Connecting cable box to imac 27" for live tv?

[imacuser16]

I would like to know if theres a way to connect my cable box which is downstairs (not close to my imac) to my imac so i can watch live tv on it, with my hd channels also. If so, would me changing the channel on my imac also change the channel downstairs?

thanks.

 

[Richdmoore]

I don't know if it is HD, but maybe a slingbox system? (My brother has one, he watches it both on his home network, and also over the internet.)

 

[ftaok]

I would like to know if theres a way to connect my cable box which is downstairs (not close to my imac) to my imac so i can watch live tv on it, with my hd channels also. If so, would me changing the channel on my imac also change the channel downstairs?

thanks.

Slingbox HD would be an option, but I think you'd need a few pieces of hardware. I'm not too up on Sling products.

Another option would be a dedicated tuner for the iMac. As long as you have a cable outlet near your iMac, you could go with an eyeTV tuner. Another option would be the HDHomeRun, but you'd need the HDHR to be close to a cable outlet and your network router (or iMac).

The downside to these dedicated tuners is that they don't support CableCard, so you won't get any of the encrypted channels that you might be paying for (i.e. HBO, Showtime, and perhaps extended basic channels like ESPN, etc). You'll only be able to pull in what's available as clearQAM.

But wait, there's more. Rumors are that SiliconDust is showing a new HDHR at CES that is compatible with CableCard. I would give ElGato a few months after that to support this new HDHR so that Mac users can finally watch/record encyrpted channels (provided they subscribe to them).

ft