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View Full Version : Good, Affordable HD tuner for computer



Nathan Explosion
12-27-2010, 10:28 PM
I'm editing my question. What I'm looking for is a tuner that I can connect directly to my monitor to watch TV on it.

I know there are tuners that can connect to your computer, but I want one that I can use that can turn my monitor into a smallish TV. My monitor has built in speakers that can do the job if needed, so it would need to have an audio output jack.

Also, my monitor is a bit older so it has a DVI connection, not HDMI. However, I can buy a HDMI to DVI cable and an audio cable to get around that issue. Finally, if the tuner could support 720p, that would be awesome.

I've been looking and have had trouble finding one that says it meets all requirements, so I'm turning to you all for help. A lot of them say they can tune into over the air ATSC channels, but none say they support HD signals through a box (cable or satellite). I imagine they would, but would love to get confirmation.

Eventually I want to get a larger monitor for my computer (no larger than 23"), and it would be nice to turn this monitor into another TV (maybe for my kitchen so I can watch TV while cooking, especially Spurs games) as it has great color and contrast and is still in perfect working condition.

So if you all know of anything that is highly rated, then I'd love to know.

ChumpDumper
12-28-2010, 01:25 AM
If you have an HD box for cable, you should be able to use a HDMI to DVI cable along with probably a Y-shaped RCA to 3.5mm stereo cable for the sound. I'm pretty sure the box for TWC lets you choose the active audio jacks so you should be able to run the video over HDMI with audio over the analog outputs. Don't know about satellite, but it could be similar.

Nathan Explosion
12-28-2010, 02:49 AM
Wow, I know I'm tired because I didn't think about that, although, a lot of it has to do with the fact that I'm thinking about my current situation.

I get basic cable provided for free with my apartment so I don't have a box as I would actually have to pay. I get the local channels in HD, so that's cool.

If I were to go Time Warner, I highly doubt I'd have a cable box in my kitchen (assuming I get a big kitchen when I move into a house hopefully next year), so I would still need a tuner.

But for now, when I move to my new apartment, I'm thinking of getting Dish or DirectTV. There's a special where you can get up to four receivers for no charge, all HD.

ChumpDumper
12-28-2010, 03:53 AM
This might work:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815260027