Watch Television on Your Computer - Comments Page 1

That way Cool.. will have to try that. Watch tv in one corner of the screen and while you work !!

dear bob ; there are many websites that for $30 - 50 offer 3000 - 5000 tv channels from all over the world that can be watched on a computer . does it work ? is it legal and is it safe to purchse one such programme ? also where do i find the sites that offer free tv shows ? thank you .

EDITOR'S NOTE: Here's info on the "Satellite TV on PC" scam... http://askbobrankin.com/free_satellite_tv_on_pc.html

Well, I came to Internet to avoid TV. And now this.... :-(

I'm inclined to agree with Rahul. Most of the programming on TV is either very biased (network news) or mindless! My wife likes basketball, but I watch only a very few shows each week.

You can only watch ABC etc if you live in the USA. Is this something to do with copyright? I wonder if you guys can watch the excellent programmes the BBC makes available on it's BBC iplayer?

EDITOR'S NOTE: Do they block access to their site from non-USA users? We can see the BBC stuff here in the USA.

Beware of PCTV4Me... The program is a piece of shi--

In one of your earlier articles you talked about Hulu and Joost. Because of this article, I have tried both and like them. I found that Hulu may not have as many programs available, but, for my setup, they produce a much better looking picture, on my LCD Monitor. I LOVE watching my Babylon 5 series and you can watch it pretty much in the order, they were originally shown in.

The best part of those two websites, are that they are FREE!!! Plus, to date, I haven't gotten any SPAM from them.

Thanks again, Bob. As if I didn't have enough free TV on my PC. I now have HULU,(thanks to you). I just finished viewing the movie, "The Return Of A Man Named Horse". No flaws, no hassle, excellent resolution and free. However, because you introduced HULU to me, my wife, who's name starts with an "S" I'm pretty sure, is going to kill your puppies...Sorry about that.. Thanks, though.

EDITOR'S NOTE: So find a show on Hulu that you both like! I'll keep a close eye on the dogs for a few days...

I watch a few programs on the computer, zattoo is quite good, sometimes the picture breaks up but its free and dont't forget to register first.

Have watched tv now for over 10 years using ATI-All-In-Wonder card. Very difficult keeping up with AMD updates due to having to uninstall/re-install all components when required. Now use PCI Express ATI TV Wonder usb. Excellent set-up and operation for only $100.00. No fees and receive all my ISP/Cable company provides within the broadband regular monthly fee!

I watch using www.livestation.com, and www.zattoo.com and www.wwitv.com

Hi Bob, Do you know of any URL that I can watch my favorite shows for free? I live outside the US. Thanks for the newsletter...very informative

EDITOR'S NOTE: I'm pretty sure several of the ones listed in the article will do it for you.

Hi Bob; On ovguide.com you can check out a couple hundred sites that play TV shows and movies of all kinds for free. My fave is fancast.com. You can view 200+ TV shows from the 50's thru the 90's. All for free. They even have the original Star Trek (yes, I'm a ST Geek). Also, for those who are really into documentaries, check out moviesfoundonline.com. Many catagories. Lots of 9/11 conspiracy docs. All free. Happy(free)viewing.

Mac OS X version 10.4.11 24in screen

eyeTV hybrid, works Great, cable line in, usb into back

My wife loves internet TV (watching shows on the network sites and sites like hulu) that we're going to be adding a second TV computer in the bedroom. We have a 3ghz Pentium in the living room and soon we'll have a retired 2ghz laptop in the bedroom.

We also watch various shows that are recorded with mpeg4 compression such as Japanese television. The unit in the living room also doubles as an mp3 jukebox giving days of uninterrupted music.

I am currently teaching in Hangzhou China and I fulfill my US TV cravings with a product called Slingbox. It is hooked up to my cable & router at home in Georgia and I can watch Georgia stations during low bandwidth demand here in my China apartment on my old Mac laptop (G4- system 10). (doesn't work well when all the college kids are playing online games or watching their downloaded movies or Korean Soap operas). Only weird thing is that I watch the Today Show at 9 pm and the Evening News at 7am.

I'm a little concerned, Bob, when I see in your piece about watching TV on your computer you indicate that we should know that claims to watch satellite TV on your PC for $49. is a scam yet one of your sponsored links is just such a purveyor. How does that work?!

EDITOR'S NOTE: As I've mentioned before, the Google ads are not under my control, and are *supposed* to be relevant to the content of the page. In an ironic way, even those scam ads are. My hope is that people will actually *READ* the article and understand why they should NOT believe the hype.

Hi Bob. I live in the UK, and simply can't watch US TV on the internet. It seems that most of these websites are IP controlled (e.g., Hulu, and cbs.com in particular), and so only accept US based IP addresses. I'd love to know if there is a way around this - especially now that there has been a big clampdown on P2P file sharing.

EDITOR'S NOTE: I wonder if a proxy site like anonymizer.com (or a free proxy recommended by peacefire.org) would get around that.

Regarding Debbie from UK, If she has family or friends in the Us, she can hook up to Slingbox and view all chanels that are available on her friend/family TV.

Dear Mr Rankin, As you appear to be extremely knowledgeable and up to date on various subjects and the "ins" and "outs" of computer technology, please would you kindly assist in my struggle to convert my 42" plasma monitor into a TV screen to enable me to watch cable on it? I've trawled through the internet and emailed a number of "specialist" outlets looking for information on conversion kits and the likes but as of yet to no avail.

I would be most grateful if you would furnish me with your wisdom in order for me to use this monitor as a television set as my current TV has very little life left in it and alas my budget in todays climate is far stretched as it is.

EDITOR'S NOTE: I've never heard of a kit to convert a TV monitor into a full-blown TV set. What you lack is a tuner, the amplifier, and the speakers. I can't imagine it would be cheaper to buy all those components, when you can get a 32-inch LCD TV for under $300.