OTA TV Dongle for USA Reception on a Laptop

[spongella]

Saw this product, a dongle that attaches to your USB port so you can received Digital TV on your computer. Looks like you have to have a certain processor type and graphics software in your computer, but it looks interesting. They also have a software download that will show you signal strength for different channels so you can optimize your antenna. This is a USA company in Hauppauge, NY. If you google Hauppauge.com you will see their products.

Sponge

 

[kittyhas1000legs]

I bought one of theirs several years ago, the 950. I fried it and replaced it with a 950q maybe 3 years ago. Good little stick. My 2003-era Dell could decode the video, so pretty much any modern computer should be able to handle it.

Only issue is that their drivers are pretty much Windows only, with iffy Linux support. I'd like to switch to Linux, but my tuners are all Hauppauge (950q, 1150, NOVA S2).

 

[spongella]

A question, would a digital set top box work better than an older (5 year old) digital ready TV? I sometimes wonder if my TV is not that sensitive and maybe it's time to invest in a good outboard converter. My antenna is rotatable and up on the chimney so I can't improve much on that.

 

[NoReDist]

Probably not ,much difference. 5 yrs isn't that old in the scheme of 8VSB tuners. Maybe on the cusp of some multipath enhancements but you'll likely improve reception by focusing on other things.

Also, linux support on the Hauppauge products has improved tremendously, if you haven't looked recently.