watchin cable TV in your dorm on your laptop

Parent Cafe
1

<p>Watching cable TV in your dorm on your laptop</p>

<p>My daughter’s dorm room has free cable TV provided by the school. She doesn’t have a TV but she has a Dell laptop.</p>

<p>I think if I bought her a Dell USB external TV Tuner ($59.99, see link below) and a cable, she could watch the free cable tv on her laptop.</p>

<p>Has anyone tried this? I first read about it as a possibilty somewhere here on CC. I was wondering how well it worked. Of course her laptop screen is not like a big screen TV screen, but there’s a TV lounge in the for dorm when she really wants watch something or to watch TV with friends. This “TV Tuner” might be nice for letting her watch Good Morning America or something - a show to keep you company when you are getting ready for the day.)</p>

<p>[Dell</a> : StarTech.com USB 2.0 External TV Tuner with Remote Control : TV Tuner](<a href=“Computers, Monitors & Technology Solutions | Dell USA”>Computers, Monitors & Technology Solutions | Dell USA)</p>

2

<p>I read the reviews–50% liked it; 50% hated it.</p>

3

<p>My daughter used a similiar thing last year by hauppage. She liked it - she could watch certain shows on her laptop in her room and sometimes would watch others in the communal area on the big flat screen tv out there.</p>

4

<p>D bought a Pinnacle tuner from Best Buy–plugs into usb port.</p>

<p>Lets her watch TV, and also tape shows on her hard drive–kinda like a bare bones DVR.</p>

5

<p>actually you can watch tv on your laptop without a tuner</p>

<p>[Hulu</a> - Watch your favorites. Anytime. For free.](<a href=“http://www.hulu.com/]Hulu”>http://www.hulu.com/)</p>

<p>I watch this too
[FOX</a> Broadcasting Company: House](<a href=“http://www.fox.com/house/]FOX”>http://www.fox.com/house/)</p>

6

<p>Why not just purchase an inexpensive color TV, so she can tap into the college’s cable system. You can get a 15 inch dirt cheap, and a 19 inch for not much more.</p>

7

<p>Why not just purchase an inexpensive color TV, so she can tap into the college’s cable system</p>

<p>in many rooms space is at a premium
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/550786-tripled-i-need-vent.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/550786-tripled-i-need-vent.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

8

<p>Better yet, don’t buy her the tuner and if after getting settled in she decides she wants to spend her time watching TV in her room, let her buy what she wants herself (which might include the laptop tuner) since a TV is hardly a basic need for college. You might be surprised in that she might decide to not even obtain one of these distractions given involvement in studies, on-campus activities, on-campus job, interacting with dorm-mates and others, ability to watch occasional TV in a common lounge or another person’s room, or on her laptop in streaming as per EK4’s suggestion. The keyword is ‘occasional’. </p>

<p>Just a thought.</p>

9

<p>EK4–I learned that I can watch the reruns of SEason 1 of LIFE on Hula. What a great show! I hear that the next season will be starting this fall.</p>