Tuner for Laptop

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hamisht

389 posts

Ultimate Geek

#198646 17-Jul-2016 17:12

It's probably been about 8 years since I used a DVB-T tuner (HP DV5-1009tx with built in tuner), but I am thinking of getting one for my newer (newer but lacks the built in tuner) laptop so when I am working out of town and have some down time, I can watch something on it..

What software is recommended these days? I can't remember the software I used to use, but it had to be configured for NZ Freeview and the built-in card... I wish I could remember it as it seemed quite popular back then, and has probably been improved a lot since then.

Would also like recommendations on the hardware too.. I see a LOT of USB tuners on TradeMe, but obviously would like something reliable.

Thanks everyone :)

Laptop Specs HP Pavilion dv6-6c38tx

8GB Ram

2GB DDR5 Graphics Raedon

Quad 2.2 GHz Intel Core i7-2670QM

Windows 10 64bit

*Edited from DVB-S to DVB-T*

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mdf

3513 posts

Uber Geek

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#1594071 17-Jul-2016 17:36

The problem is going to be hooking up a freeview aerial to whatever you get. While indoor/"portable" ones exist, I think they're mostly limited to line of sight.

If you can get over that hurdle though, I use MediaPortal with a couple of cheap USB DVB-T sticks. If you're using it with windows, almost anything will work.

If you can get hotel wifi (or a huge data plan), Netflix/TVNZ on Demand/3now might be more straightforward?

hamisht

389 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1594077 17-Jul-2016 17:40

Thanks for that quick reply. MediaPortal might have actually been the one I originally used! Looks very familiar. I don't believe it had that Kiwi Wiki though when I used it, this will make it much more basic. Many thanks!

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mdf

3513 posts

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#1594088 17-Jul-2016 17:47

The guide is really helpful - I'm pretty sure it was written by some of the guys on Geekzone (@kiwijunglist ?). The only fiddly bits I found were the EPG collector, and that was more due to the fact that I was trying to set it up using a tiny screen and couldn't scroll or resize the window properly.

kiwijunglist

2981 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

#1594139 17-Jul-2016 19:14

yup i wrote the NZ Kiwi Wiki for MP. I wrote it ages ago, but its pretty much all still the same. Haupaggue make good tuners, from memory anything that uses BDA *should* be supported in mediaportal. Best bet is to choose a tuner then do a google search / MP forum search.

i'd recommend Mediaportal 2 for your needs, although Mediaportal 1 should be fine too.

HTPC / Home automation (home assistant) enthusiast.

hamisht

389 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1594141 17-Jul-2016 19:20

You guys wouldn't know which ones are compatible with Win10 would you? The ones on TM seems to be quite generic in their branding..

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kiwijunglist

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#1594143 17-Jul-2016 19:23

If it's win7 compatible i'd guess that it would work with win10. Again, use google.

HTPC / Home automation (home assistant) enthusiast.

ojo

167 posts

Master Geek

#1594247 17-Jul-2016 22:48

I've used a $20 "WandTV" usb dongle from DX for the last five years, it's served me well. It's a bit of a lottery with those cheap Chinese gadgets, though. Software-wise, my favourite is DVB Viewer.

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kiwijunglist

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#1594477 18-Jul-2016 13:36

Dvb viewer also a good simple choice. +1

HTPC / Home automation (home assistant) enthusiast.

JimmyH

2886 posts

Uber Geek

#1594677 18-Jul-2016 18:50

hamisht:

[...] so when I am working out of town and have some down time, I can watch something on it..

I never had much luck with the small portable aerial things that come with tuner sticks. Amplified indoor aerials yes, but they are a bit bulky to take travelling.

My alternate solution is that I never seem to have much time to watch TV, so I tend to record things that I never get around to watching, and accumulate a large backlog of unwatched recordings. So I compress those to MP4 and take a bunch of them on the laptop when I have to travel for work etc.

If you don't have much luck with the tuner, I recommend considering this. It's relatively easy to accumulate huge amounts of unwatched shows, esp if you have a Sky decoder at home as well as Freeview. Just hook a PC capture solution (the Hauppauge USB ones seem to ignore copy protection) up to the analog outputs on the Sky box, and you are good to go. DVD recorders are a bit trickier with the new Sky boxes than the old ones, courtesy CGMS/A.

jonathan18

7413 posts

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#1594834 19-Jul-2016 08:28

Another option in a similar vein to the post directly above is BBC iPlayer (usable in NZ provided you have some type of unblocker in place) - this allows one to save any BBC online content onto a device (laptop, tablet etc) for later viewing, including providing an option of HD or standard resolution. We find this excellent for holidays to places with no, little or expensive internet, and provides a great opportunity to catch up on content we'd probably otherwise not see - there's always something interesting to watch on BBC. I wish other VOD services would provide for this feature...