Once Apple decides to ship my i7 MBP, I hope to be able to create a setup so I can watch TV on it, but ideally with minimal clutter and easy portability.
After considerable research and initial excitement over USB TV tuners, like the EyeTV, I ultimately learned that those USB TV tuner sticks need to be attached to an antenna, conspicuously absent in all marketing photos. And in the case of the EyeTV tuners, the antenna's sold separately. I've seen pictures of this setup with a variety of the USB TV tuners, and they all involve the tuner stick plugged into a USB slot, a cable connecting the stick to an antenna and finally the antenna. That takes up desk space and minimizes portability--I'd feel silly and inconvenienced setting up an antenna at a coffee shop or any public setting that isn't Comic-Con.
So my first question:
1) Are there any TV tuners that can be plugged into an MBP that eliminates that extra cabling and antenna (perhaps integrating the antenna into the TV tuner stick)?
There's only one option I'm aware of that can possibly provide what I'm looking for: SlingBox PRO-HD and SiliconDust's HDHomeRun. Both use the internet to stream TV, the former streams anywhere and the latter streams within the local network. However, I have couple questions bout these two products since I can't definitely figure it out:
2) I have digital cable TV at home. The set-top box is downstairs and I wish to watch TV on my MBP upstairs where this is no set-up box. Can the SlingBox PRO-HD and HDHomeRun be connected directly to the coaxial cable running from the wall or can it only connect to the cable set-top box directly? However, according to the TigerDirect site, "Streaming in HD-resolutions is only available for Windows."
3) You can get HD streaming if you connect either products to a cable box, but would you still get HD streaming if they're connected to the coaxial cable running through the wall? In other words, is it the set-top box that enables HD content or is it already running through the coaxial cable?
After an illogical amount of time reading around, I'm still pretty lost. Thanks for any guidance on this. And if there are other options, I'd love to learn about it.
After considerable research and initial excitement over USB TV tuners, like the EyeTV, I ultimately learned that those USB TV tuner sticks need to be attached to an antenna, conspicuously absent in all marketing photos. And in the case of the EyeTV tuners, the antenna's sold separately. I've seen pictures of this setup with a variety of the USB TV tuners, and they all involve the tuner stick plugged into a USB slot, a cable connecting the stick to an antenna and finally the antenna. That takes up desk space and minimizes portability--I'd feel silly and inconvenienced setting up an antenna at a coffee shop or any public setting that isn't Comic-Con.
So my first question:
1) Are there any TV tuners that can be plugged into an MBP that eliminates that extra cabling and antenna (perhaps integrating the antenna into the TV tuner stick)?
There's only one option I'm aware of that can possibly provide what I'm looking for: SlingBox PRO-HD and SiliconDust's HDHomeRun. Both use the internet to stream TV, the former streams anywhere and the latter streams within the local network. However, I have couple questions bout these two products since I can't definitely figure it out:
2) I have digital cable TV at home. The set-top box is downstairs and I wish to watch TV on my MBP upstairs where this is no set-up box. Can the SlingBox PRO-HD and HDHomeRun be connected directly to the coaxial cable running from the wall or can it only connect to the cable set-top box directly? However, according to the TigerDirect site, "Streaming in HD-resolutions is only available for Windows."
3) You can get HD streaming if you connect either products to a cable box, but would you still get HD streaming if they're connected to the coaxial cable running through the wall? In other words, is it the set-top box that enables HD content or is it already running through the coaxial cable?
After an illogical amount of time reading around, I'm still pretty lost. Thanks for any guidance on this. And if there are other options, I'd love to learn about it.